Commemoration
On January 31, 2006, Vasily Zaytsev was reburied on Mamayev Kurgan with full military honors. Zaytsev's dying wish was to be buried at the monument to the defenders of Stalingrad. His coffin was carried next to a monument where his famous quote is written: "For us there was no land beyond (the) Volga."
The telescopic sight from Heinz Thorvald's (aka König's) rifle, allegedly Zaytsev's most treasured trophy, is still exhibited in the Moscow armed forces museum today.[citation needed] Zaytsev claims in his memoir Notes of a Sniper that he stalked Major Konig for a week and eventually found the so called "Konig" under a sheet of metal. Zaytsev then slid a glove over a plank of wood and exposed it, upon which the German sniper shot right through it. Then Vasily's partner, Nikolay Kulikov, raised a helmet on a stick and the German sniper shot that, too. This time, however, Vasily saw where the German sniper was located and shot him, killing him. Vasily and his partner Kulikov went to the German sniper's body and took his documents and rifle. The alleged duel is depicted in David L. Robbins' book War of the Rats and fictionalized in the film Enemy at the Gates, which drew its inspiration from approximately three pages of the nonfiction book Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad, written by historian William Craig. Whether this duel actually took place is disputed by some historians, due to lack of any evidence as to whether there was a German sniper of such name or rank who ever existed during World War II.[4] Zaytsev himself did make mention of the duel in his own autobiography, Notes of a Sniper, in which he commented that he had been up against a very skilled German sniper named Herr Koning from Berlin. In the documentary, Russia's War: Blood upon the Snow, Zaytsev says he never would have guessed that such a bigshot had flown to Stalingrad but when he and his men dragged the German out, they found him to be the head of Berlin's sniper school.
EDITOR'S WELCOME TEXT
HALLO TO ALL VIEWERS AROUNDS THE WORLD.WELCOME TO ONE SHOOT ONE KILL BLOG.I MAKE THIS BLOG COZ I WAS INTRESTED ON SNIPER OR MARKSMAN HISTORY.COZ I'M THE NEW ONE,IF ANY MISTAKEN OF FACT PLEASE COMMENT ME.THANKS TO ALL VIEWERS.
ETYMOLOGY
The term sniper was first attested in 1824 in the sense of the word "sharpshooter".The verb "to snipe" originated in the 1770s among soldiers in British India where a hunter skilled enough to kill the elusive snipe was dubbed a "sniper".
During the American Civil War, the common term used in the United States was "skirmisher". Throughout history armies have used skirmishers to break up enemy formations and to thwart the enemy from flanking the main body of their attack force.They were deployed individually on the extremes of the moving army primarily to scout for the possibility of an enemy ambush. Consequently, a "skirmish" denotes a clash of small scope between these forces.In general, a skirmish was a limited combat, involving troops other than those of the main body.The term "sniper" was not in widespread use in the United States until after the American Civil War.
The term "sniper" has been used in more serious tones especially by media in association with police precision riflemen, those responsible forassassination, any shooting from all but the shortest range in war, and any criminal equipped with a rifle in a civil context. This has rather expanded the meaning of the term. It has also given the term "sniper" mixed connotations. Official sources often use more positive connotative terms to describe snipers, especially for police snipers: "counter-sniper", "precision marksman", "tactical marksman", "sharpshooter", "precision riflemen", and "precision shooter". Some of these alternatives have been in common use for a long time; others are closer to undisguised euphemisms.
SNIPER OR MARKSMAN
A sniper is a highly trained marksman who shoots targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the capabilities of regular personnel. Snipers typically have specialized training and distinct high-precision rifles. In addition to marksmanship, military snipers are also trained in camouflage, field craft, infiltration, reconnaissanceand observation techniques.
