World War II service
In 1941, he participated at the Battle of Moscow, as a Junior Lieutenant of a mortar company. During the battle, he spent a lot of time teaching himself to snipe. His hunts for enemy soldiers were successful, prompting Sidorenko's commanders to order him to train others—who were chosen for their eyesight, weapons knowledge, and endurance. He first taught them theory, and then slowly started taking them out on combat missions with him. The Germans soon began fielding snipers of their own in Sidorenko's area of operation, to counter the new threat posed by him and his men.
Sidorenko became assistant commander of the Headquarters of the 1122nd Rifle Regiment, fighting as part of the 1st Baltic Front. Though he mainly instructed, he occasionally fought in battles, taking one of his trainees with him. In one of these excursions, he destroyed a tank and three tractors using incendiary bullets. However, he was wounded several times, most seriously in Estonia, in 1944; he remained hospitalized until the end of the war. While recuperating from this wound, Sidorenko was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, on June 4, 1944. Sidorenko was prohibited from seeing combat again, by his superiors, as he was a valuable sniper trainer.
By the end of the war, Sidorenko was credited with about five hundred confirmed kills,and had trained over two hundred and fifty snipers.Ranked a Major, he was the most successful Soviet sniper of the Second World War,and used the Russian Mosin-Nagant rifle, equipped with a telescopic sight.Sidorenko's feat was not unique, however: several other Soviet snipers scored nearly as many kills.Also, Simo Häyhä of Finland is credited with having 542 confirmed kills.
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.
