Was a German (Austrian) sniper in the II Battalion of the 144th Gebirgsjäger Regiment of the 3rd Mountain Division on the Eastern Front of the Second World War, and was credited with 257 kills.
Sent to the Eastern Front in December 1942 as a machine gunner, Allerberger was lightly wounded at Stavropol and experimented with a captured Soviet Mosin Nagant 91/30 rifle with a 3.5x PU telescopic sight whilst recuperating. Eventually he made 27 kills before being sent for sniper training at Seetaleralpe, and being assigned a K98k with 6x scope.
During combat, Allerberger was noted for using the Wehrmacht-taught technique of an umbrella with the cloth removed and foliage woven into the arms which he held to his front in order to camouflage himself.[1]. This camouflage was quickly assembled and lightweight and adaptable to many circumstances.
He was reportedly awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross by Field Marshal Ferdinand Schörner, the commander of Army Group Centre, on 20 April 1945, although no official documentation ever recorded the award. However, this was not uncommon at this late point in the war.
In 2005, a book titled Sniper on the Eastern Front: The Memoirs of Sepp Allerberger, Knight's Cross ISBN 1-84415-317-7 was published, written by Albrecht Wacker based on interviews with Allerberger. The book was noted for suggesting that the Soviets had cannibalised their own comrades' corpses, and graphic depictions of torture. This translation into English is an abridged version of the book Im Auge des Jägers. The first three volumes of this work appeared under the title Der Wehrmachtsscharfschütze Franz Karner, as Allerberger was initially reluctant to be named.
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.
