The Most Feared Sniper of World War ll

I was always a big Paul Harvey fan. I liked his style. I loved his voice. And most of all, I love the way he could tell a story and keep you spellbound anticipating the rest of the story. I have very much enjoyed the process of writing and narrating the historical stories on this YouTube channel. I have thought it would be fun to try a Paul Harvey type ending on one of the videos. Today, I'm going to give it a try. This may or may not be successful and I certainly understand that I will never be able to come anywhere near Mr. Harvey's incredible standard of excellence. Also, I do not intend to turn all my videos into a Paul Harvey type reveal at the end. I'll try this one and then make a decision whether or not to do an occasional rest of the story type presentation. Please make a comment positive or negative or thumbs up thumbs down to help me make a decision about the future of this endeavor. L.M. Pavlichenko was born on July 12, 1916 in what is current-day Ukraine into a Russian family and the family moved to Kiev at age 14. The mother was a teacher and the father worked in a St. Petersburg factory. As a youngster, most of Pavlichenko's time was spent competing in athletic activities. After joining a shooting club, the youngster became proficient at the use of rifles and earned sharpshooter and marksman certificates. While attending college, the amateur marksman continued to hone the skills of a true marksman in a military-style sniping school run by the Red Army. In the fourth year of college in 1941, Germany began its invasion of the Soviet Union. Pavlichenko made the decision to join the Soviet Army but at first was refused the right to join the infantry as a sniper. After training with army infantry sniper units, the military leadership soon realized that this young recruit had extraordinary skills as a potential sniper and relented in allowing the newcomer to train and join the ranks of certified snipers. The newly minted sharpshooter was assigned to the Red Army's 25th Rifle Division and was sent to the front lines during the siege of Odessa. Because of a weapons shortage, Pavlichenko was not initially issued a sniper rifle. On August 8, 1941, a fallen comrade handed over his rifle and now the sharpshooter could commence a career of fighting and dispatching Nazi enemy soldiers. After shooting many enemy combatants and going on to record 187 confirmed kills in the siege of Odessa, Pavlichenko officially became one of the most feared soldiers of the Red Army. The next assignment for the sniper, whose reputation was growing exponentially, was the Crimean Peninsula to do battle in the siege of Sevastopol. There the carnage of Nazi soldiers continued. The assignments became even more difficult. One-on-one firefights between two enemy snipers can be one of the most stressful and nerve-wracking situations that a soldier can possibly encounter. Pavlichenko participated in and won many such battles, recording 36 kills of Nazi snipers. The total number of recorded kills for the accomplished sniper during the war was 309. In June 1942, Pavlichenko was hit in the face by shrapnel from a mortar shell and spent a month in the hospital. Instead of being sent back to the front line, the heavily decorated soldier was sent to allied countries, including Canada and the United States, as a propagandist for the Red Army. Because of the post-World War II Cold War and the continual highly strained relationship between the two superpowers since the war ended, the thought of Russia and the Soviet Union being an ally of the United States is a concept that is somewhat hard to imagine. But they were indeed allies in World War II because of the common enemy Nazi Germany. The purpose of the tour by Pavlichenko of the US, Canada and Britain was to drum up support for a second front against Nazi Germany in Europe. The Soviets understood that without the military support of allied countries, especially the United States, that the defeat of the Nazis would be unlikely. Pavlichenko's tour was promoted and ballyhooed by the host countries and probably had some effect on world opinion. The visit did warrant a meeting with President Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt. The decorated sniper made several speeches around Canada and the United States. The US government presented Pavlichenko with a Colt semi-automatic pistol and Canada followed suit with a Model 70 Winchester rifle, equipped with a Weaver telescopic sight. Nobody can say with certainty that the visit had any effect on the eventual entry into World War II by the United States. Probably not too much but a factor to some degree. Pavlichenko was awarded the gold star of the Soviet Union and never went back into combat but rather was assigned to a sniper instructor position for the remainder of the war. One of the most celebrated snipers in the history of war was known as Lady Death. Yeah that's right, you heard me correctly. I said Lady Death. Lyudmila Pavlichenko was a female sniper in the Soviet army. Now you know the entire story. If you enjoyed this video give a thumbs up, make a comment and most importantly subscribe to the channel.