Lady Death

The wartime memoir of Lyudmila Pavlichenko is a remarkable document: the publication of an English language edition is a significant coup. Pavlichenko was World War II’s best-scoring sniper and had a varied wartime career that included trips to England and America. In June 1941, when Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa, she left her university studies, ignored the offer of a position as a nurse, to become one of Soviet Russia’s 2000 female snipers. Less than a year later she had 309 recorded kills, including 29 enemy sniper kills. She was withdrawn from active duty after being injured: she was also regarded as a key heroic figure for the war effort. She spoke at rallies in Canada and the US and the folk singer Woody Guthrie wrote a song, ‘Killed By A Gun’ about her exploits. Her US trip included a tour of the White House with FDR. In November 1942 she visited Coventry and accepted donations of 4,516 from Coventry workers to pay for three X-ray units for the Red Army. She also visited a Birmingham factory as part of her fundraising tour. She never returned to combat but trained other snipers.After the war, she finished her education at Kiev University and began a career as a historian. She died on October 10, 1974 at age 58, and was buried in Moscow’s Novodevichye Cemetery. AUTHOR: Lyudmila Pavlichenko was one of the top scoring snipers of World War II with 309 recorded kills. She died on October 10th 1974. 16 pages of plates

Author Biography

Lyudmila Pavlichenko was one of the top scoring snipers of World War II with 309 recorded kills. She died on October 10th 1974\. Martin Pegler was curator of firearms at the Royal Armouries for twenty years and during his career shoot almost every historic and current sniping rifle. He is the author of a dozen books about firearms, but specialises in the development sniper and technology of sniping. He lives in France with his wife.