Red Sniper on the Eastern Front: The Memoirs of Joseph Pilyushin

Joseph Pilyushin, a top Red Army sniper in the ruthless fight against the Germans on the Eastern Front, was an exceptional soldier and has a remarkable story to tell. His firsthand account of his wartime service gives a graphic insight into his lethal skill with a rifle and into the desperate fight put up by Soviet forces to defend Leningrad. He also records how, during the three-year siege, close members of this family died, including his wife and two sons, as well as many of his comrades in arms. He describes these often-terrible events with such honesty and clarity that his memoir is remarkable.Piluyshin, who lived in Leningrad with his family, was already 35 years old when the war broke out and he was drafted. He started in the Red Army as a scout, but once he had demonstrated his marksmanship and steady nerve, he became a sniper. He served throughout the Leningrad siege, from the late 1941 when the Wehrmachts advance was halted just short of the city to its liberation during the Soviet offensive of 1944. His descriptions of grueling front-line life, of his fellow soldiers and of his sniping missions are balanced by his vivid recollections of the protracted suffering of Leningrads imprisoned population and of the grief that was visited upon him and his family.His gripping narrative will be fascinating reading for any one who is keen to learn about the role and technique of the sniper during the Second World War. It is also a memorable eyewitness account of one mans experience on the Eastern Front. My First Shot at the Enemy 3 A Successful Ambush 9 Fighting on the Narva River 15 A Soldier’s Conversation 31 On Reconnaissance 37 My First Wound 48 The Fight for the Wooded Hill 56 Behind Enemy Lines 67 In the Vicinity of Ropsha 75 The Decisive Battle 86 Ulyanov’s Death 98 Home 108 ‘A Mistake’ 115 At the Front and in the Rear 122 A Trench Stage 153 In Ceiling Rubble 160 The Staro-Panovo Operation 166 Encounters 176 The Brown Rat 180 Joyful News 186 Soviet Army Day 191 The Ruhr Mine Worker 199 A Soldier Hurries 203 A Competition 211 The Unknown Visitor 220 The Final Meeting with My Son 230 The Joyous Day 241 The Photograph 251 Familiar Places 260 Caring Hands 274 In the Administrative Platoon 279