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 She was withdrawn from active duty after being injured.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 Novodevichy Cemetery.
