LYUDMILA PAVLICHENKO
THE GREATEST WOMAN SNIPER

by 

Thomas W Bruner

 On 12 July 1916, a girl was born in Ukraine in the small village of Belaya Tserkov . She became a bright student in her elementary years.  By the time she was fourteen, her parents moved to Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. At that time she  joined a shooting club and developed into a sharpshooter. She also worked at an arsenal as a grinder. Her name was Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko; the greatest female sniper who every lived.

In June of 1941, the Germans launched Operation Barbarosa attacking the Soviet Union. Lyudmila was studying at the Kiev University. She was 24-years-old and majoring in history. Many of the Russian students rushed to join the military. Lyuda was an exceptionally beautiful young girl. When she went to the recruiter, she requested to join the infantry and carry a rifle. The recruiter laughed at her. She pulled out a marksmanship certificate to prove her worth. He wanted her to become nurse. Being strong willed, she refused. She signed up with the 25th Infantry Division. She became one of the two-thousand women Soviet snipers of which only about 500 survived the war. As a sniper, she made her first two kills near Belyayevka. Her rifle was a Mosin-Nagent Russian sniper rifle with a P.E. 4-power scope. The Mosin-Nagent was a 5-shot bolt action rifle. It fired a 148gr bullet at a velocity of 2800 fps. It was effective out to 600 yards.

Pvt. Pavlichenko fought about two and a half months near Odessa. There, she recorded 187 kills. The Germans gained control of Odessa, and her unit was pulled to be sent to Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula. In June 1942, she was wounded by mortar fire . In May 1942, Lieutenant Pavlichenko was cited by the Southern Red Army Council for killing 257 German soldiers. Her total confirmed kills during WWII was 309 enemy.  Lyudmila killed 36 enemy snipers. She found the kill logbook of one of the Nazi snipers she killed. He had taken the lives of over 500 Soviet snipers.

Because Lyudmila was a hero, less than a month after receiving her wound, she was pulled from combat. She was sent to Canada and the United States. She became the first Soviet citizen to be received by a U.S. President.  President and Mrs. Roosevelt welcomed her at the White House. Lyudmila was invited by Eleanor Roosevelt to tour America relating her experiences. She was invited to appear before the International Student Assembly being held in Washington, D.C., where she received a heros welcome. Later she attended C.I.O. meetings and made appearances and speeches in New York City. In Canada, she was presented with a Winchester rifle with an optical sight, which is now on display at the Central Museum of the Armed Forces in Moscow. When she left for her return to the Soviet Union, she was presented with a Colt semi-automatic pistol.

Having attained the rank of Major, Pavlichenko never returned to fighting but instead became an instructor. She trained hundreds of Soviet snipers until the wars end. In 1943 she received the Gold Star of the title of  Hero of the Soviet Union. Lyudmila returned to Kiev State University. From 1945 to 1953, she was a research assistant of the Chief HQ of the Soviet Navy. She also was involved in numerous international conferences and congresses. She was active in the Soviet Committee of the Veterans of War.

Lyudmila Pavlichenko died on 10 October 1974 at age 58 and is buried at the Novodevichiye Cemetery in Moscow.

Woodie Guthrie wrote a song about her. The manuscript does not have a date or any comments by Woody; it is assumed that he wrote the song in late 1942.

Miss Pavilichenko[SIC]'s well known to fame;
Russia's your country, fighting is your game;
The whole world will love her for a long time to come,
For more than three hundred nazis fell by your gun.
CHORUS:
Fell by your gun, yes,
Fell by your gun
For more than three hundred nazis fell by your gun.
Miss Pavlichenko's well known to fame;
Russia's your country, fighting is your game;
Your smile shines as bright as any new morning sun.
But more than three hundred nazidogs fell by your gun.
CHORUS
In your mountains and canyons quiet as the deer.
Down in your bigtrees [SIC] knowing no fear.
You lift up your sight. And down comes a hun.
And more than three hundred nazidogs fell by your gun.
CHORUS
In your hot summer's heat, in your cold wintery snow,
In all kinds of weather you track down your foe;
This world will love your sweet face the same way I've done,
'Cause more than three hundred nazzy [SIC] hound fell by your gun.
CHORUS
I'd hate to drop in a parachute and land an enemy in your land.
If your Soviet people make it so hard on invadin' men;
I wouldn't crave to meet that wrong end of such a pretty lady's gun
If her name was Pavlichenko, and mine Three O One.
CHORUS

 

Sources: 

Lyrics as reprinted in Pete Seeger (ed.), Woody Guthrie Folk Song, London, 1973, pp. 88-89 copyright Ludlow music Inc., New York, NY

 Jeff Place and Guy Logsdon, liner notes for Thats Why Were Marching Smithsonian Folkways SF 40021, p.19.

 Selected Biographies of Soviet Women Soldiers
By Kazimiera J. (Jean) Cottam, PhD

 Copyright 2001 Henry Sakaida. Heroines of the Soviet Union 1941-45
(Elite 90) By Henry Sakaida. Illustrator: Christa Hook. Osprey Publishers