Until recently I had been under the impression that the highest-scoring sniper of WW2 was Samo Häyhä, with 504 confirmed (540+ unconfirmed) kills during the Winter War. However, today I found this website, listing Mihail Ilyich Surkov as having 702 kills and Vasiliy Shalvovich Kvachantiradze with 534. Can anyone offer any further evidence for whether these snipers existed/had such records? I know that there are other instances where the Russian claims have been found to be less than reliable.
You might want to check out this previous thread, http://www.ww2f.com/wwii-general/21917-best-sniper.html
Thanks, I did see that thread previously. Although Surkov is mentioned, no sources are given other than possibly that website. So, I was wondering if there is any further material on him.
Here is some information ive found on Mikhail Surkov"- In early March 1942 in the 4th Rifle Division 12 th Army, there were 117 snipers,During the defense of the Red Liman they destroyed more than 1,000 Nazis,One of the best snipers was Mikhail Surkov,during the beginning of the war Surkov destroyed more than 100 enemy soldiers and officers and was awarded the order of Lenin. Former taiga hunter Mikhail Surkov recieved his sniper rifle from the hands of captain Kamkina who had brought up a lot of great shooters. This is from Surkovs battle notes(from the book IP Roslogo-"The last halt in Berlin." Moscow,1983) Watching with binoculars I am with partner Volsky,on the northern outskirts of the village of Troitskoye where the front edge of the enemys defense is,a German rose to full height and looked near us then ducked back in his trench,the German must have knew someone was out there,shortly after sunrise we saw another German come out of the trench-oh you facsist destroying the beauty of our land I thought. I caught the German in my sights,held my breath steadily and pulled the trigger-the facsist fell on his back. Another facsist came out of the trench to pull back his wounded friend,I shot again and this facsist fell right next to the other. Before the war Surkov lived in the Siberian village of Great Salyr,Achinsk District of Krasnoyarsk Krai,Surkov was a good hunter,When the war began Surkov went to the front and was promoted to a sniper. The newspapers wrote this on the front page"Sniper Sergeant Mikhail Surkov shoots the enemy confidently and accurately. He does not wound but outright kill's the facsists. In 1966 Surkov left the military and later graduated from Achinsk mechanics-Technology College and went to work as an electrician. At the end of the war Surkovs personal kill count was 702 confirmed,However Surkov was not awarded the medal "Hero of the Soviet Union" which I find quite odd -sm
I´d be surprised if nobody could beat Häyhä´s result, then again after decades of "the usual propaganda" it seems a bit hard for me to see somebody "jump out of the bushes" and be the best. No problem, if I can see reasonable pics and life stories about the man, where he was during the war etc. After the "massive Kursk tank battle where T-34´s rammed tens of Tigers and Panthers" you need to have some nice evidence, really.
I also need more proof than that . Häyhä is still "my" top scoring man, as if something like should be recorded in the first place...
Simo Häyhä is the top man. Two World War Two snipers on the Eastern Front, Mikhail Ilyich Surkov, a sergeant-major with the Soviet 4th Division, and SS Major (Sturmbannfuhrer) Erwin Konig of the Nazi Army were credited sometimes with having more confirmed kills than Hayha. Surlov was even mentioned in some sources as having over 700. Post war analysis has shown that these figures were inflated for propaganda purposes. It is doubtful that Konig even existed at all and Surkov is a shadowy figure at best. The top scoring Soviet ace that is accepted is Ivan Mihailovich Sidorenko of the 1122nd rifle regiment with 500 confirmed 'kills'.
I'd sill like to know just what is a Nazi Army??? I never have heard of one nor have ever seen one? Can somebody please explain to this rookie just what is a Nazi Army???? And oh no--not that """"konig"""" thing again.
