September 13, 2023

World's Deadliest Snipers In History

Snipers have been lionized in films over the years and they really have become an important tactical advantage in war. What is needed is a calm disposition and the ability to control one's breath. Let's outline some of the top snipers the world has ever known. So here we go...

Chuck Mawhinney (103 Kills)

Charles Benjamin "Chuck" Mawhinney was a former United States Marine who served sixteen months in the military during the Vietnam War. As a sniper, Mawhinney is credited with having 103 confirmed kills (a Marine Corps record), with 216 probable kills. Mawhinney was the son of a Marine Corps veteran from World War II, and joined the Marines after graduating from high school in 1967.

After attending Scout Sniper School at Camp Pendelton, Mawhinney was assigned to First Battalion, Fifth Marines, First Marine Division in South Vietnam, where he was later transferred to the HQ Scout Sniper Platoon. Working with a variety of military units (and police forces), Mawhinney's exploits in Vietnam became legendary. In one encounter, Mawhinney was even credited with dropping an entire enemy platoon (approximately 16 enemy soldiers) in one sitting. Mawhinney held no qualms about the nature of his work and felt that his actions helped save many American lives.

After being declared 'combat fatigued' by a chaplain, Mawhinney was later transferred to the United States, where he served as a marksmanship instructor at his former base, Camp Pendleton. He later left the Marine Corps in 1970; working with the U.S. Forest Service until retirement. Mawhinney never mentioned (or discussed) his accomplishments to family or friends (including his wife); preferring to keep quiet about his time in the Marines. In 1991, however, Mawhinney's exploits were recounted by fellow sniper, Joseph Ward in his book Dear Mom: A Sniper's Vietnam. After documentation proved that Mawhinney had 103 confirmed kills during the war, he was officially recognized by the Marine Corps as having the most kills ever recorded in Marine history.


Vasily Zaytsev (242 Kills)

"The arrival of the Nazi sniper set us a new task. We had to find him, study habits and methods, and patiently await the moment for one, and only one, well-aimed shot." -Vasily Zaytsev

Vasily Grigoryevich Zaytsev was a Soviet sniper that served in the Red Army during World War Two and is credited with over 242 confirmed kills. Born in Yeleninskoye, Orenburg Governorate on 23 March 1915, Zaytsev reportedly learned his marksmanship from his grandfather in the Ural Mountains. After graduating from college and working for a brief time in construction, Zaytsev later enlisted in the Soviet military, serving with the Pacific Fleet (beginning in 1937).

After war broke out only a few years later (following the launch of Operation Barbarossa), Zaytsev volunteered to join the front lines, where he was assigned to the 1047th Rifle Regiment of the 284th Tomsk Rifle Division. Even before he became a sniper for the Red Army, Zaytsev was credited with 32 kills using a standard-issue rifle. It wasn't until 1942, just before the Battle of Stalingrad, that Zaytsev's career as a sniper officially began. A master of stealth and concealment, Zaytsev was well-known for changing positions regularly, as well as his ingenious ability to cover large areas from just a handful of strategic locations (a tactic later dubbed "the sixes").

Throughout the Battle of Stalingrad, Zaytsev accumulated more than 200 enemy kills before he was later blinded by a German mortar attack. After regaining his sight a month later, Zaytsev returned to the front in February of 1943, finishing his career at the Battle of the Seelow Heights in Germany (at the rank of Captain).


The Editor

P.S. Did you miss an issue? You can read every issue from the Gophercentral library of newsletters on our exhaustive archives page. Thousands of issues, all of your favorite publications in chronological order. You can read AND comment. Just click GopherArchives