Sniper Nina Petrova: "Grandma will be a complete gentleman if he brings his head to the end ..."
Continuing to talk about the female snipers who fought with the Nazis, I can not bow to Nina Pavlovna Petrova. And it’s not even the fact that in the Great Patriotic War she became one of the best snipers of our army, a full knight of the Order of Glory. And the fact that every act of Nina Pavlovna is in itself a feat.
She went to the front of an older woman of solid age - in 48 years. So arranged by nature, that in these years man’s strength is not the same, fatigue has been accumulated. It is doubly difficult to learn something new. But Nina Pavlovna, a native of the city of Lomonosov of the Leningrad region (then - Oranienbaum), decided to fight the fascists. Nothing held her back. And she fought - so much that endurance, endurance, courage, patience surprised everyone. She did not lag behind the young, but, on the contrary, gave them a head start.
Perhaps the solution to this lies in the fact that from early childhood Nina Pavlovna was used to tireless work? She grew up in a large family, where all the brothers and sisters sincerely and lovingly cared about each other. Even when Nina Pavlovna was just a girl Nina, the family moved to Leningrad, which became their family for life. Father died early, five children were left orphans.
Or maybe because Nina Pavlovna was never afraid to learn? She has mastered many professions, and each - well. To help her mother, Nina went to Vladivostok, to her relatives, where she entered the school and at the same time got a job as an accountant. Almost all the salary sent home. She worked as a typist at a shipyard in Revel, as a librarian at Svistroy, as an accountant in Gdov. And in the 1927 year, having already had a ten-year-old daughter, she returned to Leningrad.
Or is it a serious sports hobby? May be so. Nina Pavlovna perfectly swam, played basketball, rode a bicycle, engaged in horse riding and rowing. She graduated from the courses and began working as a physical education teacher. In 43, she became the captain of the Leningrad women's hockey team (and she was two years old), and a year earlier she won a skiing game. Approximately ten years before the start of the war, the future sniper took up gunfire, enrolling first in the shooting circle. True, not from the first days the rifle began to obey Nina Pavlovna. A big role was played by the head of the circle, who helped with advice and deed.
She graduated from a sniper school, began working as an instructor in bullet shooting. And in just one year 1936 released more than a hundred Voroshilov shooters! Nina Pavlovna had a nominal award rifle. And cups, medals and badges - more than seventy.
... The Soviet-Finnish war began. Nina Pavlovna at that time was 46 for years, she only heard refusals in the military registration and enlistment offices. However, she had a good experience in nursing - and Petrova achieved that she was taken to a rehabilitation hospital. Here she did not just perform her duties as a medical worker, but without any exaggeration, she replaced the fighters with her mother (by the way, she was called that until the end of her life). Nina Pavlovna was tirelessly at her post - it seemed that she never sleeps at all. I read books to fighters, washed clothes, combed them and shaved them.
At the beginning of World War II, Petrov was taken to the medical battalion. But already in November 1941, she transferred to the rifle battalion of the Tartu division. Together with this division, Nina Pavlovna defended her native Leningrad and subsequently marched half of Europe. And, as in a peaceful life, in the battalion she performed not one, but several things at once: she trained soldiers, kept her personal account of the killed fascists, went out in reconnaissance, performed the duties of a nurse. And again, the fighters replaced the mother: washed for them, darned, sewed collars.
It seemed that luck took care of Nina Pavlovna. One day, a German sniper took her to the sight and fired, but, to the point, he only shot through his cap and singed his hair.
“A sniper, you see, a youth,” Petrova said then. - His bullet spun in my hair.
Also, half in jest, in a letter she reported the incident to her daughter Xenia. In her newsletter, she generally preferred a light tone. Looking ahead, I’ll give a few lines from a letter written a few years later: “We are sitting with the senior lieutenant of artillery on the porch, the German strikes from the guns, the shells fall far behind the house. He says: "I have been fighting for the fourth year and have not even been injured yet." I answer him: "The fourth year and I am at war, is also not injured, despite the fact that all the time on the front line." He was summoned by the commander. A minute later the enemy shell exploded. Two people killed, several wounded. The senior lieutenant of the artillery was wounded in the arms and legs, scratched at me, stunned, a general concussion came out, which is why my back hurts. That boasted ... "
Here is her other letter. His tone is different, but from each line it is very well understood that for a long time Nina Pavlovna was lucky: “I sat on np, watched, froze, went to warm myself. My place was taken by a lieutenant and a sergeant. But immediately after my departure, they were wounded by fragments of an enemy shell. The next morning again sat on np. Gone for breakfast. Returning to the NP - and he is broken by a direct hit ... "
During the war years, Nina Pavlovna has prepared 512 snipers! The teacher from her was very patient. Often she simply amazed her students with her skill. So, once at a lesson I gave a task: to find and neutralize a masked sniper (her). On the search - 20 minutes. If the fighters do not find Nina Pavlovna, they should put a hat on a stick and lift it over their heads.
Nobody could notice the teacher, they had to lift the stick. And then Nina Pavlovna got up literally a few steps from the soldiers - all soaked, dirty:
- Eh, sons, what did you watch? So bad I teach you ...
Or such a case. The best student of the heroine, George Daudov (by the way, at first he also went to the laggards), perhaps, most often went with her "on the hunt." Once they tracked down two Germans who were dragging a log into a broken pillbox. Petrova asked:
- George, what do you think, who should be removed first?
“First,” replied the fighter.
- Not. Then the one that comes from behind will immediately understand that the sniper is working and jump into the trench. Let's remove the rear, then the first will in the heat of the moment decide that he stumbled, and we get the extra seconds. Remember: a good athlete responds to danger 2 seconds before an untrained person. And in 2 seconds you can do a lot: dive into the shelter, pull the trigger, hit the bayonet ... "
Among the students of Nina Pavlovna there was a soldier by the name of Nurlumbekov. He spoke very bad Russian. Petrov spent a lot of time and effort to let the fighter learn to speak. And even more so that he, who does not believe in himself at all, learns how to shoot perfectly. Once she even went to the trick: during the exercises, standing a little behind Nurlumbekova, she herself made a shot. When they began to inspect targets, everyone praised the newcomer very much. And he, inspired by luck, believed in himself. And really became a good sniper.
Never, even in the most dangerous moments, Nina Pavlovna did not lose her composure. So, in winter, the 1944 of the year, the regiment in which the sniper served, stood in the area of the Zarudin village of the Leningrad region. This village was occupied by the Germans, it was necessary to dislodge the enemy, but the real battle was in no way cultivated. And then Nina Pavlovna noticed the German signalman, who was trying to fix the telephone line. That's it: the fascists are pulling time to call in reinforcements ... Petrova shot out - the signalman fell. But almost immediately came the second - and this was struck by a sniper bullet. And then the third. The fascists managed to find a Soviet sniper, but Nina Pavlovna, taking advantage of the strong grounding, in time changed her position and again opened fire on the signalmen. The battle was unleashed, and the village was liberated.
In the same, 1944, Nina Pavlovna received two Orders of Glory - III and II degrees. Here are the memoirs of General Ivan Fedyuninsky, who signed the award documents: “Once, after the fights under the German Elbing, I signed representations to the government awards. My attention was drawn to the award list, filled with a sniper to Petrov, who was introduced to the Order of Glory, I degree. The award list indicated that Petrova 52 of the year. I didn’t want to believe my eyes: did she really have more than fifty?
I ask the chief of staff: “Maybe the typist made a typo?” No, there was no mistake ... By evening Petrova arrived. She was a thin, gray-haired, but still strong-looking woman, with a simple, wrinkled face. The soldier's gymnast was decorated with two orders of the Red Banner, the Order of the Patriotic War and two orders of Glory ... It turned out that she herself was on the front line all the time, but was never injured ... Nina Pavlovna was given a sniper rifle with an optical sight. On the butt they strengthened a gilded plate with the inscription: “To the senior petrova from the army commander”. In addition, I awarded the brave patriot with hours ... And already in the battles at the power station in Danzig, the sniper Petrova made the rifle silence several enemy machine-gun crews ... "
With a bonus clock, an opportunity came out: a week after the delivery, after the bombing, standing near the destroyed dugout, Nina Pavlovna discovered that there were no hours on her arm. Very upset. Almost all of her students rushed to find her. Looking for it until dark - and found!
There is one more fact in the military biography of Nina Pavlovna that it is difficult to even imagine. She alone disarmed and literally on herself dragged into the headquarters of the three fascists! Here is how she described it in a letter to her home: “... Yesterday I raised a soldier to the attack. They all respect me and rose as one, went on the offensive. And the German could not stand it, he decided, it is clear that a whole regiment is attacking him. Here we really beat them. I just fell behind, I look - three Fritz, all the way. I rifle at them: "Hyundai hoh!" Searched them and led them to the battalion commander. Yes, two of them either from fatigue or from fear could hardly walk. The first took on the shoulders of a fascist prisoner, and the second I carried. Sometimes we changed. They did not dare to utter a word ... "
In the spring of 1945, Nina Pavlovna, in whose personal account there were already a hundred fascists, was presented to the Order of Glory, I degree. Home, to my daughter and granddaughter, flew the news: “My dear, dear daughter! I'm tired of fighting, baby, it's already the fourth year at the front. Rather end this damned war and return home. How I want to hug you, kiss your sweet granddaughter! Maybe we will live to this happy day ... Soon I will be awarded the Order of Glory of I degree, so grandmother will be a full gentleman if she brings her head to the end ... "
I did not inform ... Nina Pavlovna died, but not from a fascist bullet. 1 May 1945, she, along with our mortar she drove in a car near the city of Stettin. Night, bad weather and visibility. The car fell off a broken bridge ...
She went to the front of an older woman of solid age - in 48 years. So arranged by nature, that in these years man’s strength is not the same, fatigue has been accumulated. It is doubly difficult to learn something new. But Nina Pavlovna, a native of the city of Lomonosov of the Leningrad region (then - Oranienbaum), decided to fight the fascists. Nothing held her back. And she fought - so much that endurance, endurance, courage, patience surprised everyone. She did not lag behind the young, but, on the contrary, gave them a head start.
Perhaps the solution to this lies in the fact that from early childhood Nina Pavlovna was used to tireless work? She grew up in a large family, where all the brothers and sisters sincerely and lovingly cared about each other. Even when Nina Pavlovna was just a girl Nina, the family moved to Leningrad, which became their family for life. Father died early, five children were left orphans.
Or maybe because Nina Pavlovna was never afraid to learn? She has mastered many professions, and each - well. To help her mother, Nina went to Vladivostok, to her relatives, where she entered the school and at the same time got a job as an accountant. Almost all the salary sent home. She worked as a typist at a shipyard in Revel, as a librarian at Svistroy, as an accountant in Gdov. And in the 1927 year, having already had a ten-year-old daughter, she returned to Leningrad.
Or is it a serious sports hobby? May be so. Nina Pavlovna perfectly swam, played basketball, rode a bicycle, engaged in horse riding and rowing. She graduated from the courses and began working as a physical education teacher. In 43, she became the captain of the Leningrad women's hockey team (and she was two years old), and a year earlier she won a skiing game. Approximately ten years before the start of the war, the future sniper took up gunfire, enrolling first in the shooting circle. True, not from the first days the rifle began to obey Nina Pavlovna. A big role was played by the head of the circle, who helped with advice and deed.
She graduated from a sniper school, began working as an instructor in bullet shooting. And in just one year 1936 released more than a hundred Voroshilov shooters! Nina Pavlovna had a nominal award rifle. And cups, medals and badges - more than seventy.
... The Soviet-Finnish war began. Nina Pavlovna at that time was 46 for years, she only heard refusals in the military registration and enlistment offices. However, she had a good experience in nursing - and Petrova achieved that she was taken to a rehabilitation hospital. Here she did not just perform her duties as a medical worker, but without any exaggeration, she replaced the fighters with her mother (by the way, she was called that until the end of her life). Nina Pavlovna was tirelessly at her post - it seemed that she never sleeps at all. I read books to fighters, washed clothes, combed them and shaved them.
At the beginning of World War II, Petrov was taken to the medical battalion. But already in November 1941, she transferred to the rifle battalion of the Tartu division. Together with this division, Nina Pavlovna defended her native Leningrad and subsequently marched half of Europe. And, as in a peaceful life, in the battalion she performed not one, but several things at once: she trained soldiers, kept her personal account of the killed fascists, went out in reconnaissance, performed the duties of a nurse. And again, the fighters replaced the mother: washed for them, darned, sewed collars.
It seemed that luck took care of Nina Pavlovna. One day, a German sniper took her to the sight and fired, but, to the point, he only shot through his cap and singed his hair.
“A sniper, you see, a youth,” Petrova said then. - His bullet spun in my hair.
Also, half in jest, in a letter she reported the incident to her daughter Xenia. In her newsletter, she generally preferred a light tone. Looking ahead, I’ll give a few lines from a letter written a few years later: “We are sitting with the senior lieutenant of artillery on the porch, the German strikes from the guns, the shells fall far behind the house. He says: "I have been fighting for the fourth year and have not even been injured yet." I answer him: "The fourth year and I am at war, is also not injured, despite the fact that all the time on the front line." He was summoned by the commander. A minute later the enemy shell exploded. Two people killed, several wounded. The senior lieutenant of the artillery was wounded in the arms and legs, scratched at me, stunned, a general concussion came out, which is why my back hurts. That boasted ... "
Here is her other letter. His tone is different, but from each line it is very well understood that for a long time Nina Pavlovna was lucky: “I sat on np, watched, froze, went to warm myself. My place was taken by a lieutenant and a sergeant. But immediately after my departure, they were wounded by fragments of an enemy shell. The next morning again sat on np. Gone for breakfast. Returning to the NP - and he is broken by a direct hit ... "
During the war years, Nina Pavlovna has prepared 512 snipers! The teacher from her was very patient. Often she simply amazed her students with her skill. So, once at a lesson I gave a task: to find and neutralize a masked sniper (her). On the search - 20 minutes. If the fighters do not find Nina Pavlovna, they should put a hat on a stick and lift it over their heads.
Nobody could notice the teacher, they had to lift the stick. And then Nina Pavlovna got up literally a few steps from the soldiers - all soaked, dirty:
- Eh, sons, what did you watch? So bad I teach you ...
Or such a case. The best student of the heroine, George Daudov (by the way, at first he also went to the laggards), perhaps, most often went with her "on the hunt." Once they tracked down two Germans who were dragging a log into a broken pillbox. Petrova asked:
- George, what do you think, who should be removed first?
“First,” replied the fighter.
- Not. Then the one that comes from behind will immediately understand that the sniper is working and jump into the trench. Let's remove the rear, then the first will in the heat of the moment decide that he stumbled, and we get the extra seconds. Remember: a good athlete responds to danger 2 seconds before an untrained person. And in 2 seconds you can do a lot: dive into the shelter, pull the trigger, hit the bayonet ... "
Among the students of Nina Pavlovna there was a soldier by the name of Nurlumbekov. He spoke very bad Russian. Petrov spent a lot of time and effort to let the fighter learn to speak. And even more so that he, who does not believe in himself at all, learns how to shoot perfectly. Once she even went to the trick: during the exercises, standing a little behind Nurlumbekova, she herself made a shot. When they began to inspect targets, everyone praised the newcomer very much. And he, inspired by luck, believed in himself. And really became a good sniper.
Never, even in the most dangerous moments, Nina Pavlovna did not lose her composure. So, in winter, the 1944 of the year, the regiment in which the sniper served, stood in the area of the Zarudin village of the Leningrad region. This village was occupied by the Germans, it was necessary to dislodge the enemy, but the real battle was in no way cultivated. And then Nina Pavlovna noticed the German signalman, who was trying to fix the telephone line. That's it: the fascists are pulling time to call in reinforcements ... Petrova shot out - the signalman fell. But almost immediately came the second - and this was struck by a sniper bullet. And then the third. The fascists managed to find a Soviet sniper, but Nina Pavlovna, taking advantage of the strong grounding, in time changed her position and again opened fire on the signalmen. The battle was unleashed, and the village was liberated.
In the same, 1944, Nina Pavlovna received two Orders of Glory - III and II degrees. Here are the memoirs of General Ivan Fedyuninsky, who signed the award documents: “Once, after the fights under the German Elbing, I signed representations to the government awards. My attention was drawn to the award list, filled with a sniper to Petrov, who was introduced to the Order of Glory, I degree. The award list indicated that Petrova 52 of the year. I didn’t want to believe my eyes: did she really have more than fifty? I ask the chief of staff: “Maybe the typist made a typo?” No, there was no mistake ... By evening Petrova arrived. She was a thin, gray-haired, but still strong-looking woman, with a simple, wrinkled face. The soldier's gymnast was decorated with two orders of the Red Banner, the Order of the Patriotic War and two orders of Glory ... It turned out that she herself was on the front line all the time, but was never injured ... Nina Pavlovna was given a sniper rifle with an optical sight. On the butt they strengthened a gilded plate with the inscription: “To the senior petrova from the army commander”. In addition, I awarded the brave patriot with hours ... And already in the battles at the power station in Danzig, the sniper Petrova made the rifle silence several enemy machine-gun crews ... "
With a bonus clock, an opportunity came out: a week after the delivery, after the bombing, standing near the destroyed dugout, Nina Pavlovna discovered that there were no hours on her arm. Very upset. Almost all of her students rushed to find her. Looking for it until dark - and found!
There is one more fact in the military biography of Nina Pavlovna that it is difficult to even imagine. She alone disarmed and literally on herself dragged into the headquarters of the three fascists! Here is how she described it in a letter to her home: “... Yesterday I raised a soldier to the attack. They all respect me and rose as one, went on the offensive. And the German could not stand it, he decided, it is clear that a whole regiment is attacking him. Here we really beat them. I just fell behind, I look - three Fritz, all the way. I rifle at them: "Hyundai hoh!" Searched them and led them to the battalion commander. Yes, two of them either from fatigue or from fear could hardly walk. The first took on the shoulders of a fascist prisoner, and the second I carried. Sometimes we changed. They did not dare to utter a word ... "
In the spring of 1945, Nina Pavlovna, in whose personal account there were already a hundred fascists, was presented to the Order of Glory, I degree. Home, to my daughter and granddaughter, flew the news: “My dear, dear daughter! I'm tired of fighting, baby, it's already the fourth year at the front. Rather end this damned war and return home. How I want to hug you, kiss your sweet granddaughter! Maybe we will live to this happy day ... Soon I will be awarded the Order of Glory of I degree, so grandmother will be a full gentleman if she brings her head to the end ... "
I did not inform ... Nina Pavlovna died, but not from a fascist bullet. 1 May 1945, she, along with our mortar she drove in a car near the city of Stettin. Night, bad weather and visibility. The car fell off a broken bridge ...
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