Sutkus - Sniper ace : from the eastern front to Siberia : the autobiography of a Wehrmacht sniper

Bruno Sutkus in the early autumn of 1944 in the Carpathian mountains. He carries the 98k carbine with Korntunnel sight fitment. The optic is the Ajak telescopic sight with four-fold magnification on the low swivel mounting. The binocular is a 6 30. He wears a brown sniper jacket with a hood.

Sniper Ace

This edition published in 2009 by Frontline Books,

an imprint of Pen & Sword Books Ltd,

47 Church Street, Barnsley, S. Yorkshire, S70 2AS

www.frontline-books.com

Copyright Munin Verlag GmbH, 2003

Translation Pen & Sword Books Limited, 2009

This edition Pen & Sword Books Limited, 2009

Introduction David L. Robbins, 2009

ISBN: 978-1-84832-548-7

ISBN 9781844684410 (epub)

ISBN 9781844684427 (prc)

Frontline Books and Munin Verlag both wish to express their gratitude to
Martin Benz for his major contribution to the production of the German- and
English-language editions of this book.

PUBLISHING HISTORY

Im Fadenkreuz: Tagebuch eines Scharfschtzen was originally published by
Munin Verlag in 2003. This is the first English-language edition of the text
and includes a new introduction by David L. Robbins.

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Maps drawn by Red Lion Prints

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Frontispiece

Bruno Sutkus in the Carpathian mountains in 1944.

Maps

The Journey of Bruno Sutkus, 1943-1997

Lithuania to Siberia

Plates

2 (Top) German heavy artillery replying to a Soviet attack in the Carpathians.
(Bottom) German MG 42 machine-gun nest.

4 (Top Left) General der Panzertruppe Frite-Hubert Grser, C-in-C, 4. Panzer-Armee, who expressed his admiration of Sutkus's skills in several letters of recognition. Grser held the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords.
(Top Right) Generalmajor Paul Scheuerpflug, GOC, 68. Inf Div, received the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross and was promoted to Generalleutnant with effect from 16 March 1945. He died under Soviet administration in the former concentration camp at Auschwite on 8 August 1945.
(Bottom) A sniper pair in action.

13 (Top) The highest grade of the Sniper Proficiency Badge with gold edging.
(Bottom) German Red Cross nurse Erika Lenz first met Sutkus on the Vistula in 1944 and remained in touch with him during the decades of his banishment in the Soviet Union.

14 (Top) A work party from the Scherenkov coal mine, Sutkus kneeling at the rear.
(Centre) The author during his banishment to eastern Siberia, 1960.
(Bottom) At Leketschai in Lithuania at the grave of his father (d.1960)

16 (Top) Sutkus addressing officers at the Lithuanian Military Academy on sniper operations and tactics.
(Bottom) A reunion at Dortmund station in 1990 with former German Red Cross nurse Erika Regli-Lenz, after forty-five years apart.

17 (Top) Lithuania 1996: Bruno Sutkus addresses young soldiers of the Lithuanian Army on his skills as a sniper.
(Bottom) Sutkus's front-line experiences were scrutinised after Lithuanian independence was obtained. Here he is seen with Lieutenant-Colonel Arvydas Polins and staff of the Lithuanian Army training centre. Lithuanian officers read through his Wehrmacht papers with astonishment.

18 (Top) Karo meistras Master in war is the title of this long report about Sutkus appearing in The Lithuanian Echo of 6 May 1995.
(Bottom) In 1995 the Parliamentary Secretary of State and Bundestag Deputy Gertrud Dempwolf visited Sutkus in Vilnius, Lithuania in connection with his plea for permission to emigrate to Germany, Lithuanian Echo, 7 October 1995.

20 (Top) The efforts to obtain Sutkus's papers were long and drawn out. This letter of 3 May 1963 came from the West German Embassy, Moscow.
(Bottom) Former German Red Cross Nurse Erika Lenz (now Regli-Lenz) wrote on 11 January 1991 requesting help for Sutkus from the German Foreign Minister Genscher.

27 (Top) Commanding General XXXXVIII Panzer Corps Generalleutnant Maximilian Reichsfreiherr von Edelsheim letter to Sutkus, dated 26 November 1944, on the occasion of his 111th success and enclosing a gift in reward.
(Bottom) Preliminary advice of 21 November 1944 to Sutkus from Grenadier Regiment 196 of his award of the highest class of the Sniper Proficiency Badge.

28 Preliminary advice to Sutkus from Grenadier Regiment 196 and Silver class award certificate, dated 29 November 1944, for his
award of the Infantry Assault Badge.

29 (Top) Sniper award certificate of 23 November 1944 marking Sutkus's seventy-fifth confirmed claim, signed by 4. PanzerArmee C-in-C General der Panzertruppe Frite-Hubert Grser.
(Bottom) On the occasion of Sutkus's 150th confirmed claim the author received a presentation watch from the General.

Maps

The Journey of Bruno Sutkus: 19431997

1. Gumbinnen, East Prussia
2. Vilnius, Lithuania
3. Debica, Poland
4. Tarnopol, Poland
5. Meseritz, Germany
6. Lemberg, Ukraine
7. Slobodka-Lesna, Ukraine
8. Beskid mountain range
9. Kruzlova, Czechoslovakia
10. Gleiwitz, Poland
11. Burgstdt, Germany
12. Stbnich, Germany
13. Brest-Litovsk, Poland
14. Leipzig, Germany
15. Vilnius, Lithuania
16. Fichtenhhe, Germany
17. Gumbinnen, East Prussia
18. Leketschai, Lithuania
19. Irkutsk, Siberia
20. Rudovka, Siberia
21. Sherenkov, Siberia
22. Vilnius, Lithuania
23. Berlin, Germany

Map 1 (opposite page) shows the country borders as they stood in 1943; map 2 (above) shows the de facto borders of 1945.

I have not been to war.