Soviet female sniper(1923 –1944)
Alexandra Nikolaevna Shlyakhova (1923, Zaporozhye in Ukrainian SSR – October 7, 1944 in Latvian SSR) was a Soviet Union female sniper on the Eastern Front (World War II).[1]
Life and Military background
Aleksandra Shlyakhova was born in 1923 or 1924 in the city of Zaporozhye. Before the war, she worked at a factory. With the start of the war and the advance of the German forces, she was transferred to the Ural Mountains along with her mother, sister and brother.[2]
She was called to the ranks of the Red Army by the military registration and registration department of Cheburkal region. In December 1942, she graduated with honor from the Central Women's Sniper Training School, and after graduation, on behalf of the Central Committee of the Komsomol, Alexandra received a personal sniper rifle with a monogram on the butt. She was active in the army since August 1943. She fought as part of the 21st Guards Rifle Division.[3]
She was injured by a mine on December 1, 1943, and returned to her ward after treatment in the hospital. By order of the division on December 5, 1943, the sniper of the 8th Rifle Company of the 59th Guards Rifle Regiment, Sergeant major. Shlyakhova, was awarded the Order of the Red Star. In January 1944, she was awarded the medal "For Courage" for the destruction of 55 enemy soldiers and officers. On January 31 of the same year, she was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. She reached the rank of sergeant and was the commander of a sniper platoon.[4]
Aleksandra Shlyakhova died on October 7, 1944, in the territory of the Latvian SSR. She was buried in Dobele city. Posthumously she was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War 1st degree. Her sniper rifle is kept in the Central Armed Forces Museum of Moscow.
Order of the Red Star
Order of the Patriotic War