Semyon Danilovich Nomokonov (; 12 August 1900 – 15 July 1973) was a Soviet sniper during World War II credited with 367 kills, thus being considered as one of the deadliest snipers in history.
Early life
Nomokonov was born in the settlement of
Delyun in
Zabaykalsky Krai, Russia (then
Russian Empire), to a poor family of hunters, and from childhood lived in the
taiga. Nomokonov first used a rifle at the age of 7. He hunted
Sable, Manchurian wapiti and
Elk, and was nicknamed Eye of the Kite. Nomokonov was
baptized at the age of 15 and received the name Semyon. In 1928 Nomokonov moved to the settlement of Nizhny Stan in the Russian Shilkinsky District. He continued hunting and also practiced carpentry.
War
Nomokonov started his military service in August 1941, initially in a subsistence farm of a
regiment. Then he made crutches for the wounded. Nomokonov became a sniper by chance. In the fall of 1941 he was evacuating one of the wounded, when he noticed a German, aiming at him. Nomokonov killed him with his own rifle. According to another version, in October 1941 Nomokonov received a rifle and decided to test it. To avoid wasting the rounds, Nomokonov tested the rifle on a German, who was moving along the wooded lake shore, bending down. After that Nomokonov was transferred to a sniper
platoon. He started to shoot from a Mosin–Nagant rifle without a
telescopic sight. Nomokonov fought at the
Valdai Heights,
Karelian Isthmus,
Ukraine,
Lithuania,
East Prussia and then in
Manchuria. He initially marked the number of kills on his
smoking pipe. Nomokonov was wounded eight times and suffered a
blast injury twice.
As a sniper instructor, Nomokonov trained over 150 soldiers.
After the war
Nomokonov returned home on a horse. He continued practicing carpentry in Nizhny Stan, but then moved to the settlement of Zugalay, where his elder sons were living. He built a house and continued hunting during free time. In the fall of 1945, Nomokonov received a horse, binoculars and a rifle no. 24638 for his military service. According to Nomokonov's daughter Zoya Babuyeva, he was a taciturn person and did not like to talk much about the war.
Nomokonov died in Zugalay and was interred there.
Nomokonov left nine children and 49 grandchildren.
Awards
-
Order of Lenin
-
Order of the Red Banner
-
Two Order of the Red Star
-
Medal "For Battle Merit"
-
campaign and jubilee medals
Notes
