Nickname(s) Sepp Years of service 1942–1945 Name Josef Allerberger | Allegiance Nazi Germany Rank Obergefreiter Unit 3rd Mountain Division | |
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Born 26 December 1924
Wals-Siezenheim, Austria ( 1924-12-26 ) Battles/wars World War II
Eastern Front Died March 2, 2010, Wals-Siezenheim, Austria Battles and wars Eastern Front, World War II | ||
Josef 'Sepp' Allerberger (26 December 1924 – 2 March 2010) was a German sniper in the II Battalion of the 144th Gebirgsjager Regiment of the 3rd Mountain Division on the Eastern Front, and was credited with 257 kills.
Contents
Biography
He was born in the vicinity of Wals-Siezenheim, Austria, on 26 December 1924 (although in his memoirs he states he was born in September), the son of a local carpenter. Sent to the Eastern Front in June 1943 as a machine gunner, Allerberger was lightly wounded at Stavropol and experimented with a captured Soviet Mosin–Nagant 91/30 rifle with a 3.5x PU telescopic sight whilst recuperating. Eventually he made 27 kills before being sent for sniper training at Seetaleralpe, and being assigned a Karabiner 98k sniper variant with 4x telescopic sight. At the end of the War he would often use a Gewehr 43 with ZF4 4x telescopic sight and an MP40 submachine gun.
During combat, Allerberger was noted for using the Wehrmacht-taught technique of an umbrella with the cloth removed and foliage woven into the arms which he held to his front in order to camouflage himself. This camouflage was quickly assembled and lightweight and adaptable to many circumstances.
After the war, Allerberger worked, like his father, as a carpenter. He died on 1 March 2010 in Wals-Siezenheim.
Sepp's advice on sniping
- never shoot a target you haven't positively identified
-shoot only once from each position
-compassion with the enemy is suicide
-big three "hows": how to get to a position unnoticed, how to leave a position unseen, and how to change between positions fast and unseen
-dare to move under enemy fire (the rabbit jump), if you get pinned down you die
Awards and decorations
Iron Cross 2nd & 1st class
Infantry Assault Badge
Wound Badge (silver)
Sniper's Badge (gold)
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Books and illustrations
In 2005, a book titled Sniper on the Eastern Front: The Memoirs of Sepp Allerberger, Knight's Cross ISBN 1-84415-317-7 was published, written by Albrecht Wacker based on interviews with Allerberger. The book was noted for suggesting that the Soviets had cannibalised their own comrades' corpses, and graphic depictions of torture. This translation into English is an abridged version of the book Im Auge des Jagers. The first three volumes of this work appeared under the title Der Wehrmachtsscharfschutze Franz Karner, as Allerberger was initially reluctant to be named.
According to his memoirs, Allerberger was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross by Field Marshal Ferdinand Schorner, the commander of Army Group Centre, on 20 April 1945, although no official documentation ever recorded the award. However, this was not uncommon at this late point in the war.