Marie Ljalková
Marie Ljalková | |
|---|---|
| Allegiance |  Soviet Union Czech Republic |
| Years of service | 1942–1945 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Unit | 1st Czechoslovak Independent Field Battalion |
| Battles / wars | Battle of Sokolovo |
| Awards | Order of the Red Star Czechoslovakian War Cross |
Marie Ljalková (born December 3, 1920) was a Czech sniper in the Soviet Army during World War II. Ljalková (neé Petrušáková) was born in Horodenka, Ukraine to a family of Volhynian Czechs. She lost her parents at the age 12, afterwards she lived with her aunt in Stanisławow (today Ivano-Frankivs'k, Ukraine). She met her first husband, Michal Ljalko, here.
After Nazi attack on USSR, Ljalková joined the 1st Czechoslovak Independent Field Battalion as a volunteer in March 1942, aged 21, and graduated from a three-month sniper school in Buzuluk.
Her first combat experience came during the three-day Battle of Sokolovo (March 8 - March 11, 1943) when she was credited with killing seven German soldiers, earning her immediate ace status. She later became a sniper instructor of the Czechoslovak and Soviet infantry, and was at some point an ambulance driver.
Awards
She was credited with at least 30 confirmed kills during the war[1], and earned recognition with the Soviet Order of the Red Star and the Czechoslovakian War Cross.
After World War II
After the war, she studied medicine, and worked as a military doctor in Olomouc and in the Central Military Hospital in Prague. After that she was moved to Brno hospital where she met her second husband, Václav Lastovecký. She eventually attained the rank of colonel, but due to health problems she left the Army and started to work as a tourist guide for Russian speaking tourists. She currently lives in Brno. [2]
References
- Láník, Jaroslav - Vojenské osobnosti československého odboje 1939-1945 (2005) ISBN 80-7278-233-9
- Benešová, Hana - Máme snajperku!, Reflex.cz (2009)
- Jičínská, Vendula - Zdravotnice vzala pušku a šla do první linie, Brněnský deník (2008)
Notes
- ^ Benešová 2009. This number is not exact according to Ljalková's own words, because the real numbers are not known.
- ^ Jičínská 2008
