A cuckoo is a

military slang Military slang is an array of colloquial terminology used commonly by military personnel, including slang which is unique to or originates with the armed forces. In English-speaking countries, it often takes the form of abbreviations/acronyms or d ...

term for a

sniper A sniper is a military or paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with telescopic si ...

, disguised in a sprawling tree. This word has been particularly applied to the Finnish

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

snipers and the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

snipers, who took pot-shots at enemy troops from hidden vantage points. Shooting from a tree is a well-known method of hunting dangerous predatory animals. In the USSR, shooting from a tree was recommended when setting up an ambush for a bear, if the hunter was armed with a smoothbore 12 gauge shotgun. During World War II, before 1944, the

high command left many cuckoos behind as their armies retreated, in order to delay the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

rush. In September 1941, during the

defense of Odessa The siege of Odessa, known to the Soviets as the defence of Odessa, lasted from 8 August until 16 October 1941, during the early phase of Operation Barbarossa, the Axis powers, Axis invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II. Odesa, Odes ...

, Soviet sniper L. M. Pavlichenko shot and killed

MG-34 The MG 34 (shortened from German: ''Maschinengewehr 34'', or "machine gun 34") is a German recoil-operated air-cooled general-purpose machine gun, first tested in 1929, introduced in 1934, and issued to units in 1936. It introduced an entirely n ...

machine gun crew (two soldiers from the

4th Romanian Army The Fourth Army (Armata a 4-a Română) was a field army (a military formation) of the Romanian Land Forces active from the 19th century to the 1990s. Its successor is the 4th Infantry Division. History World War I The Fourth Army fought u ...

) and one enemy officer from a position in a

maple tree ''Acer'' is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the soapberry family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated si ...

. She fired four times from a 7.62mm M1891/30 bolt-action rifle with PE optical sight, wearing a non-standard self-made shaggy camouflage suit over her military uniform. It was later revealed that the killed officer was a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

G. Caragea from the headquarters of the Romanian army On April 5, 1945, on the front line near the city of

Rothenburg Rothenburg is a German language placename and refers to: Places *Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Bavaria, Germany *Rothenburg, Oberlausitz, Saxony, Germany *Rothenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany *Rothenburg, Switzerland, Canton of Lucerne, Sw ...

, Jan Zyża, a private in the 26th Infantry Regiment of the 9th Infantry Division of the 2nd Polish Army, was shot dead by a German sniper in a tree. After the first shot, the sniper was discovered and killed by fire from an

anti-tank rifle An anti-tank rifle is an anti-materiel rifle designed to penetrate the vehicle armor, armor of armored fighting vehicles, most commonly tanks, armored personnel carriers, and infantry fighting vehicles. The term is usually used for weapons that ca ...

. Japanese snipers repeatedly shot at US troops from trees.Tree climbers //

Handbook on Japanese Military Forces War Department Technical Manual TM-E 30-480 Handbook On Japanese Military Forces dated 15 September 1944 was the US Army's guide to the Japanese armed forces for the use of troops in the field. The "E" stands for "enemy." It was 8" × 10½", bo ...

. Technical Manual. TM-E 340-480 (15 September 1944) page 351

In popular culture

The 2002 Russian film '' The Cuckoo'' tells a story of Finnish cuckoo sniper.

References

Military slang and jargon Military snipers Military tactics {{slang-stub

In popular culture

See also

References