Sniping In France - free ebook by H. (Hesketh) Hesketh-Prichard

SNIPING IN FRANCE

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FOREWORD By General Lord Horne, G.C.B.

It may fairly be claimed that when hostilities ceased on November 11th, 1918, we had outplayed Germany at all points of the game. Perhaps as a nation we failed in imagination. Possibly Germany was more quick to initiate new methods of warfare or to adapt her existing methods to meet prevailing conditions. Certainly we were slow to adopt, indeed, our souls abhorred, anything unsportsmanlike. Had it been left to us, “Gas” would have taken no part in the Great European War. But, however lacking in

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SNIPING IN FRANCE CHAPTER I THE GENESIS OF SNIPING

Readers of this book must realize the necessarily very narrow and circumscribed point of view from which it is written. It is simply an account of some memories of sniping, observation and scouting in France and Flanders, and its purpose is to preserve, as far as may be, in some form the work and training of a class of officers and men whose duties became ever more important as the war progressed. It is in the hope that the true value of sniping and scouting will continue to be recognized in the

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I

In my last chapter I attempted to give some history of the small beginnings of organized sniping, and I will now turn to the actual work of sniping in the line. Sniping, which is to be defined in a broad way as the art of very accurate shooting from concealment or in the open, did not exist as an organized thing at the beginning of the war. The wonderful rapid fire which was the glory of the original expeditionary force was not sniping, nor was it, beyond a certain degree, accurate. Its aim was

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II

Towards the end of October, 1915, I was ordered to report to the 48th Division, then holding a line in the neighbourhood of Hebuterne. I was to proceed to Divisional Headquarters behind Pas, and was there ordered to Authie, where a number of officers were to come for instruction. This instruction was, as usual, to be divided between the back areas and the front line. I had applied for the services of my friend, Lieut. G.M. Gathorne-Hardy, an experienced shot, and skilled user of the telescope, w

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CHAPTER III EARLY DAYS WITH THE 11TH CORPS AND FIRST ARMY

Towards the end of 1915 my services were again borrowed by the First Army, this time to take a class of Sniping and Intelligence officers through the course of sniping and observation which was already in operation in the Third Army, and also to lecture to a G.H.Q. Intelligence Class on the Observation and Intelligence side of sniping—a big subject. I went up the long road through Doullens, Frévent and St. Pol, which I had traversed so many times from the days when it was impassable with French

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CHAPTER IV THE FIRST ARMY SCHOOL OF SCOUTING, OBSERVATION AND SNIPING

The First Army Sniping School was formed for the purpose of training officers, who might act as Instructors in the various Corps Schools, Brigades and Battalions throughout the Army. The system of Corps Schools was, as I have said, peculiar to the First Army, who, for the next year and a half, turned out three snipers to any other Army’s one. Further, the First Army School became recognized throughout the B.E.F. as the training place of observers with the telescope. Indeed, at a later date, we w

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CHAPTER V SOME SNIPING MEMORIES

When first I came into the First Army area the main point which struck me was the difference between the trenches where my work now lay and those of the Third Army. The Third Army had, of course, taken over from the French, and their trenches were really in the nature of deep ditches, without any vast amount of sandbags. Sometimes these trenches extended through a clayey formation, but more often they were in chalk. This chalk made front line observation in the bright sunlight somewhat trying, a

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CHAPTER VI AN OBSERVER’S MEMORIES

As I have already said, when sniping was started in the B.E.F., we owed our fairly rapid and certainly very definite success in the task of dominating the Hun to a single factor. Whereas the German sniper usually worked alone, we put up against him two men, one of whom, “A,” used the telescope and kept a close watch for “targets” upon a good sector of the enemy’s line, while “B,” his comrade, used the rifle and shot at the “targets” which “A” found. The result was that at a hundred points along

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CHAPTER VII THE CURRICULUM AND WORK AT FIRST ARMY SCHOOL OF S.O.S.

The making of a good shot in a course of seventeen days is no easy matter. The First Army School of Sniping was, as I have said, founded for the instruction of officers and N.C.O.’s who should, in their turn, instruct, and all who came to it were supposed to be already “good shots.” As a matter of fact the standard was wonderfully high, and we very rarely had a hopeless case. Did such a man put in his appearance, there was only one thing to be done, and that was to send him back to his battalion

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CHAPTER VIII WILIBALD THE HUN

[This and the following chapter are representative of the two sides of sniping— i.e. —shooting and observation. The incidents occurred.] “Who’ve you got there?” “Mr. Harrison, sir; killed, sir.” A short, red-haired officer ranged up alongside the stretcher, turned back the blanket, and somewhat hurriedly replaced it. “Damn those pointed bullets,” he said, speaking in a detached kind of way and half to himself. His mind was working already on its problem. “Where did it happen?” “Caisson Trench, s

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I

The two snipers of the Royal Midlandshires, the shooter and the observer, were comfortably in their post. The shooter was longing for a cigarette, which regulations forbade lest the enemy—two hundred yards away—should see the smoke issuing from the concealed loophole; but the observer, Private William Entworth, was studying the parapet opposite. Suddenly he spoke: “Line of water-tower. Red sandbag. Left. Two feet.” Saunders’ eyes picked up the water-tower in the distance, ranged to the parapet,

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II

Meantime we must follow Mr. Nowell down the trench. He was full of his thoughts and almost collided round a corner with a red-hatted Captain. “Sorry, sir,” said he, saluting. “Righto! my mistake. Can you tell me where I shall find the I.S.O. of this battalion?” asked the Staff Officer. “My name’s Nowell, sir. I am the Sniping and Intelligence Officer.” “Good. I’m Cumberland of Corps Intelligence.” Nowell looked up with new interest. He had heard of Cumberland as a man of push and go, who had mad

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III

The next afternoon the aeroplane photos duly arrived, together with a note from Cumberland: “ Dear Nowell , “Am sending the photographs of K.22.C. and D. taken to-day, also some I have looked out of the same squares which were taken six weeks ago. It would appear from a comparison that a good deal of work has been put in by the Hun round C. 3.5. It looks like a biggish H.Q. I have informed C.R.A. who says it will be dealt with at 3 pip emma to-morrow, 18th inst. “ C. Cumberland, “Capt. G.S.”...

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IV

It is five minutes to three on the following day, and the bright sun which has shone all the morning has worked round behind the British position. In the morning two gunner F.O.O.’s have visited the trenches, compared certain notes with Mr. Nowell, and gone back to their Observation Posts on the higher ground. Nowell himself has decided to watch events from the O.P. in which was laid the first scene of this history. He hurries along to it, and calls out: “Who’s in there?” “Private Saunders. Priv

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V

And finally an extract from “Comic Cuts,” the Corps Intelligence Summary of the next day: “A cat having been observed by our snipers daily sleeping on the parados of a supposedly disused enemy trench at K.22.C.3.4. it was deduced from the regularity of its habits that the cat lived near-by, and—owing to the fact that the German trenches at this point are infested by rats—probably in a dug-out occupied by enemy officers. Aeroplane photographs were taken which disclosed the existence of a hitherto

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CHAPTER X THE TRAINING OF THE PORTUGUESE

When first we saw the Portuguese troops upon the roads of France, we did not dream that it would fall to our lot to train them in sniping, scouting and observation, but it did so fall, and after one or two Portuguese officers had been attached to the school for instruction, we were suddenly ordered to take an entire Portuguese class. This was the first of three or four, and we usually had eight officers and forty N.C.O.’s and men at a time. The Portuguese were equipped largely, as is known, by t

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CHAPTER XI THE MODERN SCOUT

In all previous wars, the scouts and patrols have had their own special place. In this, the greatest of all wars, although there was much scouting done—far more than in any previous war—yet in many respects it was of so different a nature that a new era in these practices may fairly be said to have set in. In former wars, the individual scout had far more chance. In the Boer War, for instance, Major F.R. Burnham, D.S.O., an American who held a commission in the British Army, made a wonderful nam

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APPENDIX A

The following is a programme which has given excellent results when training Brigade, Divisional, Corps Observers and Lovat Scouts Observers....

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APPENDIX B General Course at First Army S.O.S. School

(From this the Battalion I.O. can frame Programmes of work to suit any period of Rest.) The following lectures are given during the Course, and are attended by all students except in the case of No. 11, which is attended by the officers only. ( Note :—Nos. 13 and 14 are given on two evenings during the last week of the Course.) In addition to the above and to the Programme, the officers go thoroughly into such subjects as: Practical work is also given to all students in the following subjects at

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PART I

Is a great cause of inaccuracy, as the resistance offered to the bullet in its passage down the bore is varied, and thus the shooting of the rifle becomes inconsistent. This prevents correct “seizing” in the breech, and tends to lead to a blow-back. If a blow-back occurs there is a loss of driving power, muzzle velocity is decreased and accuracy is lost. Is caused by misuse of the pull-through, and usually occurs at the muzzle, but in cases of extreme negligence it may be found in the chamber. W

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PART II

The importance of patrolling cannot be exaggerated. It is a means of keeping in touch with the enemy and of obtaining much valuable information. In open warfare we must patrol day and night. In trench warfare, observation to a great extent does away with patrolling by day. We should always look upon the ground between the hostile armies as being ours, and should make it so by patrols. This gives our men a greater sense of security, and also has the effect of destroying the enemy moral . Patrolli

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PART III

Apart from the regular issue of G.S. Telescopes, there are now in the B.E.F. about 40,000 or 50,000 more or less high-class telescopes. These have been obtained from all kinds of sources, from deer-stalkers, yachtsmen, etc., and the care and use of these glasses has become a matter of great importance. The first thing to remember is that the lenses of all telescopes are made of very soft glass, and that this glass is polished to a very high degree. A few scratches on the outer surface of the obj

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PART IV

Remember that straws show which way the wind blows, and that apparently trivial information may be of great importance if considered in correct perspective. For instance, three small parties of Germans seen in front of a battalion sector is not an item of much interest, but if such parties are seen by all or most of the observers on a divisional front, enemy movement of importance is indicated, so include everything observed which is of the slightest importance. Remember that your report passes

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PART V

It is difficult to lay down any hard and fast rules on this subject, as so much depends upon the prevailing conditions. The following notes should therefore be looked upon as tentative hints or suggestions. To commence, it is well to remember that these men, in addition to being fully-trained soldiers, have received specialist training in such subjects as map-reading, obtaining and reporting information, scouting, accurate shooting, etc., therefore their value to the Company Commander, whether i

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PART VI

As each battalion now holds three of these rifles on charge for sniping purposes (G.R.O. 3567) it is essential that your snipers shall understand the main differences between this and the R.S.M.L.E. It is as well to understand at once that a far higher degree of accuracy can be obtained from the Enfield 1914 than from the R.S.M.L.E., and this is the reason why it has been issued to snipers. The higher degree of accuracy is due to two main causes:— The following are the main differences which mus

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