Allied Snipers

currently reading the book terrible victory by Mark Zuehlke about the canadian army in the scheldt, several mentions of Canadian snipers. and to the left handed sniper thing, i believe the one in the movie Saving private Ryan was a lefty too?

 

G'day
Am half way through a really good read at the moment, it is titled Gallipoli Sniper by John Hamilton.
It is the story of Billy Sing and his exploits during WW1 and his 200 odd kills.
Came home a hero and died a pauper,how often does this happen?
Cheers

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sergeant_H.A._Marshall_of_the_Sniper_Section,_The_Calgary_Highlanders.jpg

I have this photo in a book called not in vain which is a collection of photos by Ken Bell taken during the war and then of the same people or places into the early 1960s.

On Wikpedia it states the following:
"
Harold A. Marshall was a Canadian scout and sniper sergeant who served in the Second World War with the Calgary Highlanders' Scout and Sniper Platoon.
On 30 January 1942 the Hamilton Spectator mentioned him in an article about ongoing training simulations the Highlanders were engaged in at an undisclosed location in England.

He was wounded on 15 December 1944.[1]

The well-known photograph shown here was taken by Army photographer Ken Bell of the Canadian Film and Photo Unit near Fort Brasschaat in Belgium in September 1944. He is carrying a Lee-Enfield No. 4 Mk 1 (T) and wears a modified version of the Denison smock. Other equipment includes a No. 36M grenade and a camouflage face veil worn as a head covering. The handle of a Kukri can be seen above his belt at his left side.

In 1973, he was profiled again for Bell's commemorative book Not in Vain, which showed him as a curling enthusiast back in Calgary."

http://www.mgtrust.org/burma.htm This site mentions Gurkhas as snipers in Burma and India.

In a teacher's unit on the Veterans Affairs Canada site it mentions Aboriginal soldiers as snipers http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ach/lr/ks/cr/pubs/vet-eng.asp

http://www.imperialoil.ca/canada-english/thisis/publications/2004Q2/pages/onJunoBeach.html
"..."Nobody talked much about the war until 40 years after it was over," says William Bettridge of Brampton, Ont., who served as a sniper with the Queen's Own Rifles during the war. "It wasn't until 1984, when there was a major celebration to mark the 40th anniversary of D-Day, that there was much real attention paid to Canada's involvement in the war and people began opening up."

more from wikipedia...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sniper "...For example during the close-in on Dunkirk, British snipers were able to significantly delay German infantry trying to reach Dunkirk. This prompted the British to once again upscale their training of specialized sniper units. British snipers were trained in the obvious marksmanship skills and taught to blend in with the environment, often by using special headgear that concealed them. However, the British Army offered sniper training exclusively to officers and non-commissioned officers, which reduced their effectiveness considerably...." and "...In the United States armed forces, sniper training was only very elementary and focused on being able to hit targets over long distances. Snipers were required to be able to hit a body over 400 meters away, and a head over 200 meters away. There was almost no concern with the ability to blend into the environment. Sniper training also varied from place to place, resulting in a wide range of qualities of snipers. The main reason the US did not extend their training beyond long-range shooting was the limited deployment of US soldiers until the Normandy Invasion. During the campaigns in North Africa and Italy, most fighting occurred in arid and mountainous regions where limited concealment was possible, in contrast to Western and Central Europe...."

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canadian_Sniper_in_Second_World_War.jpg

http://www.ww2incolor.com/canada/italy_orsogna+sniper.html

http://books.google.ca/books?id=WVA4JO1eBiAC&pg=PA134&lpg=PA134&dq=Canadian+snipers+world+war+II&source=bl&ots=P30ba1F3U1&sig=Cb9V6oEcm3XLdDdYTKYSjcWWIvc&hl=en&ei=ZoXuSvy8PIikMIrprYQM&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CBwQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=Canadian%20snipers%20world%20war%20II&f=false

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Joseph_Gregory "Credited with several kills, he participated in the Dieppe Raid Dieppe Raid

The Dieppe Raid, also known as The Battle of Dieppe or Operation Jubilee, during the World War II, was an Allies of World War II attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe, Seine-Maritime on the Northern coast of France on 19 August 1942....
where he lost an eye to a ricocheted bullet, and his actions earned him the Military Medal
Military Medal ..."in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the combined attack on Dieppe. Attached to the Battalion Headquarters, Gregory had been deployed four times to find enemy snipers shooting into the headquarters.

He became a cause celebre after his return to Canada and was employed in Canadian Army recruiting."

http://www.amazon.co.uk/British-Snipers-Reich-C-Shore/dp/1853672920



His account of the Dieppe raid appeared in TIME magazine's October 26, 1942 issue, and he was also interviewed for the December 1 Hamilton Spectator."

 

I think it was last year when I read "All the Wat to Berllin: A Paratrooper at War in Europe" by James Megellas. If you haven't read it, Megellas was a US paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Div. He fought at Anzio and later in Market Garden. He distinguished himself in battle numerous times. I believe it was when his unit moved up to positions near the Rhine when Megellas mentions that he has brought along a sniper rifle whit him. If I'm not mistaken, he actually said he jumped at Market Garden with this piece of kit. In the book he says he made good use of this rifle. Perhaps I can find the passages and post them.

 

Some pictures of British Snipers from the IWM archive,
This one is wearing an SS camo-smock



DESCRIPTION: A sniper demonstrates his camouflage at a sniper school in a French village, 27 July 1944.



How interesting that no one picked up on this and started banging on about 'War Crimes'!

 

Some info from present day sniper training that is relevent to WW2.
British Sniper Training - The Basic Cadre





This looks unusual alright. Seems a very uncomfortable position to be in for any particular length of time.

 

With British Snipers to the Reich......by Captain C. Shore.

Captain C. Shore took part in the British landings at D-Day,and fought in Normandy and northern Europe.

 

With British Snipers to The Reich.....by Captain C. Shore.

Chapters.

1/ Brief Odyssey.
2/ All Sniping.
3/ British Weapons and Equipment.
4/ Foreign Weapons.
5/ Pistols.
6/ Machine Guns.
7/ Ammunition.
8/ German Weapon Training.
9/ Mainly in England.
10/ Hunting as Sniper Training.
11/ History of British Sniping.
12/ British Sniping in World War 2.
13/ Miscellany.
14/ How a Sniper Was Made.
15/ One Man Sniping School............................iv'e just noticed the link provided by Macrusk.....sorry about that.

 

When talking about First World War Snipers, there is a marvellous read called Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden. It is a fictional piece about two Cree lads who are snipers. Great detail and well researched. When I started this book at three in the afternoon, I was twenty pages from finishing at 4 the next morning. Couldn't put it down.

A related question was whether the Sniper had a Skill at Arms insignia? Anyone know about this?

cheers,
phil

 

BOUGAINVILLE ISLAND. 30/12/1944. PRIVATE T. HALL, 25TH INFANTRY BATTALION (MILITIA) PICKING OFF A JAPANESE SNIPER IN A TALL TREE DURING THE AUSTRALIAN ADVANCE ON THE ENEMY POSITIONS IN THE PIATERAPAIA SECTOR. Rifle .303 Pattern 1914 (P-14)

TARAKAN, BORNEO, 05/05/1945. CORPORAL C.C. DONNELLEY, (1), AND SERGEANT G.W. BURLEY, (2), MEMBERS OF 2/4 COMMANDO REGIMENT, SIGHTING A SNIPER TIED TO A TREE ABOUT 100 YARDS TO THE WEST OF THE RIDGE.

BEAUFORT, BORNEO. 15/08/1945 PRIVATE (PTE) L. TONKS, A SNIPER, WITH PTE H. O'FRAY AND PTE L. WAUGH WHO ARE SPOTTING FOR HIM AND SUPPORTING HIM FROM A C COMPANY 2/43RD INFANTRY BATTALION POSITION.

New Guinea. Goodview Junction. Private Clarry Elliott, of Dimboola, Vic, an AIF sniper at Goodview Junction examines the British made pattern 1918 telescopic sight mounted on his No 3 MK1*(T) .303 calibre sniper"s rifle.
Another P-14
Spider

I´ve read that the Japanese liked a lot to use snipers tied to trees, but, which was the preferred method of dealing with them: "Spray and pray" with artillery, air attack, MG fire, or countersniping like in the pictures Spider posted?

By the way, an interesting addition to the allied snipers´ ranks in Buna was "Carlson´s Gun", a Digger 25 pounder used experimentally for pinpoint flat trajectory attacks on bunkers, trenches, even VIP-looking Japanese officers!

Here´s a picture of the lad:

 

Dad gained his snipers badge with the Royal Fusiliers in 1941 after a course at the school above,(him + 1.officer sent) he always had extremely long sight and as a child i remember he could read the number of an oncoming bus miles away before anyone else.
Did'nt do him mutch good when they converted to RA though, as he did'nt even have a rifle then

 

Sgt. Lorne Bartlett

RHLI
32 kills


InsideHalton Article: Lorne Barlett: A Canadian sniper


http://media.mmgcommunity.topscms.com/acrobat/34/72/1e84ef41448c975058cba784fe1a.pdf

 

From: Australian War Memorial - AJRP Essays

http://ajrp.awm.gov.au/ajrp/ajrp2.nsf/5c2a7f65120f209aca256b6d0020a228/883ba42eefb9119aca256946001ef8ae/Essay_Text/26.2BE8?OpenElement&FieldElemFormat=gif
[FONT=ＭＳ ゴシック]AWM [/FONT][FONT=ＭＳ ゴシック]013952[/FONT]
http://ajrp.awm.gov.au/ajrp/ajrp2.nsf/5c2a7f65120f209aca256b6d0020a228/883ba42eefb9119aca256946001ef8ae/Essay_Text/27.2564?OpenElement&FieldElemFormat=gif
[FONT=ＭＳ ゴシック]AWM [/FONT][FONT=ＭＳ ゴシック]013965[/FONT]
http://ajrp.awm.gov.au/ajrp/ajrp2.nsf/5c2a7f65120f209aca256b6d0020a228/883ba42eefb9119aca256946001ef8ae/Essay_Text/28.2558?OpenElement&FieldElemFormat=gif
[FONT=ＭＳ ゴシック]AWM [/FONT][FONT=ＭＳ ゴシック]0139637[/FONT]Buna, Papua, 28 December 1942: These three photographs show an Australian Bren gunner firing at a Japanese sniper position in a palm tree, the palm tree after it had been fired upon, and the body of the Japanese sniper at the base of the palm tree. The Bren gunner’s technique was to fire several bursts at a point six feet from the top of the tree, so weakening its trunk. The weight of the sniper then caused the tree to break and he was killed when he hit the ground 60 feet below.

 

In July 1944 these 2 attachments from 5th Camerons history regarding Snipers. I met and spoke to one sniper, Les Toogood MM. but he was not prepared to speak of his actions. He just said it at times got a bit personal, seeing a face of who you were killing.

 

2 Battalion RUR had its own dedicated sniper section during WW2 but receives little mention in official accounts, suspect IMHO because at the time:

1. Not considered very British to shoot a chap whilst you were hiding, just not cricket .... and/or
2. Snipers are more suited to defensive positions rather than assaults on existing positions

Having said that, they were clearly used to protect reconnaissance patrols and keep the enemy's head down during periods inbetween assaults as shown by 2 separate references below....

"On the 8th June, the Commanding Officer made a reconnaissance for a Battalion attack on Cambes, this time attacking from the village of Afisy, some 1200 yards to the west of Le Mesnil, and 1500 yards north of Cambes. This reconnaissance was carried out with Lt-Colonel Hussey, commanding 33 Field Artillery who was killed later in his tank, and Lieut. Colonel Williamson, commanding East Riding Yeomanry, protected by the Battalion Snipers under command of Sjt F. Pancott."

"Observation by day and patrolling by night was the policy decided upon by the Commanding Officer, Lt-Col I. C. Harris. Undue activity by the Boche was dealt with immediately and severely either by the Battalions own 3" Mortars or by the Royal Artillery whose representative, Major Nicholson RA, was tireless in supporting our endeavours. However there was little scope for the snipers, because a fold of ground between the enemy lines and our own, caused the bulk of our positions to be in dead ground, so that the only good fire positions were the OPs from which alone the enemy could be seen; and it would have been foolhardy to compromise this valuable source of intelligence for the sake of shooting a few Germans. "

If this infantry Battalion had specialist snipers I wouldn't be surprised if all of the others did as well......