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diff --git a/old/68964-0.txt b/old/68964-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 70121ab..0000000 --- a/old/68964-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7283 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Sniping in France, by H. -Hesketh-Prichard - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Sniping in France - With notes on the scientific training of scouts, observers, and - snipers - -Author: H. Hesketh-Prichard - -Illustrator: Ernest Blaikley - -Contributor: Henry Sinclair Horne - -Release Date: September 11, 2022 [eBook #68964] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Brian Coe, Charlie Howard, and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The - Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SNIPING IN FRANCE *** - - - - - -Transcriber’s Note: Italic text is enclosed in _underscores_. - - - - -SNIPING IN FRANCE - - - - -_By the Same Author._ - - - WHERE BLACK RULES WHITE--HAYTI - THROUGH THE HEART OF PATAGONIA - HUNTING CAMPS IN WOOD AND WILDERNESS - THROUGH TRACKLESS LABRADOR - -[Illustration: - - _From a drawing by_] [_Ernest Blaikley._ - -The Sniper-Observer-Scout.] - - - - - SNIPING IN FRANCE - - With Notes on the Scientific Training of - Scouts, Observers, and Snipers - - - BY - MAJOR H. HESKETH-PRICHARD - D.S.O., M.C. - - _WITH A FOREWORD_ - BY - GENERAL LORD HORNE OF STIRKOKE - G.C.B., K.C.M.G., etc. - - - _Illustrations by ERNEST BLAIKLEY, Artists’ - Rifles, late Sergeant-Instructor at the First - Army School of S.O.S., the late Lieut. B. Head, - The Hertfordshire Regt., and from Photographs._ - - - _NEW YORK_: - _E. P. DUTTON AND COMPANY - 681, FIFTH AVENUE_ - - - - -_Printed in Great Britain._ - - - - -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 imagination, however slow to realize the -importance of novel methods, once we were convinced of their necessity, -once we decided to adopt them, we managed by a combination of brains -and energy, pluck and endurance, not only to make up the lost ground, -but to take the lead in the race. In proof of this statement I would -instance Heavy Field Artillery, High Explosives, Gas, Work in the Air, -etc., and many other points I could mention in which Germany started -ahead of us, including Sniping, Observation and Scouting. - -And for our eventual superiority we owe much to individuals, men who, -like the author of this book, Major Hesketh-Prichard, combined expert -knowledge with untiring energy, men who would not be denied and could -not recognize defeat. - -In the early days of 1915, in command of the 2nd Division, I well -remember the ever-increasing activity of the German sniper and the -annoyance of our officers and men in the trenches. I can recall the -acquisition by the Guards’ Brigade, then in the Brickfields of Cuinchy -with Lord Cavan as Brigadier, of two rifles fitted with telescopic -sights and the good use made of them. It was the experience of 1915 -that impressed upon us the necessity of fighting for superiority in all -branches of trench warfare, amongst which sniping held an important -position. It was therefore a great satisfaction to me upon my arrival -from the battlefields of the Somme in the autumn of 1916 to find -Major Hesketh-Prichard’s School firmly established in the First Army -area, thanks in a great measure to the support and encouragement of -Lieut.-General Sir Richard Haking, the Commander of the Eleventh Corps. - -From that time onwards, owing chiefly to the energy, enthusiasm, tact -and personality of its Commandant, the influence of the Sniping, -Observation and Scouting School spread rapidly throughout the British -Forces in France. Of its ups and downs, of its troubles and its -successes, and of its ultimate triumph, Major Hesketh-Prichard tells -the tale with modesty typical of the man. - -I may be permitted to add my testimony that in each phase of the war, -not only in the trenches, but in the field, we found the value of the -trained sniper, observer and scout. - -This book is not only a record of a successful system of training, -valuable as such to us soldiers, but also will be found to be full of -interest to the general reader. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAP. PAGE - - I.--THE GENESIS OF SNIPING 1 - - II.--THE SNIPER IN THE TRENCHES 25 - - III.--EARLY DAYS WITH THE XI. CORPS AND FIRST ARMY 56 - - IV.--THE FIRST ARMY SCHOOL OF SCOUTING, OBSERVATION AND - SNIPING 71 - - V.--SOME SNIPING MEMORIES 94 - - VI.--AN OBSERVER’S MEMORIES 114 - - VII.--THE CURRICULUM AND WORK AT FIRST ARMY SCHOOL OF S.O.S. 144 - - VIII.--WILIBALD THE HUN 164 - - IX.--THE CAT 176 - - X.--THE TRAINING OF THE PORTUGUESE 184 - - XI.--THE MODERN SCOUT 191 - - - APPENDICES - - APPENDIX A.--PROGRAMME FOR TRAINING OBSERVERS 211 - - APPENDIX B.--GENERAL COURSE AT FIRST ARMY SCHOOL OF S.O.S. 214 - - APPENDIX C.--I. CARE OF ARMS, GROUPING AND RANGE PRACTICES 222 - - II. PATROLLING AND SCOUTING 232 - - III. THE STALKING TELESCOPE 239 - - IV. FRONT LINE OBSERVATION AND REPORTS 246 - - V. SOME USES OF SCOUTS, OBSERVERS AND SNIPERS IN - ATTACK AND DEFENCE AND OPEN WARFARE 253 - - VI. THE ENFIELD 1914 PATTERN “SNIPER’S RIFLE” 259 - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - - The Sniper-Observer-Scout _Frontispiece_ - - The Sniper’s End _Facing p._ 28 - - Examination of a German Prisoner 30 - - Outside the Snipers’ Post.--“Shut the loopholes. I’m coming in” - 38 - - Telescopic Sights. “Nurse your Target.” 1. “Not yet.” 2. “Now!” - 44 - - Spotting the Enemy Sniper 46 - - XI Corps Sniping School. Imitation German Trench used for - spotting targets, etc. 64 - - Method of inserting Loophole. 1. Original Section of Parapet; - 2. How bags are arranged and fixed round loophole to imitate - original parapet (Gray’s Boards.); 3. Parapet reconstructed - with loophole 64 - - XI Corps Sniping School. Showing the best form of parapet to - conceal loopholes, and the wrong type of parapet for concealing - snipers’ loopholes 66 - - Section of typical German Parapet. Showing concealed loopholes - made through tins, bags, etc. 66 - - First Army School of S.O.S. 72 - - First Army School of S.O.S. No. 1. Flat Parapet. The easiest - possible form of parapet to spot movement behind--practically a - death-trap 74 - - First Army School of S.O.S. No. 2. Same parapet as in No. 1 after - five minutes’ alteration 76 - - First Army School of S.O.S. Sniper’s Robe on a 6ft. 4in. man in - the open 88 - - Find the Sniper. (The flat cap gives him away) 92 - - Find the Sniper (Look for the rifle barrel) 94 - - Telescopic Sights. With Periscopic Prism--Aldis. With Winchester. - With German telescopic sight (showing use at night) 98 - - Inside the Observation Post 122 - - Lovat Scouts: Battle observers 126 - - The Fatal Cap 142 - - First Army School of S.O.S. Comparison of sniper’s robe as - opposed to ordinary kit firing over a turnip heap 144 - - First Army School of S.O.S. Typical German Loophole Disguises in - Earth Parapet 148 - - 1. There are two snipers here--one in uniform and one in a - “sniper’s robe” 150 - - 2. A contrast showing the drawbacks of uniform and a “correct” - position 152 - - First Army School S.O.S. Showing effects and importance of light - and shade 156 - - Night-work in No Man’s Land 194 - - - - -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 future training of our armies, as it certainly was -recognized in the later years of the war, that this book is written. - -The idea of organized sniping was not a new one to me when I went out -to France in May, 1915. I had been there before, in the previous March, -and had seen the immense advantages which had accrued to the Germans -through their superiority in trench warfare sniping. - -It is difficult now to give the exact figures of our losses. Suffice it -to say that in early 1915 we lost eighteen men in a single battalion in -a single day to enemy snipers. Now if each battalion in the line killed -by sniping a single German in the day, the numbers would mount up. If -any one cares to do a mathematical sum, and to work out the number of -battalions we had in the line, they will be surprised at the figures, -and when they multiply these figures by thirty and look at the month’s -losses, they will find that in a war of attrition the sniper on this -count alone justifies his existence and wipes out large numbers of the -enemy. - -But it is not only by the casualties that one can judge the value of -sniping. If your trench is dominated by enemy snipers, life in it is -really a very hard thing, and _moral_ must inevitably suffer. In many -parts of the line all through France and Belgium the enemy, who were -organized at a much earlier period than we, certainly did dominate us. -Each regiment and most soldiers who have been to France will remember -some particular spot where they will say the German sniping was more -deadly than elsewhere, but the truth of the matter is that in the -middle of 1915 we were undergoing almost everywhere a severe gruelling, -to say the least of it. - -When I went out in May, 1915, I took with me several telescopic-sighted -rifles, which were either my own property or borrowed from friends. I -was at the time attached to the Intelligence Department as an officer -in charge of war-correspondents, and my work gave me ample opportunity -to visit all parts of the line. Whenever I went to the line I took -with me, if it was possible, a telescopic-sighted rifle, and I found -that both brigades and battalions were soon applying to me to lend -these rifles. In this way opportunities arose of visiting the line and -studying the sniping problem on the spot. - -One day I remember I was going through the trenches in company with -the Australian Correspondent, Mr. Gullett, when we came to a very -smart notice board on which was painted the word “Sniper,” and also an -arrow pointing to the lair in which he lay. The sniper, however, was -not in the lair, but was shooting over the top of the parapet with a -telescopic-sighted rifle. These rifles were coming out from England at -that time in very small numbers, and were being issued to the troops. - -I had for many years possessed telescope-sighted rifles, and had some -understanding of their manipulation as used in big-game shooting. In a -general way I could not help thinking that they were unsportsmanlike, -as they made shooting so very easy, but for shooting at rabbits with -a small-bore rifle, where you only wounded your rabbit unless you -hit him in the head, they were admirable and saved a great deal of -unnecessary suffering. - -But to return to the sniper. Much interested, we asked him how he -liked his rifle, and he announced that he could put a shot through the -loophole of the iron shields in the German trenches “every time.” As -the German trenches were six hundred yards away, it seemed to me that -the sniper was optimistic, and we asked him if he would let us see -him shoot. I had with me a Ross glass which I always carried in the -trenches, and when the sniper shot I saw his bullet strike some six -feet to the left of the plate at which he was aiming. He, however, was -convinced from the sound that it had gone clean through the loophole! -He had another shot, and again struck well to the left. I had a look -at his sight, which was a tap-over fitting, and seeing that it was a -little out of alignment I questioned the sniper as to how much he knew -about his weapon. It is no exaggeration to say that his knowledge was -limited. - -From this moment all telescope-sighted rifles became a matter of great -interest to me, and it was not long before I came to the conclusion -that about 80 per cent. were quite useless, much worse, in fact, than -the ordinary open sights, in the hands in which they were. The men -using them had in most cases hardly any knowledge of how their sights -were aligned. A tap or a knock and the rifle was straightway out of -shooting. - -For the benefit of the untechnical reader it will be well here -to remark that if a telescopic sight set upon a 4-inch base is -one-hundredth of an inch out of its true alignment, it will shoot -incorrectly to the extent of 9 inches at 100 yards, and, of course, 18 -inches at 200 yards, and 54 inches at 600 yards. The sights had been -issued without instruction, were often handed over as trench-stores, -and were served out by quartermaster-sergeants who very often looked on -them as egregious fads. - -It seemed to me that here was something definite to go upon towards -that organization of sniping in which I so much desired to have a -hand. That evening I laid the matter before my Commanding Officer, -Lieut.-Colonel A.G. Stuart, of the 40th Pathans, than whom surely no -finer officer went to the war. He was killed in 1916 by a chance bullet -a mile behind the trenches, when he was serving near Ypres as G.S.O.1 -to the 50th Division. - -He listened with both sympathy and interest. “You say,” said he, “that -all or nearly all the telescope-sighted rifles you have seen are so -incorrect as to be worse than useless. Are you quite sure of this?” - -“Quite sure,” said I. “And that is only one side of it. The men have -no idea of concealment, and many of them are easy targets to the Hun -snipers.” - -“The proper authorities should move in the matter,” said Colonel Stuart. - -“There don’t seem to be any proper authorities, sir. The officers know -no more than the men about these sights, and what I want to do is this: -If it is possible I should like to be appointed as sniping expert to -some unit. I believe I could save hundreds of lives even in a brigade -the way things are.” - -Colonel Stuart said nothing, so I went on: - -“Will you help me to get a job of this kind, sir? I am asking because -it seems absurd for a fellow like me who has spent years after big game -to let men go on being killed when I know perfectly well that I can -stop it.” - -“Are you sure of that?” - -“I am quite willing, sir, to go to any unit for a fortnight’s trial, -and if I do not make good, there will be no harm done.” - -“Well,” said Colonel Stuart at length, “we will talk to people about it -and see what they say.” - -After that, Colonel Stuart often questioned me, and I pointed out to -him our continued and heavy losses, the complete German superiority, -the necessity not only of a course of training but, more important -still, the selection of the right men to train and also their value -to Intelligence if provided with telescopes, and made a dozen other -suggestions, all very far-reaching. - -When I look back now on these suggestions, which came from a very -amateur soldier of no military experience, I can only marvel at Colonel -Stuart’s patience; but he was not only patient, he was also most -helpful and sympathetic. Without him this very necessary reform might, -and probably would, have been strangled at birth, or would have only -come into the Army, if it had come at all, at a much later time. - -Colonel Stuart not only allowed me to speak of my ideas to various -officers in high command, but even did so himself on my behalf. I was -amazed at the invariable kindness and courtesy that I met on every -hand. I used to introduce myself and say: “Sir, I hope you will forgive -me if I speak about a thing I am awfully keen on--sniping, sir. The -Huns got twelve of the Blankshires in this Division on their last tour -of duty, and I think we could easily beat them at this if we had proper -training and organization.” And then I would lay out my plans. - -But, though people listened, there were immense difficulties in the -way, and these might never have been surmounted, although quite a -number of Corps and Divisional G.O.C.’s had said to me: “If you can get -away from your job at G.H.Q., come here and be our sniping expert. We -shall be very glad to have you.” - -Still, as I say, there is a thing in the Army called “Establishment,” -and there was no Establishment for a sniping officer, and if the matter -were put through the War Office it would probably take some months, I -knew, to obtain an establishment. Colonel Stuart, however, once I had -convinced him, backed me up in every possible way, going to see the -M.G.G.S., Third Army, Major-General Sir A.L. Lynden-Bell, who was in -full sympathy with the idea. It was thus that the matter was mentioned -to Sir Charles Monro, commanding the Third Army, and Colonel Stuart -arranged with Brigadier-General MacDonogh, now Lieut.-General Sir -George MacDonogh, who was then in command of the Intelligence Corps, to -allow me to serve with the Third Army as sniping expert. - -John Buchan,[A] who was at that time the _Times_ correspondent on the -Western Front, also gave the idea great encouragement. He had seen for -himself the awful casualties that we were suffering, and considered the -scheme which I laid out to be a sound one. - - [A] Afterwards Lieut.-Col. John Buchan, Director of Information. - -Sir Charles Monro, in talking over the matter, made a remark which I -have always remembered. - -“It is not,” he said, “only that a good shot strengthens his unit, -but he adds to its _moral_--he raises the _moral_ of his comrades--it -raises the _moral_ of the whole unit to know that it contains several -first-class shots.” - -These are not the exact words which Sir Charles used, but they are as -near them as I can remember. - - * * * * * - -Now that I had got my chance I was at first extremely happy, but -later, as I could not go to my new work at once, I became a little -nervous of failure, and pictured myself unsuccessful in my attempt to -dominate the German snipers. I began to wish that I had gone to my work -a month earlier, for when the Third Army took over from the French, the -Germans offered any amount of targets, whereas I now heard that they -were becoming more cautious. I, therefore, cast about for some way in -which I might hope to make certain of success, and to this end, having -conceived a plan, I went down to Neuve Chapelle, where my friend, -Captain A.C. Gathorne-Hardy, 9th Scottish Rifles, since killed at Loos -leading his men and within ten yards of the German wire, was in the -line. We obtained from the old German trenches a number of the large -steel plates from behind which the German snipers were wont to shoot, -and these I took home with me to England, for I had obtained a week’s -leave before taking up my new duties. - -I proceeded to try on these plates all kinds of rifles, from the -Jeffreys high velocity .333 to heavy elephant guns of various bores, -and was delighted to find that the bullets from the .333, as well as -the elephant guns, pierced them like butter. Here, again, Colonel John -Buchan came to my assistance, and obtained for me a fund, to which Lord -Haldane, Lord Glenconner and Lord Finlay kindly contributed the money, -and which enabled me to purchase the necessary rifles. Later on, Mr. -St. Loe Strachey, the editor of _The Spectator_, continued to keep up -my fund, which really was of incalculable value to us, and out of which -everything from dummy heads purchased at Clarkson’s to football jerseys -for the splendidly-appointed Sniping School, which finally eventuated, -were purchased. - -At length I was free of my work at G.H.Q., and went down to the Third -Army, where I was attached to the 7th Corps, the 4th Division, and the -10th and 12th Infantry Brigades. - -It would be out of place to describe in detail the days that followed. -Suffice it to say that very early in the proceedings it became clear -that snipers must always work in pairs, one man shooting and one man -finding the targets with the telescope. The regulation issue of the -latter was at the time, I think, about eight telescopes per battalion, -and these were used by the Signallers, but Lord Roberts’ Fund, -administered with extraordinary energy by Mr. Penoyre, came to the -rescue, and soon a certain number of telescopes dribbled down into the -4th Division line. As to the heavy and armour-piercing rifles, they did -their work exceedingly well, and no doubt caused a great surprise to -the enemy. - -One day I obtained leave to go to Amiens, where I visited the French -Camouflage Works, and found to my delight that they had made a number -of papier-mâché models of the heads and shoulders of British soldiers. -Of these I was able to purchase a large quantity, and had no longer -any need to buy in London, where the heads were rather theatrical -properties than the real thing. The uses to which the heads were put -were varied. They were, in these early days before they were too much -advertised (for they afterwards became an issue in our Army), most -useful in getting the enemy to give a target. It was also possible, by -showing very skilfully the heads of Sikhs or Ghurkas in different parts -of the line, to give the German Intelligence the impression that we -were holding our line with Indian troops, and I have no doubt they were -considerably worried to account for these movements. - -One day I received orders from Army Headquarters telling me that -Colonel Langford Lloyd, D.S.O., had now started a telescopic-sight -school in the 10th Corps area, and ordering me to go there and to -collaborate with Colonel Lloyd in a book upon sniping and telescopic -sights. I went and found a splendid school running, in which the -instruction in telescopic sights was rapidly correcting these rifles in -the 10th Corps. - -I had the opportunity at Colonel Lloyd’s school of learning a great -deal that I did not know about telescopic sights, and many other -matters in which Colonel Lloyd is a past master. He listened with great -interest to the various ruses, of which there was now quite a long -list, that we had employed in the trenches. - -We wrote our pamphlet on sniping and telescopic sights, a pamphlet -which, owing to a change in the Army Command, was never published, and -shortly after my visit to Colonel Lloyd I received the intimation that -my trial time with the Third Army had been successful, and that steps -would now be taken to get me placed permanently upon its strength. In -the meantime, I went from brigade to brigade, burning with eagerness -to make organized sniping a definite fact. The instruction took place -both in and out of the trenches, and during the course of it we had -many interesting experiences. As soon as people began to talk about -sniping as a new and interesting subject, our arrival in the trenches -became rather trying, as we were certainly looked upon as something in -the light of performing animals who would give some kind of a show of -greater or less interest. But the Higher Command soon put a stop to -this, and thence-forward we were allowed to plough our lonely furrow. - -It would be difficult to describe the various days spent in the -trenches, or the duels that took place there; but each one threw fresh -light upon sniping and showed the enormous extent to which it might be -developed. I will make some reference to these days in later chapters. - -As I have stated, snipers always worked in pairs, one observing, the -other shooting, and soon we found that the notes kept by the observer -were invaluable from an Intelligence point of view. If a line was -well covered with snipers’ posts, nothing could happen in the enemy -line without our snipers’ observers reporting it--no work could be -done, no alteration in the parapet made. Successful observation was, -in my experience, first obtained in the 10th Brigade, commanded by -Brigadier-General Hull,[B] by the 2nd Seaforth Highlanders. They had an -extraordinarily keen Commanding Officer, who provided his men with good -telescopes. - - [B] Afterwards Major-General Sir A. Hull, K.C.B. - -We now began all through the 7th Corps to start sniping sections -consisting of trained snipers and observers, and the success of the -movement grew very rapidly. The German began to cower in his trenches, -and as time wore on our casualties grew less and less. My life at this -time was an extraordinarily interesting and strenuous one. Moving -from brigade to brigade, I would often find splendid arrangements -for testing the telescopic sights, and as often none at all. A horse -before breakfast, on which I would set forth to find a range, followed -by an hour in the Pioneer’s shop, pasting up targets made out of old -_Daily Mails_ on to frames--the snipers of the brigade paraded at nine -o’clock, the march to the improvised range, shooting the telescopic -sights at the target, and after dark a lecture in some barn, was often -the order of the day. - -I think in these early days that I was exceedingly fortunate in having -something definite to show. The telescopic sights were often very much -out of shooting, and no one understood the cure. I think many thought -for the first time that there was something in this sniping movement -when a sniper missed the target three times running at 70 yards, and a -little later, after his rifle had been manipulated, scored three bulls -on end. - -One thing that struck me was the extraordinary interest taken by all -Brigade Commanders in every detail of the work. I do not say, nor do -I think, that at the beginning they looked on my coming with unmixed -favour. Once I walked into a Brigade Headquarters, and while waiting in -the passage heard a voice say: - -“Who is this blighter who is coming?” And then someone gave my name. -Then a voice said: “Plays cricket, doesn’t he?” - -I could not help laughing, but as I say, in the very early days every -Brigade Major and G.O.C. had to be converted to a belief in sniping. -Often and often the Brigade Commanders would spend hours on the first -day at the range, and I think that without exception when they saw the -incorrect rifles being made correct, they once and for all decided in -my favour. On my second visit to these Brigades, I was almost always -made the guest of the Brigadier-General and received with a kindness so -great as to be really overwhelming. Things, in fact, were going very -well indeed for the work which one hoped would soon spread through the -whole B.E.F., for to my delight one day I received a letter from Major -Collins, then G.S.O.2 to the Second Army, whom I had informed of my -appointment as sniping expert, to say that General Plumer was starting -an Army Sniping School in the Second Army, and asking for any notes I -might have. - -But one morning while shooting on the range I heard that Sir Charles -Monro and his staff had gone to Gallipoli. I had been so keen on -my work that I had not pushed the matter of getting my appointment -regularized, but now I realized that its tenure might become very -insecure. Indeed, as a matter of fact when I did raise the question -I was informed by G.H.Q. that if I did not keep quiet I should be -recalled. - -In 1915, the Third Army was far and away the best sniping Army in -France. There was hardly an incorrect sight in the 10th or 7th Corps, -and scores of officers and hundreds of men had been through courses -at Colonel Lloyd’s 10th Corps School, or with me. It was while I was -with one of the Infantry Brigades of the 37th Division that I received -a letter which gave me immense pleasure. It was to the effect that -Lieut.-General Haking, the Corps Commander of the 11th Corps in the -First Army, wished to borrow me, so that I might lecture on sniping to -his Corps, and go through their telescopic sights. Here was a splendid -chance of carrying the work outside my own Army. - -About this time I was attached to the Third Army Infantry School, then -just formed under its first and very capable Commandant, Brig.-General -R.J. Kentish, D.S.O. I lectured there on sniping and started a range -and demonstrations, but I found myself lecturing to Company Commanders, -whereas I ought to have been doing so to sniping officers, in order -to get the best results. The Company Commanders liked, or appeared to -like, the lectures, but, in the Army phrase, it was “not their pidgin,” -and I soon felt that I should do better work nearer the line. - -From the school, however, I journeyed up into the First Army area, -and went through the sights and fulfilled my engagement with the 11th -Corps. I think these days as the guest of the various Corps Commanders -of the First Army--for I was passed on from the 11th Corps to the 3rd, -and from the 3rd to the 1st--were the best days I had in France, for -the extraordinary keenness in the First Army was very marked. It was -here that I had to go through the ordeal of having to lecture to the -Guards Divisional Staff and Snipers at nine o’clock in the morning. -In lecturing, even on an interesting subject like sniping, it has -always seemed to me much easier to be successful in a warm room at five -o’clock rather than in a cold one at nine. - -After finishing with the First Army and correcting some 250 telescopic -sights, I went back to the Third Army Infantry School. Here I found -that the Army Commander of the Third Army, Sir E. H. H. Allenby, had -applied for my services for the Third Army, and had received the reply -that these could be granted provided I relinquished the staff pay I -was receiving and was willing to accept instead the lower rate of an -Infantry Captain. This, of course, I agreed to do. Evidently, however, -there was some further hitch, for I received no pay for the next eight -months, nor did I dare to raise the question lest I should be sent back -to G.H.Q. - -I remember one General saying to me upon this question, not without a -smile, “You are not here officially, you know, and any Germans you may -have killed, or caused to be killed, are, of course, only unofficially -dead.” - -I will conclude this chapter with a letter that I wrote in November, -1915, which gives my impressions at that date. - - MY DEAR ---- - - Since I have been with the 3rd Army, I have had an Officer from - every battalion in the 7th Corps through my course. These Officers - in their turn train snipers, and so the thing permeates quickly - and, I think, with really good results. - -Sniping seems to me to be the art of-- - -I.--Finding your mark. - -II.--Defining your mark. - -III.--Hitting your mark. - -With regard to No. I, it is absolutely essential that the use of the -telescope should be taught from the stalking or big-game point of view. -If we had one Officer teaching it in every battalion of our Army in -France, we should kill a lot of Germans, and not only this but the task -of Intelligence Officers would be greatly facilitated. With four good -telescopes on every battalion front, very little can happen in the -enemy line without our knowing it. There are a good many telescopes in -France. - -With regard to defining a mark. It is here that telescope sights help -us, but telescope sights in the hands of a man who does not thoroughly -understand them are utterly useless. I have had a great many through -my hands, and in every ten I have had to correct about six after they -have been in the trenches a short time. I wish every battalion had -an Officer who could correct and shoot telescopic sights. It is very -important that he should be thoroughly knowledgeable, because a rifle -barrel must not have too many shots fired through it. With a new barrel -a good shot can nearly always get a 3-inch group, but after 600 or -1000 shots have been fired through the barrel the group becomes more -scattered. It is therefore necessary that the man who regulates the -rifle behind the trenches should be able to do so with as few shots as -possible. - -Another point is,--that men must be trained to understand and believe -in their telescopic-sighted rifles. One Brigade I had for instruction, -on the third day of instruction with 16 snipers shooting, got 17 hits -on a model of a human head at 430 yards in the first 21 shots. Some of -the rifles used by these men had been 6 or 8 inches off at 100 yards -until regulated. In all they got 27 hits in 48 shots on the head, -shoulder hits not counted. - -Also I have been having Officers through a regular course. I give them -first of all 20 objects, such as models of heads of French, British -and German soldiers, periscopes, rifle barrel, pickaxe, fire lighted, -etc. These objects are shown for fifteen seconds each from a trench, -and those under instruction have to write a list of what they can -see with a telescope from 600 or 700 yards away. It is wonderful how -quickly they come on. After a short time they can spot the colour of -the pieces of earth thrown up from the trench under observation. Then I -give them a hillside to examine. On this hillside I place a couple of -objects which are easy to find, perhaps the heads of a Frenchman and an -Englishman. I also put in two carefully concealed loopholes, which they -usually fail to find. This teaches thoroughness of search. - -The construction of loopholes is most important. In this we are behind -the Germans. There is one form of double loophole, which I am keen to -see more universally adopted. The plate is placed in the parapet, and -two feet behind it a second plate is placed in grooves along which it -will slide. Not once in a hundred times does the German at whom one is -shooting get his bullet through both loopholes. - -The drainpipe loophole is also very good. If put in at an angle, it is -very difficult for a German to put a bullet down it. In fact if the -drainpipe is put in low in the parapet, the brave Hun has to come clean -over the top of his own parapet to shoot down it at all. - -I am also keen on teaching our fellows to open loopholes sanely. -I usually lie in front watching, and it is rarely that, if I shot -straight, I should not be able to kill or wound nine of every ten men -who open them. Loopholes should, of course, be opened from the side, -and a cap badge exposed before they are looked through. If the German -does not fire for 75 seconds, one may conclude that it is fairly safe. -These little simple-sounding precautions can save so many lives. - -I cannot help feeling that sniping, even in these days of many -specialists, should be organized and improved. My aim has always been -to work in with battalions. Some are better than others, naturally so, -but always without exception I have found them very keen on improving -sniping. - -The use of snipers in attack is another point. If you have a man who -can hit a model of a human head once in every 2 shots at 400 yards--and -I will undertake to get most men up to this standard who can shoot -decently--we shall kill some machine gunners in our next advance. Also -when a German is shooting at our troops coming down a road through an -aperture made by the removal of a brick from a wall, as they have often -done, how useful to have a fellow who can put a bullet through the -aperture. - -Of course no telescopic sight should ever be touched, except as far as -moving the focussing sleeve goes, by anyone who does not understand it -thoroughly. When the object-glass becomes dirty or fogged with wet, -snipers often unscrew it. Unless they put it back in its exact original -position, they of course alter the shooting of the rifle hopelessly. -They also unscrew the capstan heads, which are for the lateral -regulation of the sighting. I have seen telescopic sights which were 30 -inches out at 100 yards, or about 25 feet at 1000 yards. These things -would be impossible under a keen sniping Officer. - -One thing I am certain snipers can do. They can make it very hot for -the enemy’s forward artillery observing Officers. If when the enemy -shell our trenches, one can get on the flank, one can often spot a -Hun Officer observing. The thing to do then is to lay a telescope on -through a drainpipe loophole near by. If you pack in the rifle on to a -bed of sandbags so that the pointer of the telescopic sight rests just -_under_ the place where the Hun pops up, it is possible to take aim -and fire the rifle in from two to four seconds. It is very important -that the man who is to shoot should look through the big telescope and -get a map of the trench opposite into his brain. Our telescopic sights -magnify about 3½ and one can often make a successful shot by shooting -six inches or a foot left or right, or above or below a white stone or -some prominent object in the opposing parapet, even when you cannot -define the Hun’s head very clearly through the sight. - -I have seen this done. It is a very good sign when the Hun’s -field-glasses fall on the wrong side of the parapet. - -Another thing to which we might give attention is the use of decoys. I -have had some made for me by the French. - -I am quite convinced if I were asked to give the Germans the impression -that we had been relieved by Sikhs, Gurkhas or Frenchmen, that I could -do so, so wonderful are the models made for me by the French sculptor. -It is impossible to tell them from the real thing if skilfully exposed -at 100 yards, unless the light is very strong, and at 300 and 400 yards -it is quite impossible. - -In fact as long as trench warfare lasts, I believe much can be done in -many small ways, if desired. But 1200 or 1500 telescopic sights in the -hands of trained men and four times as many optical sights, _if full -value is got out of them_, might along our line shorten the German army -of many a valuable unit before the spring. - -Again and again battalions report two, three or four Germans shot by -their snipers in a single day; if you reduce these claims by half -or even if each battalion snipes but one Hun a day--and this is an -absurdly low estimate where adventitious sights are skilfully used, the -loss to the Germans would be great. - -I have received the most kindly welcome possible from everybody, and in -many cases, almost in all, the Corps have been asked to let me go back -to give further instruction. All Brigadiers are very keen indeed to get -a high standard of sniping, and many of them feel that to do this is -almost impossible unless the snipers are trained to their rifles until -their belief in their own powers of hitting a mark, however small, -becomes fixed. - -As I think of sniping all day and often dream about it at night, I -could write you a lot more on the subject, of which I have only touched -the fringes. If we organize sniping, we can get solid and tangible -results by killing the enemy and _saving the lives of our own men_. -Only those who have been in a trench opposite Hun snipers that had the -mastery, know what a hell life can be made under these conditions. - -I don’t think the Germans are better snipers than our men, except that -they are more patient and better organized and better equipped. I have -found out a good deal about the German sniping organization, but this -is too long to go into now. I have said nothing of piercing and blowing -in German plates with heavy and .333 rifles. You can shut up their -sniping very promptly for a time in this way. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE SNIPER IN THE TRENCHES - - -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 to -create a “beaten zone” through which nothing living could pass; and -this business was not best served by very accurate individual shooting. -Rather it was served by rapid fire under skilled fire-control. But when -we settled down to trench warfare, and the most skilful might spend a -month in the trenches without ever seeing, except perhaps at dawn, the -whole of a German, and when during the day one got but a glimpse or -two of the troglodytic enemy, there arose this need for very accurate -shooting. The mark was often but a head or half a face, or a loophole -behind which lurked a German sniper, and no sighting shot was possible -because it “put down the target.” The smallest of big game animals did -not present so small a mark as the German head, so that sniping became -the highest and most difficult of all forms of rifle shooting. At it, -every good target shot, though always useful, was not necessarily -successful, for speed was only less necessary than accuracy, and no -sniper could be considered worthy of the name who could not get off his -shot within two seconds of sighting his target. - -So much for the sniper in trench warfare, of which a certain clique -in the Army held him to be the product. The officers who believed -this prophesied that when warfare became once more open, he would be -useless. This proved perhaps one of the most short-sighted views of the -whole war, for when it became our turn to attack, the sniper’s duties -only broadened out. Should a battalion take a trench, it was the duty -of snipers to lie out in front and keep down the German heads during -the consolidation of their newly-won position by our men, and were we -held up by a machine-gun in advance, it was often the duty of a couple -of snipers to crawl forward and, if possible, deal with the obstruction. - -I am here, however, going ahead of my narrative, but I want early -in this book to state definitely that the sniper is not, and from -the first, as I saw him, _never was meant to be, a product of trench -warfare_. In modern war, where a battalion may be held up by a -machine-gun, it is invaluable to have in that battalion a number of -picked shots who can knock that machine-gun out. For this purpose in -some of our later attacks a sniper carried armour-piercing ammunition, -and did not shoot at the machine-gunners, but at the machine-gun -itself. A single hit on the casing of the breech-block, and the -machine-gun was rendered useless. - -In the Army there has always been in certain quarters a prejudice -against very accurate shooting, a prejudice which is quite -understandable when one considers the aims and ends of musketry. While -sniping is the opportunism of the rifle, musketry is its routine. It -would obviously never do to diminish the depth of your beaten zone -by excess of accuracy. But this war, which, whatever may be said to -the contrary--and much was said to the contrary--was largely a war of -specialists, changed many things, and among them the accurate shot or -sniper was destined to prove his extraordinary value. - -But a great deal that I have said in the foregoing paragraphs only -became clear later, and at the moment of which I am writing, September -and October, 1915, the superiority lay with the Germans, and the -one problem was to defeat them at a game which they had themselves -started. For it was the Germans, and not the British, who began sniping. - -That the Germans were ready for a sniping campaign is clear enough, for -at the end of 1914 there were already 20,000 telescopic sights in the -German Army, and their snipers had been trained to use them. To make -any accurate estimate of how many victims the Hun snipers claimed at -this period is naturally impossible, but the blow which they struck for -their side was a heavy one, and many of our finest soldiers met their -deaths at their hands. In the struggle which followed there was perhaps -something more human and more personal than in the work of the gunner -or the infantryman. The British or Colonial sniper was pitted against -the Bavarian or the Prussian, and all along the front duels were fought -between men who usually saw no more of their antagonists than a cap -badge or a forehead, but who became personalities to each other, with -names and individualities. - -[Illustration: - - _From a drawing by_] [_Ernest Blaikley._ - -The Sniper’s End.] - -Only the man who actually was a sniper in the trenches in 1915 can know -how hard the German was to overcome. At the end of 1914 there were, -as I have said, 20,000 telescopic sights in the German Army, and the -Duke of Ratibor did good work for the Fatherland when he collected all -the sporting rifles in Germany (and there were thousands of them) and -sent them to the Western front, which was already well equipped with -the military issue. Armed with these the German snipers were able -to make wonderfully fine shooting. Against them, lacking as we did -a proper issue of telescopic-sighted rifles, we had to pit only the -blunt open sights of the service rifle, except here and there where -the deer stalkers of Scotland (who possessed such weapons) lent their -Mannlichers and their Mausers. But for these there was no great supply -of ammunition, and many had to be returned to their cases for this -reason. - -At this time the skill of the German sniper had become a by-word, and -in the early days of trench warfare brave German riflemen used to lie -out between the lines, sending their bullets through the head of any -officer or man who dared to look over our parapet. These Germans, -who were often Forest Guards, and sometimes Battle Police, did their -business with a skill and a gallantry which must be very freely -acknowledged. From the ruined house or the field of decaying roots, -sometimes resting their rifles on the bodies of the dead, they sent -forth a plague of head-wounds into the British lines. Their marks -were small, but when they hit they usually killed their man, and the -hardiest soldier turned sick when he saw the effect of the pointed -German bullet, which was apt to keyhole so that the little hole in the -forehead where it entered often became a huge tear, the size of a man’s -fist, on the other side of the stricken man’s head. That occasional -snipers on the Hun side reversed their bullets, thus making them into -dum-dums, is incontrovertible, because we were continually capturing -clips of such bullets, but it must also be remembered that many bullets -keyholed which were not so reversed. Throughout the war I saw thousands -of our snipers’ bullets, and I never saw one which had been filed away -or otherwise treated with a view to its expanding upon impact. - -[Illustration: - - _From a drawing by_] [_Ernest Blaikley._ - -Examination of a German Prisoner] - -At that time in the German Army there was a system of roving snipers; -that is, a sniper was given a certain stretch of trench to patrol, -usually about half-a-mile, and it was the duty of sentries along his -beat to find and point out targets for him. This information I got from -a prisoner whom I examined soon after I went down to the trenches. -Indeed, I used to go any distance to get the chance of examining -a prisoner and so learn something of the German organization. One -deserter gave quite a lot of information. He had the Iron Cross, and -was a sergeant. One of the scenes that always remains with me is -the examination of this man on a rainy, foggy night by the light of -a flaring smoky lamp in the room of an _estaminet_ just behind the -lines. As time went on it became very difficult for a German prisoner -to lead me astray with wrong information. There were so many questions -to which one got to know the answers, and which must be more or less -common knowledge to German riflemen. The demeanour of prisoners was -very diverse. Some would give no answers--brave fellows these, whom -we respected; others would volunteer a good deal of false statement; -others yet again were so eager to answer all questions that when they -did not know they made a guess. But one way and another, through them -all I gained an immense amount of information as to the German sniping -organization. - -It would appear that the telescopic-sighted rifles in the German army -were served out in the ratio of six per company, and that these rifles -were issued not to the private soldiers who shot with them, but to -N.C.O.’s who were responsible for their accuracy, and from whom the -actual privates who used the rifles obtained them, handing them back at -given intervals for inspection. In the top of the case of each German -telescopic sight were quite short and very clear instructions, a very -different matter to the conditions obtaining upon our side, where very -often, as I have before stated, the man using the telescopic sight knew -nothing about it. - -On one occasion I had gone down on duty to a certain stretch of trench -and there found a puzzled-looking private with a beautiful new rifle -fitted with an Evans telescopic sight. - -“That is a nice sight,” said I. - -“Yessir.” - -I examined the elevating drum, and saw that it was set for one hundred -yards. “Look here,” I said, “you have got the sight set for a hundred. -The Hun trenches are four hundred yards away.” - -The private looked puzzled. - -“Have you ever shot with that rifle?” I asked. - -“No, sir.” - -“Do you understand it?” - -“No, sir.” - -“How did you get it?” - -“It was issued to me as trench stores, sir.” - -“Who by?” - -“The Quartermaster Sergeant, sir.” - -Certainly many a German owed his life in those earlier days to the -fact that so many of the telescopic-sighted rifles in the British -Expeditionary Force were incorrectly sighted to the hold of the men -using them. By this I mean that some men hold tightly and some men hold -loosely, and there may be a difference at a hundred yards of six inches -in the shooting of the same rifle in different hands. To hand over the -rifle as “trench stores,” in which case it would be shot by different -men of different battalions, was simply to do away with the accuracy -which formed its only asset. - -But to return to the examination of German prisoners. One point cropped -up over and over again, and this was the ease with which German snipers -quite frankly owned that they were able to distinguish between our -officers and men in an attack, because, as one said naïvely: “the -legs of the officers are thinner than the legs of the men.” There are -hundreds and hundreds of our officers lying dead in France and Flanders -whose death was solely due to the cut of their riding breeches. It is -no use wearing a Tommy’s tunic and a webbing belt, if the tell-tale -riding trousers are not replaced by more commonplace garments. - -In 1915 there were very few loopholes in the British trenches, whereas -the Germans had a magnificent system. In early days when I used to be -told at Brigade Headquarters that there was a German sniper at such and -such a map reference, and I was to go and try to put him out of action, -I very rarely found a loophole from which I could reconnoitre him, and -as every German sniper seemed to be supported on either flank by other -German snipers, looking for him with one’s head over the top of the -parapet was, if made a continual practice, simply a form of suicide. I -used, therefore, to have a couple of sandbags filled with stones and -rubble placed as inconspicuously as possible on the top of the parapet. -No ball will pierce a sandbag full of stones, and it was thus that one -got the opportunity of a good look at the German trenches without fear -of receiving a bullet from either flank. - -At this time the efforts to camouflage our loopholes were -extraordinarily primitive--indeed, concealment was nearly impossible in -the form of parapet then in use. Many of our units took an actual pride -in having an absolutely flat and even parapet, which gave the Germans -every opportunity of spotting the smallest movement. The parapets were -made of sandbags beaten down with spades, and it is not too much to say -that along many of them a mouse could not move without being observed -by the most moderate-sighted German sniper. It was curious how some -few commanding officers stuck to these flat parapets in the face of -all casualties and the dictates of common-sense, even after the High -Command had issued orders upon the subject. At a later date a trial -was instituted, and proved that in spotting and shooting at a dummy -head exposed for two and four seconds over a flat parapet, the number -of hits was three to one, as compared with the same exposure when made -over an imitation German parapet. - -Over on the other side of No Man’s Land the German trenches presented -a quite different appearance from ours--ours being beaten down, as I -have said, until they made as clear a line as a breakwater. The German -trenches were deeper, with much more wire in front, and from our point -of view looked like the course of a gigantic mole which had flung up -uneven heaps of earth. Here and there, a huge piece of corrugated iron -would be flung upon the parapet, and pinned there with a stake. Here -and there stood one of those steel boxes, more or less well concealed -under a heap of earth, from which set rifles fired all night. Here and -there lay great piles of sandbags, black, red, green, striped, blue, -dazzling our eyes. It was said that the Germans used the pink and red -ones to look round, because they approximated to flesh colour, but this -was no doubt apocryphal. But what was not apocryphal was the fact that -the Germans had a splendid parapet behind which a man could move and -over which he could look with comparative impunity, whereas we in this -respect gave heavy hostages to fortune. - -There was one protection which was always sound, and which could be -put into immediate operation, and that was to teach our men to hang as -many rags as possible upon our wire, and wherever else they could in -the region of our parapet. These fluttering rags continually caught -the German eyes, which were drawn by the movement of the rags in the -wind. It is possible that, if the truth were recognized, those simple -little rags saved many a life during the course of the war. Of course, -there were battalions in which attempts had been made to remedy these -defects, as there was one type of officer whom one occasionally came -across. This was the soldier who had done a certain amount of stalking, -or big-game shooting, and it is not too much to say that wherever -there was such an officer, there were usually two or three extra -telescopes and telescopic-sighted rifles, and various well-concealed -posts from which to use them. The Intelligence report, which was each -day forwarded to Brigade, was also full and accurate. Indeed, the truth -of the matter forced itself upon me, as I spent day after day in the -trenches. _What was wanted, apart from organization, was neither more -nor less than the hunter spirit._ The hunter spends his life in trying -to outwit some difficult quarry, and the step between war and hunting -is but a very small one. It is inconceivable that a skilled hunter -in a position of command should ever allow his men to suffer as our -men sometimes did in France. It was all so simple and so obvious. The -Canadian Division and, later, the Canadian Corps was full of officers -who understood how to deal with the German sniper, and early in the war -there were Canadian snipers who were told off to this duty, and some of -them were extraordinarily successful. Corporal, afterwards Lieutenant, -Christie, of the P.P.C.L.I., was one of the individual pioneers of -sniping. He had spent his life hunting in the Yukon, and he simply -turned the same qualities which had brought him within the range of the -mountain sheep to the downfall of Fritz the Forest Guard. - -In the long monotony of the trenches during that bleak winter of 1915, -the only respite besides work which was possible to our soldiers was -the element of sport and excitement introduced by sniping and its -more important and elder sister, observation. Sniping in a dangerous -sector--and there were many of these--was really neither more nor less -than a very high-class form of big game shooting, in which the quarry -shot back. As to danger, there are in Africa the lion, the elephant, -the buffalo and the rhinoceros, and though the consensus of instructed -opinion agrees that in proportion more hunters come back feet foremost -from lion hunting than from the pursuit of the three other forms of -dangerous game, yet I suppose that no one would dispute that the German -sniper, especially when he is supported on either flank by _Kamaraden_, -was far more dangerous in the long run than any lion. - -In sniping, as the movement grew and sections were formed, one relied -to an enormous extent upon the skill of the section to which the -individual sniper belonged. A really first-rate man in a bad section -was thrown away. First-rate men under a moderate officer were thrown -away, and, worse than all, a good section under a good officer, who -were relieved by the slack and poor section of another battalion, often -suffered heavy casualties through no fault of their own. - -Thus, the Royal Blankshires, who have an excellent sniping -organization, build half-a-dozen skilfully-hidden posts for observation -and sniping purposes. All kinds of precautions, which have become -second nature, are taken to prevent these posts being given away to -the enemy. The telescopes used are carefully wrapped in sandbags, -their sunshades carefully extended lest the sun should, by flashing -its reflection upon the object glass, give away the position. The -loopholes in dry weather are damped before being fired through, and, -most important of all, no one but the C.O., the sniping officer, -and the snipers and observers are allowed in the posts. If anyone -else enters them there are for him heavy penalties, which are always -enforced. The result is that the Blankshires have a good tour of duty, -lose no casualties to enemy snipers, and get splendid detail for their -Intelligence reports. - -They are relieved, however, by the Loamshires. The C.O. of this -Battalion does not believe very much in sniping. He has a way of saying -that sniping will “never win the war.” He has, it is true, a sniping -section because, and only because, his Brigadier and his Divisional -General are keen about sniping, and continually come into the trenches -and inquire about it. But the Loamshire sniping section is a pitiable -affair. They take over from the Royal Blanks. - -[Illustration: - - _From a drawing by_] [_Ernest Blaikles._ - -OUTSIDE THE SNIPERS’ POST. - -“Shut the loopholes. I’m coming in.”] - -“These are jolly good observation posts,” says the Royal Blanks sniping -officer. He is the real thing, and he dreams of his job in the night. -“But one has to be a bit careful not to give them away. I never let my -fellows use the one in Sap F until the sun has worked round behind us.” - -“Aw--right oh!” says the Loamshire opposite number. - -“One has to be a bit careful about the curtains at the back of those -loopholes in Perrier Alley. The light’s apt to shine through.” - -“Aw--right oh!” says the Loamshire officer. - -“We are leaving our range-cards.” - -“Aw--right oh!” - -So the keen Royal Blanks officer and his keen section go out into rest -billets, and do not visit the trenches again till they come back to -take over from the Loamshires. - -“Well, how are the posts?” asks the Royal Blanks officer, cheerily. - -“Pretty rotten; they were all busted up the first day.” - -“Damn! They took us a fortnight to build.” - -“Well, they are busted up all right.” - -“Did your fellows give them away, do you think?” - -“Oh, no!” - -Now, as a matter of fact, the moment the Royal Blankshires were out of -the trenches the Loamshire snipers, who knew no better, had used the -O.P.s for promiscuous firing, and the posts which had been so jealously -guarded under the Blankshire régime had been invaded by Loamshire -officers and men in need of a view of the German trenches--or of sleep. -The curtains that kept the loopholes dark had been turned back. The -result was as might have been expected. The watching German, who had -suffered from those posts without being able to locate them when the -Blankshires were in the trenches, now spotted them, rang up their guns, -and had them demolished, not without casualties to the Loamshires. -So the work was all to be done again--but no sooner does the keen -Blankshire officer build up a post than the slack Loamshire officer -allows it to be given away. It is now a case for the Royal Blanks C.O. -to take up with the Loamshire C.O. - -Such were the difficulties of the keen officer when the opposite number -of the relieving battalion was a “dud.” - -Conscientiousness is a great quality in an officer, but in the Sniping, -Scouting and Observation Officer something more was needed. To obtain -success, real success, it was necessary that his should be a labour of -love. He must think and dream of his work at all hours and all times, -and it was wonderful how many came to do this. In the battalion the -Intelligence and Sniping officer had always a sporting job, and if he -suffered in promotion (as do nearly all specialists in any great Army) -yet he had the compensations which come to an artist in love with his -work. - -There were at this time one or two other factors in the situation -to which I must allude in order that the reader may understand the -position as it was then. The enemy had an immense preponderance in -trench weapons such as _minenwerfer_. The result was that a too -successful bout of British sniping sometimes drew a bombardment. The -activity of snipers was therefore not always welcome to short-sighted -officers, who distinctly and naturally objected to the enemy riflemen -calling in the assistance of the parapet-destroying engines of war, in -which they so outclassed us. - -Soon, however, it was realized that the state of things obtaining while -the German held the mastery of aimed rifle-fire could not be permitted -to continue--the casualties were too great--and I will now give some -account of the instruction and experience in the trenches that went on -while we were attempting to capture the sniping initiative from the -enemy. - - -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, who had been many shooting trips in different parts of -the world with me and others. At Authie we at once settled down to -work; the officers going through a course which need not be detailed -here. Suffice it to say that the telescopic-sighted rifles of all -the battalions in the Division were shot and corrected, and various -plans which we had formed for the destruction of German snipers were -rehearsed. - -On the third day arrangements were made by Division as to which -trenches we were to visit, and after duly reporting at Brigade -Headquarters in a dug-out in Hebuterne, we proceeded upon our way. - -It is not an easy thing to instruct five or six officers in the line in -sniping--the number is too large--so as soon as we entered the trenches -I divided my class into three parties, and assigned to each an area in -which to look for German snipers, Gathorne-Hardy and I going from one -group to another. - -At the point at which we entered the front line trenches, our line was -a little higher than that of the enemy, so that the initial advantage -was certainly with us, and almost at once G. (for so I shall refer to -Capt. Gathorne-Hardy) spotted a German sniper who was just showing -the top of his cap at the end of a sap. He was about three hundred -and fifty or four hundred yards away, and though we watched him for -half-an-hour, he gave no target. So we moved on. Examining the enemy -line was enthralling work, as he had, even at that time, begun his -campaign of skilled concealment, and was apt to set periscopes in -trees, and steel boxes in all sorts of positions. - -To spot and actually place these upon the map was as important a duty -of the sniper as killing the enemy by rifle fire. For, once discovered, -such strong points and emplacements could be dealt with by our -artillery. - -But to return. G. and I, after visiting the sections, acted together -as shooter and observer. After spending a couple of hours examining -the enemy line, we got into a disused trench and crawled back to a -little bit of high ground from which we were able to overlook a group -of poplar trees which grew between the lines, and which were said to be -the haunt of a very capable German sniper. - -Nothing, however, was to be seen of him, though we could clearly make -out the nest he had built in one of the trees and, on the ground, what -appeared to be either a dead man lying in the long grass or a tunic. - -While we were here a message came down to say that No. 1 group had seen -a party of nine Germans, and had wounded one of them. No. 2 party had -not been successful. - -At the time of which I write the Germans were just beginning to be a -little shy of our snipers on those fronts to which organization had -penetrated, and it was clear that the time would arrive when careful -Hans and conscientious Fritz would become very troglodytic, as indeed -they did. We had, therefore, turned our minds to think out plans and -ruses by which the enemy might be persuaded to give us a target. We had -noticed the extraordinary instinct of the German Officer to move to a -flank, and thinking something might be made out of this, we collected -all our officers and went back to the place where G. and I had spotted -the Hun sniper or sentry at the end of the sap. A glance showed that he -was still there. - -I then explained my plan, which was that I should shoot at this sentry -and in doing so, deliberately give away my position and rather act the -tenderfoot, in the hope that some German officer would take a hand in -the game and attempt to read me a lesson in tactics. - -[Illustration: TELESCOPIC SIGHTS. “NURSE YOUR TARGET.” - - 1 “Not yet.” 2. “Now!” -] - -On either flank about 150 yards or so down the trench I placed the -officers under instruction with telescopes and telescopic-sighted -rifles, explaining to them that the enemy snipers would very possibly -make an attempt to shoot at me from about opposite them. I then -scattered a lot of dust in the loophole from which I intended to fire, -and used a large .350 Mauser, which gave a good flash and smoke. As the -sentry in the sap was showing an inch or two of his forehead as well -as the peak of his cap, I had a very careful shot at him, which G., who -was spotting for me with the glass, said went about twelve inches too -high. - -The sentry, of course, disappeared, and I at once poured in the whole -magazine at a loophole plate, making it ring again, and by the dust -and smoke handsomely giving away my own position. I waited a few -minutes, and then commenced shooting again. Evidently my first essay -had attracted attention, for two German snipers at once began firing at -me from the right flank. At these two I fired back; they were almost -exactly opposite the party under instruction, and it was clear that, -if the party held their fire, the Germans would probably give fine -targets. As a matter of fact, all that we hoped for actually happened, -for the exasperated German snipers, thinking they had to deal only with -a very great fool, began to fire over the parapet, their operations -being directed by an officer with an immense pair of field-glasses. -At the psychological moment, my officers opened fire, the large -field-glasses dropped on the _wrong_ side of the parapet, as the -officer was shot through the head, and the snipers, who had increased -to five or six, disappeared with complete suddenness. Nor did the enemy -fire another shot. - -It should be borne in mind, in reading the above, how great a plague -were the skilled German snipers to us. One of them might easily cause -thirty or forty casualties. Later in the war we had, on our side, -many a sniper who killed his fifty or even his hundred of the enemy. -Besides, as I have pointed out, in these early days of trench warfare -the continual attrition caused by German snipers was very bad for -_moral_. - -At a later date we found a means by which we were able at once to find -the position of any German sniper. For this purpose we used a dummy -head made of papier-mâché. - -The method of using was as follows: When a German sniper was giving -trouble, we selected a good place opposite to him, and drove two -stakes into our own parapet until only about a foot of them remained -uncovered. To these we nailed a board on which was fashioned a groove -which exactly fitted the stick or handle attached to the dummy head. -This stick was inserted in the groove and the dummy head slowly pushed -up above our parapet. - -If the enemy sniper fired at and hit the head, the entry and exit of -the bullet made two holes, one in the front, and one in the back of the -hollow dummy head. - -The head, immediately on the shot, was pulled down by whoever was -working it in as natural a manner as possible. The stick on which it -was mounted was then replaced in the groove, but _exactly the height -between the two glasses of a periscope lower_ than the position in -which it was when shot through. - -[Illustration: - - _From a drawing by_] [_Ernest Blaikley._ - -Spotting the Enemy Sniper.] - -Now all that remained to do was to place the lower glass of the -periscope opposite the front hole in the head, and apply the eye to the -rear hole and look into the periscope, the upper glass of which was -above the parapet. - -In this way we found ourselves looking along the path of the bullet, -_only in the opposite direction to that in which it had come_, and, in -the optical centre of the two holes, would be seen the German sniper -who had fired the shot, or the post which concealed him. - -Once found he was soon dealt with. - -In trials at First Army Sniping School, we were able by this invention -to locate sixty-seven snipers out of seventy-one. - -Some of those who wanted to give the dummy head a specially life-like -appearance, placed a cigarette in its mouth, and smoked it through a -rubber tube. - -It is a curious sensation to have the head through which you are -smoking a cigarette suddenly shot with a Mauser bullet, but it is one -that several snipers have experienced. - -After the incidents last described, we went up towards the flank, where -the 4th Division lay alongside the 48th. It was in this Division that -the 2nd Seaforth Highlanders had just played a delightful trick on the -enemy. Someone in the battalion had obtained a mechanical stop, one of -those ticking bits of mechanism which are made with a view to saving -the employment of a human “stop” at covert-shoots. This particular -stop was guaranteed to tick loudly for hours. - -The Seaforths were facing the Germans across a very wild piece of No -Man’s Land. One night some adventurous and humorous spirit crawled out -and placed the “stop” about sixty yards from the German parapet, and -then set it going. The Germans at once leaped to the conclusion that -the tick-tick-tick was the voice of some infernal machine, which would, -in due time, explode and demolish them. They threw bombs, and fired -flares, and officers and men spent a most haggard and horrible night, -while opposite them the Scotsmen were laughing sardonically in their -trenches. The whole incident was intensely typical of the careless and -grim humour with which the Scottish regiments were at times apt to -regard the Hun. - -Another battalion at a much later date, when the Germans had become -very shy, and mostly spent their off-duty hours in deep dug-outs, had -the brilliant idea of preparing a notice board on which was printed in -large letters and German: “Bitter Fighting in Berlin,” and then, in -smaller type, some apocryphal information. This notice it was their -plan to raise, having first posted their snipers, who would be sure to -obtain shots at the Huns who attempted to read the smaller lettering -with their field-glasses. I do not think, however, that this plan -was ever actually carried out. This was fortunate, since, though -ingenious, the idea was not sound, as it would inevitably have led to -a heavy bombardment of the trenches in which the notice was shown, and -the game would not have been worth the candle. - -To continue, however, with our day. Late in the afternoon, no Germans -having shown themselves since the shooting of the officer--a heavy -bombardment broke out on the right flank, and we hurried in that -direction, as experience had taught me that the German Forward -Observation Officers often did their spotting for the guns from the -front-line trench on the flank of the bombarded area. - -Sure enough, we soon picked up one of those large dark artillery -periscopes, shaped like an armadillo. It was being operated by two men, -as far as could be seen. One of them wore a very high peaked cap, and -was at once called “Little Willie;” the other had a black beard. The -nearest point to which we could approach was more like five than four -hundred yards, and though we waited till dark, Little Willie did not -show more than his huge cap peak and an inch or two of forehead. As -evening fell, we went out of the trenches without having fired, as soon -after our arrival the bombardment had ceased, and Little Willie never -gave a good target, and the bearded man had disappeared. I did not wish -to disturb the German F.O.O.’s in their post; as, now that they were -discovered, arrangements could be made to deal with them when next -they were observing. - -The opportunity occurred three days later, when, after a very long -vigil, an officer shot Little Willie, and the same evening a Howitzer -battery wiped out the post for good and all. - -As, when Little Willie met his end, he was just in the act of spotting -the first shots for his battery, which had opened on our front -line trenches, his death probably saved us some casualties, for it -temporarily stopped the activities of his guns. - -It was not only the number of the enemy that our snipers shot that was -so important. It was often the psychological moment at which they shot -them that gave their work an extra value. - -In the autumn of 1915 there came high winds following frosty nights. -It was clear that a heavy fall of the leaf would take place on the -following days. I therefore asked, and obtained leave from the 4th -Division, to which I was at the time attached, to drop instructional -work, and instead to go into the trenches in order to spot enemy -snipers and artillery observation officers’ posts. On my way down I -called at Headquarters, where I was told that a very troublesome sniper -was operating at Beaumont Hamel. This man had killed a number of our -fellows. He was supposed to live in a pollarded willow, one of a row -not very far from Jacob’s Ladder, which will be remembered by all who -were on that front in 1915. There was on that day a certain amount of -mild shelling of the communication trenches, but before the advent of -gas-shells this rarely caused trouble in the daytime, except to those -who had to repair the breaches. On the day in question I was alone with -my batman, who, I can say, without fear of libel, shot better than he -“batted,” for he had been chosen because he was a marksman. Arrived in -the front line, we at once set about trying to locate the sniper. As -a rule, in such a case, the enemy one seeks is taking a siesta, but -this was not so now, for as soon as I looked over the parapet a bullet, -striking low, knocked some dust into my eyes. At this point, you must -understand, our trenches were shaped like an arm, with a crooked elbow, -the crook or turn of the elbow being at the bottom of a hill. In front -lay Beaumont Hamel, where in the German lines when I arrived a soldier -had hung out his shirt to dry. Between us and Beaumont Hamel lay a wild -piece of No Man’s Land, with some dead ground on the Beaumont Hamel -side, and at the bottom of the hill the row of willows from which the -sniper was supposed to operate. - -As these willow trees were out of sight from the place where I had been -fired at, I did not put down that shot to the sniper, whom we will call -Ernst. In this I was probably wrong, as transpired later. - -All that morning we tried to locate Ernst, who had four more shots at -me, but all that I had learned at the end of it (when I imagine Ernst -went off for a well-earned siesta) was that he was a good shot, as -though obviously some distance away, he had made quite good practice. -We most carefully examined the pollarded willows, and spotted one or -two good snipers’ posts, especially one at the bottom of a hedge, but -as far as Ernst was concerned he had all the honours. - -The next day I was occupied all the morning with an enemy artillery -O.P. which was destroyed by howitzer fire, and it was not till after -lunch that I could turn my attention once more to Ernst. - -This time I began at the bottom of the hill. There were no loopholes, -so it was a case of looking over, and almost at once Ernst put in a -very close shot, followed again by a second which was not so good. The -first shot had cut the top of the parapet just beside my head, and I -noticed that several shots had been fired which had also cut the top -of the sandbags. Behind the line of these shots was a group of trees, -and as they stood on slightly higher ground I crawled to them, and at -once saw something of great interest. In the bole of one of the trees a -number of bullets had lodged, all within a small circle. Crouching at -the base of the tree, and with my head covered with an old sandbag, I -raised it until I could see over the parapet fifty yards in front, and -found at once that the line of these shots, and those which had struck -the tree behind my head, were very nearly the same, and must have been -fired from an area of No Man’s Land, behind which it looked as if dead -ground existed on the enemy’s side, and probably from a large bush -which formed the most salient feature of that view. - -I then went back to the trenches, and warned all sentries to keep a -good look-out on this bush and the vicinity. Very soon one of them -reported movement in the bush. With my glass I could see a periscope -about three feet above the ground in the bush, which was very thick. -Being certain, as the periscope was raised so high, and as it had only -just been elevated, that it was held in human hands, I collected half a -dozen riflemen and my batman, and giving them the range, and the centre -of the bush as a target, ordered them to open fire. On the volley the -periscope flew backwards and the activities of Ernst ceased forthwith. - -It was this experience of looking along the path of the enemy’s bullets -that led directly to the invention for spotting enemy snipers, which I -have described earlier in this chapter. - -No one can deny that Ernst was a gallant fellow, lying out as he did -between the lines day after day. Whether he was killed or not who can -say, but I should think the odds are that some bullets of the volley -found their billet. At any rate, sniping from that quarter ceased. - -I have now given enough description of the work and training which was -going on at that time in the Third Army in the line. The aim and end of -all this work was the formation of sniping sections in each battalion, -consisting of sixteen privates with two N.C.O.’s under an officer. - -I had realized that my whole problem turned upon the officer. If I -could succeed in obtaining fifteen or twenty officers who would be -simply fanatics in their work, it was perfectly clear that the sniping -movement would spread like wildfire throughout the Army. Already we had -got together an immense amount of detail concerning the German sniping -organization, and had begun not only to challenge his superiority, -but also to enforce our own. It is wonderful what can be done in a -single week by sixteen accurate shots along the length of line held by -a battalion. You must understand also that the success of the German -sniping rested largely upon the deeds of certain crack snipers, who -thoroughly understood their work, and who each one of them caused us -heavy casualties. The first work to be done in the trenches was the -organized annihilation of these skilled German snipers, and I think -this was the easier in that they had it their own way for so long. - -As time went on, the reports from the brigades were very good; one -Brigadier[C] even going so far as to wire me: “Only one Hun sniper -left on my front. Can you lend me your elephant rifle?” In this -particular brigade the Brigadier informed me that he had not lost a man -through enemy sniping in four months. - - [C] Later Major-Gen. Sir Guy Bainbridge, K.C.B. - -Sniping, I think, or let us say the sniping campaign, may be divided -into four parts. During the first, the Germans had the mastery. During -the second, our first aim was to kill off the more dangerous German -snipers and to train our own to become more formidable. The third -was when the Germans had fairly gone to ground and would no longer -give us a chance. The idea now was to invent various ways in which -to induce them to give a target, and the final period came at a much -later date, when great battles were being fought, and the work of -sniping was beginning to merge into that of scouting, and snipers were -being trained in great numbers to deal with the new situations that -were arising every day as the Germans altered their tactical plans of -defence. - - - - -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 soldiers before the Battle of Loos to the quieter times which -had now dawned. During the war one had very few relaxations of any -kind. Shooting was forbidden, games were difficult for the unattached -Ishmaelite to obtain, and often for long periods it was impossible to -get any change of thought. The long drives to all parts of the line -held by the British Army, which were part of my work, were, therefore, -exceedingly pleasant by contrast. Wherever there was a battle I used -to try and get to it at the earliest possible moment, in order to have -the opportunity of examining the German trenches, for as time went on -sniping became more and more scientific, and the Germans were always -starting some new method which had to be countered. One of the most -important points was to obtain specimens of each issue of their steel -plates, in order to experiment on them with all kinds of bullets. - -But to return to the First Army Class. We were allotted a curious range -on the outskirts of the town of Bethune, then a thriving community, -which had been hardly shelled at all, although well within the battle -area. Our rifle-firing took place under cover, and each target appeared -through a series of holes cut in a number of brick walls which crossed -the range at right angles. The noise in the room of the cottage which -formed the 200-yards firing-point was deafening, but as the weather was -both wet and cold head-cover had its advantages. - -The class which assembled consisted of a picked officer from each -Division, twelve in all. Some I lost sight of afterwards, but two, at -least, of this class rose to command their battalions, and one was -awarded the double D.S.O., another the M.C. and Bar, and several more -single decorations. - -In order that the class might be taught the manipulation of telescopic -sights, all the rifles of the 1st Corps which were fitted with these -sights or with optical sights were sent down, together with the snipers -who shot them, in order that the rifles might be tested for accuracy. -As at that time there had been no real organization or instruction in -the use of adventitious sights in the Corps, it is not to be wondered -at that most of these were incorrect. Of the first eighty, fifty-nine -were quite valueless until regulated, and we were hard put to it to -correct them as party after party arrived. - -At length a party of Scottish Rifles came, every one of whose weapons -was entirely correct. They were under the command of a young officer -who, when the trial of his men’s rifles was over, saluted and said to -me: - -“Will I stay and help you with the other rifles, sir?” - -“Do you understand telescopic sights?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Have you done much shooting?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Won anything?” - -“The King’s Prize, and the Scottish Open Championship, and the -Caledonian Shield, sir.” - -“What is your name?” - -“Gray, sir.” - -That evening Corps Staff was rung up and Gray was straightway appointed -Corps Sniping Officer. Suffice it to say, that in a few weeks the -German snipers had been dealt with in a way that must have amazed them. - -Later on, Gray’s Division moved into the 11th Corps, where I have -always thought that sniping on some sectors reached its high-water -mark as far as the year 1916 was concerned. Afterwards he became my -assistant at the 11th Corps School, and later at the First Army School. -He finally proceeded to the U.S.A., with the rank of Major, to spread -the light there. In this he was most successful, receiving the thanks -of the Divisional General to whose Division he was attached for the -extraordinary efficiency of his work. In my experience of sniping -officers in France, two are outstanding, and he was one of them. The -other was Major O. Underhill, 1st K.S.L.I. - -Our class on that queer range in Bethune lasted a fortnight and was -instrumental in getting me a bout of sick leave; for when, as part of -the instruction, we had to make a trench and build into it various -posts such as snipers use, we found ourselves working in an extremely -noisome atmosphere. As far as we could make out, the greater part of -the town drainage seemed to be at no great distance under the ground in -which we had to dig. The result was a bout of trench fever. The time -I spent at home was not, however, wasted, as I was able to collect -large numbers of telescopes and get the various courses for sniping -instruction written down, which was useful, as I was continually -receiving applications for a syllabus from units outside the Third Army. - -When I returned to France I was again attached to the Third Army, but -not to the Infantry School, who had secured the services of Captain -Pemberthy during my absence. This very capable officer did splendid -work for the Third Army. Instead, I went down the line and resumed my -old work of instructing brigades and battalions. I also went to the -Indian Cavalry Divisions. - -At this time, I remember, volunteers who possessed a knowledge of the -fitting of telescopic sights were asked for in the 7th Corps. The -result was exceedingly typical. One private, who sent in his name, -stated that he was well acquainted with telescopic sights and their -fittings, having been for four years employed by Messrs. Daniel Fraser -of Leith Street Terrace, Edinburgh, the well-known firm of gun and -rifle makers, whose work on telescopic sights stands so deservedly -high. The staff who unearthed this applicant did not continue to -congratulate themselves on having produced exactly the article wanted, -when, through a letter to Messrs. Fraser, it transpired that, though -it was quite true that the man had been employed by them, the position -that he had held in the firm was that of errand boy, and that his -knowledge of telescopic sights was consequently not one which they felt -they could confidently recommend. - -During these days I went back to many of the brigades to which I had -been attached six months previously. The casualties among snipers -had not been very heavy and we had fairly obtained the upper hand. -At this period troops were massing for the Battle of the Somme, in -which the Third and Fourth Armies took part. The use of the telescope -was now a matter of immense interest, as Intelligence wanted all the -facts they could get about the enemy, and consequently instruction in -glass-work for battalion and brigade observers became more and more -sought after, and I trained many observers for Major-General Hull, -G.O.C. 56th Division. Just at this period, however, there was a change -in my fortunes, and I was ordered to proceed to the First Army, to -the command of which Sir Charles Monro had just succeeded after his -wonderful performance in Gallipoli. I therefore left the Third Army -area and went by rail to Aire-sur-Lys, in order to report to First Army -Headquarters, which was situated in that town. - -It would be absurd to deny that I was very glad to be attached to -the First Army, where the keenness which I had seen on my visit at -Christmas time to the various Corps Commanders was glorious. Arriving -at Aire I reported to the Town Major, and was allotted a room in the -hotel called “Le Clef d’Or.” Here I was eating my dinner when the Town -Major came across and wanted to know if an officer of my name was -present. He said that a car was waiting outside, and that I was to go -direct to the Army Commander’s château to dine and stay the night. - -The next day the Army Commander questioned me very closely about -sniping, and about all that had occurred with regard to it since he had -seen me last. He then informed me that I was to be attached to the 11th -Corps, and that my orders were the same as they had been under him in -the Third Army--to make good shots, and as many of them as possible. - -The 11th Corps, since my previous visit, had started a sniping school, -where they were putting through five officers and twenty men on short -courses. The school was situated on the far side of the Forest of -Nieppe, near a place called Steenbecque. I was ordered to make this -school my headquarters. It was in charge of Lieut. Forsyth M.C. of the -6th Black Watch. A more curious and picturesque-looking spot for a -school it would be hard to imagine. The headquarters were in a little -Flemish farmhouse, kept by an exceedingly close-fisted family, and the -range, which had firing points at one, two, three and five hundred -yards, was neither more nor less than a long sloping cornfield. A most -satisfactory point about the range--which was an excellent one--was -that it was within two hundred yards of headquarters, so that after -parade hours were over an immense amount of voluntary work was done -upon it. It was here that we first began to tend towards the really -much longer and more detailed course of instruction which we afterwards -amplified to a vastly greater extent at First Army School, as soon as -the courses were lengthened to seventeen days’ duration. - -From the first it may be said that the men and officers who came upon -all these courses were extraordinarily keen. They liked sniping, and -still more, observation, because they felt that here, at last, in the -great impersonal war, was an opportunity for individual skill. The -more imaginative of them realized also the enormous possibilities of -the trained observer. In other chapters I will give several instances -of the observation of small details which have had consequences of the -most far-reaching nature. I think that this feeling of the ever-present -possibility of the opportunity of being able to do a big thing formed -part of the fascination of the S.O.S. courses--S.O.S. in this case -meaning, “Sniping, Observation and Scouting,” and not “Service of -Supply,” as it does in the American Army. - -It has been said, and truly, that soldiers are pretty destructive, but -the fact remains that hundreds of privates, N.C.O.’s and officers went -through their shooting courses in the Steenbecque cornfield, which was -traversed in all directions by narrow paths, and yet it was difficult -to find any downtrodden ears of corn. Our one difficulty was that at -one of the firing points the corn grew up and obscured the targets. It -had, therefore, to be cut to the area of about ten yards. I do not know -what the claim sent in by the farmer was for this damage, but as far as -claims were concerned nothing was ever missed by the Flemish peasant. - -Although it was my Headquarters I used only to spend the first two -days of every course at the school; the other days I passed attached -to various divisions and brigades, and in this way became conversant -with the trench line of the Corps along the whole length of which I -inspected the snipers’ posts. The 33rd Division, who were holding the -line opposite Violaines and the Brick-stacks, had had a tremendous duel -with the German snipers. This line has always been a difficult one from -the sniper’s point of view, as the Germans had, unfortunately, the best -of it as to position. The Brick-stacks made ideal sniping-posts, and -there were many other points of vantage which were very much in their -favour. It shows, however, what a first-class sniping officer can do -when it is realized that the 33rd Division who, when they went into the -trenches, found the Germans very much in the ascendant, soon reduced -them to a more fitting state of mind. - -[Illustration: XI CORPS SNIPING SCHOOL. - -Imitation German Trench used for spotting targets, &c. Note snipers’ -loophole and observation hole in tree.] - -[Illustration: METHOD OF INSERTING LOOPHOLE. - -1. Original Section of Parapet - -2. How bags are arranged and fixed round loophole to imitate original -parapet. (Gray’s Boards.) - -3. Parapet reconstructed with loophole. - - _Drawings by_] [_Basil Head._ -] - -It was here that Gray--the sniping officer in question--had a trying -experience. One day while making his tour of duty, an officer told him -that there was a sniper who was causing them trouble. Gray asked -where he was, and was led without words to the part of our trench -opposite which the German sniper was supposed to lie. Gray, being -signed to do so by his guide, looked over, only to be saluted at about -ten yards’ range with a bullet which whizzed by his ear. - -“That’s him,” said the officer delightedly. “I knew he was pretty -close. But what am I to do? He shoots if one tries to spot where he is.” - -“Have you never heard of the sniperscope, you ----?” demanded Gray. - -“By Jove, the very thing!” cried the officer, and it was not long -before the German sniper was reduced to impotence. - -But to return to the 11th Corps School. Work there was certainly -strenuous. There was nothing to do in the village and nothing to do -in Morbecque. The nearest place of relaxation was Hazebrouck, and -Hazebrouck was out of bounds. The result was that having an interesting -course with plenty of rifle shooting competitions, together with -occasional mild cricket and football, officers and men were able -to concentrate upon the work in hand, and certainly their shooting -improved with amazing quickness. - -About this time the 33rd Division moved south, and Lieut. Gray -was attached to the School, where he soon left the impress of his -personality and methods. - -One of the difficulties that we had always found in the First Army was -due to the fact that our trenches, as far at any rate as the Neuve -Chapelle-Fauquissart area was concerned, were very shallow, and, indeed -we lived rather behind breastworks than in trenches. To make loopholes -in these breastworks was exceedingly difficult, but Gray invented a -system which we christened “Gray’s Boards” which fairly met the case. -Thus, if he wished to put in a concealed iron loophole plate, he -first of all cut a square of wood of exactly similar size. In this he -fashioned a loophole to correspond with the loophole of the iron plate. -He then wired the wooden plate on to the iron plate, and having rolled -and stuffed a number of sandbags in exact imitation of the parapet in -which he wished to insert his loophole, he tacked these with a hammer -and tacks upon the wooden board. The whole loophole was then built in -at night. These loopholes of his were rarely discovered, and they had -also the added advantage that if a bullet struck them it did not ring -upon the iron plate, as it had to pierce the wooden board first, so the -posts were never given away by sound. - -It was at the 11th Corps School that we first constructed exact -imitations of German trenches and German sniping posts; in fact, in one -way or another, a great deal of pioneer work was put in there, and the -school prospered exceedingly. - -[Illustration: XI CORPS SNIPING SCHOOL. - - Best form of parapet to conceal loopholes. - Wrong type of parapet for concealing snipers’ loopholes. -] - -[Illustration: SECTION OF TYPICAL GERMAN PARAPET. - -Showing concealed loopholes made through tins, bags, &c. Note--The -steel shields on top are dummies. - - _Drawings by_] [_Basil Head._ -] - -The chief reason, I think, for the success of the school was the great -personal interest taken in it by the Corps Commander, Sir R. Haking, -who would come out from his headquarters at Hinges and inspect the -school at frequent intervals, as did also Brigadier-General W. Hastings -Anderson, then B.G.G.S. of the Corps. We were inspected in July by the -Army Commander, and from time to time officers from other theatres of -war and from other armies visited us. - -In a meadow near the school was a small pond, full of fish, which it -was the ambition of Gray and myself to catch. There was only room for -two fishermen at a time, and only on one occasion was a fish caught. -This we gave to the farmer who owned the pond, and I presume he ate -it, for he was up at Headquarters early the next day inquiring for a -“_médecin_!” - -Still, nothing could be more delightful than after three or four -strenuous days, on each of which one walked perhaps eight or ten miles -of trenches, to sit before that funny little pool in the French meadow, -and forget there was a war. - -At the time of which I write, the Corps which formed the First Army -were the 11th, the 1st and the 4th. The 3rd had gone to the Battle of -the Somme. The 1st Corps had a sniping school, which, at a later date, -reached an extraordinarily high pitch of efficiency under Captain Crang -and the late Lieut. Toovey, the author of “The Old Drum Major” and -well-known Bisley shot. It was a party commanded by Captain Crang which -went into the Portuguese trenches, where it was reported the Germans -were showing themselves rather freely, and made a big bag. The 4th -Corps also had a good school, but they soon moved out of the Army to -the south. In fact, when I first went there, the system in the First -Army was that which I had always advocated, to have Corps Schools of -sniping and observation. The difficulty, of course, was that there was -still no establishment, and that sniping schools did not officially -exist. This was quite a common thing in the war, for when I first went -to the large Third Army Infantry School, with a score of instructors, a -large staff, and a couple of hundred N.C.O. and officer pupils, it did -not exist officially. - -While I was at the 11th Corps School, the War Office at last officially -acknowledged my existence as a sniping-officer to the extent that I -received my pay, which had been withheld for several months. - -After various tours of inspection and work with other Army Corps, I -was ordered by the Army Commander to form an Army School of Sniping. -Greatly rejoicing, Gray and I borrowed a car from the Army and set out -to search through the broad lands of the Pas de Calais. These were -delightful days, but search as we would, it was exceedingly difficult -to find any place in the area of the First Army which would suit our -purpose. It was all too flat. I remember that we once very nearly -decided upon a queer little hill, not very far from Hinges, called Mont -Bernenchon, but luckily we went on further and at last came to the -village of Linghem. Above the village on a high plateau lies an old -civilian range backed by a large rifle butt. The plateau on which the -range is situated is of considerable extent, and upon its slopes (it -was July) bloomed heather and gorse. - -“Why,” said Gray, “the place is trying hard to be like Scotland!” - -The plateau gave us a range of eight hundred yards and plenty of room -for playing fields, which the Army always consider to be absolutely -necessary to the well-being of a school--one reason, I think, that the -health of our men was so good. - -Having decided that here was the ideal place for our projected First -Army Sniping School, Gray and I were disgusted to see the fresh tracks -of a motorcar. It was quite clear that somebody else had discovered -and had an eye upon our find. We did not even wait for a cup of coffee -at the local _estaminet_ but got on board our car and went full speed -to Army Headquarters, where we informed the Staff that we had decided -upon our location, and were told that as no one else had applied for -it, it should be ours. We were only just in time for as we afterwards -discovered the Royal Flying Corps had decided to apply for it. - -All’s well, however, that ends well, and a little later on we left -the 11th Corps School with great regret, and set forth on a lorry for -Linghem to found the First Army Sniping School. - -Often afterwards I used to go across to see how things were getting -along at the dear old 11th Corps School. The last time I was there, -before it was taken over by a Second Army formation, it was a wintry -day with snow falling. I must say that I was glad that I had never been -attached there during winter, for what had been a smiling cornfield -was now a sea of yellow and glutinous mud. The little _becque_ or -stream which ran between our stop-butt and our targets had overflowed, -and Lieut. Hands, who had succeeded to the command of the school, was -urging some one hundred and fifty odd German prisoners to reconstruct -the stop-butt itself. The scene really might have been upon the German -“Eastern Front.” - - - - -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 were overwhelmed with -applications from Corps and Divisions in other Armies who wished to -send observers for a course. This was especially the case before any -big movement, and we might almost have guessed where an advance was -contemplated by the applications for the training of observers by the -units concerned. - -However, all this occurred at a later date, and I must pick up my -narrative when we left the 11th Corps School in the lorry. Those -who were to start the First Army School got aboard after an early -breakfast. They were only six in number, Lieut. Gray, Armourer -Staff-Sergeant Carr, Private Fensome (an extremely capable and skilled -carpenter), myself and two batmen. We took with us all the spares we -could obtain from the 11th Corps School as well as a lot of sniping kit -belonging to Gray and myself. - -As we rode through the country in the direction of Aire we passed -a huge desolate camp which, I believe, had once been inhabited by -Australians. No doubt it had boasted a guard at one time, but it -had now fallen into sad disrepair, the Flemish peasantry having -appropriated all the stoves and most of the wooden walls. A little -further on we came upon two or three Armstrong huts standing in a -field adjacent to the deserted camp, and as these were in better -preservation, and we had no Armstrong hut of our own, it seemed a pity -to leave them for the French, so we set to and took one down and loaded -it on the lorry. This was, no doubt, a very wrong thing to do, but when -you have no “establishment,” you can have no conscience either, or, at -least, if you allow yourself such a luxury you will find that your job -becomes impossible. - -[Illustration: First Army School of S.O.S.] - -Presently we rolled into Aire over the canal bridge, which was -afterwards destroyed by long-range guns, and in Aire we made the little -purchases which are necessary for the formation of officers’ and men’s -messes. We then passed through the old town by the Cathedral. Army -Headquarters had moved away, and there was now only the Town Major and -one or two A.S.C. columns in possession. On the far side of Aire we -took the Lambres and St. Hilaire Road, and passed on through the level -country. As we turned off through Lambres, we saw, rising in front of -us, the high ridge which formed the plateau on which our school was -to be situated, and not long afterwards we rode into the village of -Linghem. The lorry then went round and disembarked our Armstrong hut -upon the plateau, where we at once erected it, and a fortunate thing -it was that we did so, for that night there were some heavy showers -of rain which would have destroyed a good deal of our kit, and more -especially our target-paper and dummy heads, had we not put them under -proper shelter. - -And now, I think, began one of the most interesting periods which I -spent in France. Various fatigue men were added to the Staff, and a -working party from the Army Service Corps was sent up. We were rather -amused to see that the men of this working party, who had been well -behind the line for at least a year previously, thought it quite an -adventure to come up to the school. When they rolled up their sleeves -for digging, we noticed, too, that their arms were white, forming -in this a great contrast to our fatigue men. It was necessary to -dig trenches, make stop-butts, build snipers’ posts and observation -posts, and all this hard work the A.S.C. working party tackled with -extraordinary energy. We put up goal-posts, and they had a game of -football each evening. Several of the A.S.C. party, I believe, were -professional football players of repute. - -[Illustration: FIRST ARMY SCHOOL OF S.O.S. - -No. 1 Flat Parapet. The easiest possible form of parapet to spot -movement behind--practically a death-trap.] - -But it would be tedious to describe the growth of the school step by -step. Suffice it to say that, beginning with a class of a dozen to -fifteen officers, who were dealt with by two officer instructors, our -classes grew until we had twenty-five officers and forty or fifty -N.C.O.’s at each course. But the actual teaching was only one side of -the work of the school, for it was soon thoroughly known throughout the -Army that if any Division, Brigade or Battalion wanted its telescopic -sights tested, or if any individual sniper found himself shooting -incorrectly, all that had to be done was to apply to the First Army -Sniping School. The divisional snipers came up in ’busloads, and -single snipers often came on foot. This continual testing of rifles -kept Armourer Staff-Sergeant Carr busy both on the range and in -his armourer’s shop. Fortunately, as well as being an excellent -armourer, Sergeant Carr was also a shot of no mean order, having shot -in the King’s Hundred at Bisley. - -The school had not been long in existence before the Canadian Corps -came into the Army. They were then holding the line which they -afterwards immortalized opposite the Vimy Ridge, and we were at once -struck at the school by their great energy and keenness. There is no -doubt that as a sniper, scout or intelligence officer, the Canadian -shows the greatest initiative, and during the long period, well over -a year, which they remained in the Army, our school was voluntarily -visited by two Canadians for every one Britisher. They were most -extraordinarily helpful, too, and if ever I wanted the services of some -Canadian officer for a particular purpose, they were almost always -granted, and not only that, but he was on the spot within a few hours -of my application. - -At first the greater part of our teaching dealt with sniping, but -as time went on the curriculum was much extended. Map reading, -intelligence work, the prismatic compass, the range-finder, instruction -on crawling, ju-jitsu and physical drill were all added. In addition -to these, we had continual demonstrations of the effect of all kinds -of bullets, both British and German, on the armoured steel plates -used by us and by the enemy. We formed a museum, which became quite -famous, and in which were various exhibits of German and British -sniping paraphernalia. We also had many photographs, and again and -again officers who had been through the course at the school sent up -contributions. It was said that anyone going through the museum could -really gain a very good idea of the development of sniping during the -war, and this was by no means an exaggeration. - -I soon found that the officers and men who came to the school were -really in need of a clear mental change, and this we attempted to -provide by giving long hours to games. - -[Illustration: FIRST ARMY SCHOOL OF S.O.S. - - No. 2. Same parapet as in No. 1 after five minutes’ alteration. - Sandbags have been thrown on top. A man in a sandbag-covered helmet - is looking over at A, and a man in a cap is looking between the - sandbags at B. N.B.--Bags must be filled with broken stone or - shingle to be bullet-proof; but should be sparsely used in case of - bombardment. -] - -For many months the school was “unofficial,” but at last, on the 24th -November, 1916, more than fifteen months after I had begun serving as -a sniping officer, we were granted a “provisional establishment.” Up -to this time, it was terribly hard to keep the school running, not -to speak of the Corps Schools, which were its offshoots. The real -difficulty was that when each division moved, all its personnel moved -with it, and thus it came about that, seven weeks after the First Army -School was started, Lieut. Gray’s division moved out of the Army, and -he was recalled to it; in spite of applications from Headquarters that -he might be allowed to remain and continue the good work he was doing, -this was refused, and he went down to the Somme to be made officer -in charge of trolleys, or sports, or some such appointment. The mere -fact that he was a King’s Prizeman and perhaps the best shot and the -most capable sniper in the B.E.F. made not one whit of difference. All -these qualities are, no doubt, of the highest use in an officer in -charge of trolleys! - -On Gray’s departure there set in for me a very strenuous time, for -at the same moment the Commandant of the 11th Corps School was also -spirited away. I found an officer who had been through the course at -the First Army School to take his place, and at the same time it became -necessary to find a Commandant for the 1st Corps Sniping School. I -had at this time no assistant myself, and was dealing with a class of -fifteen officers, as well as sometimes as many as fifty snipers, who -came up from the line for a day’s instruction. My N.C.O.’s, however, -stepped nobly into the breach, and Armourer Staff-Sergeant Carr took -over the explanation of telescopic sights--work which lay entirely -outside his duties. At that time there were ten or fifteen patterns of -these sights in the Army, and each officer on the course had to learn -to manipulate every one of them. In fact, the course was a pretty stiff -one, and, over-worked as I was, it was difficult to be certain how much -knowledge the officer students carried away with them, so I started -an examination paper on the last day, which was of a very searching -nature. The full marks were a hundred, and this paper was continued -until the school closed down after the Armistice. Again and again we -had classes, the least successful member of which obtained seventy-five -of the hundred marks. - -During the period in which I was alone after Lieut. Gray’s departure, -an officer attended the school who became my assistant, Lieut. N. -Hands, of the 11th Warwickshire Regiment. I had great difficulty in -obtaining his services, but finally his General exchanged a month of -them for some lectures on Sniping by me. As I was taken in a car to and -from the lectures--and as they were to be given after parade hours, it -did not interfere with my work--this was a very pleasant arrangement, -but Hands had not been with me long when there was another upheaval at -the 11th Corps School. The 61st Division left, and Lieut. Benoy, who -was in charge of the school, left with it. So Hands went across and -took over the 11th Corps School. He afterwards proceeded with the 11th -Corps to Italy, where he was awarded the Military Cross, and did fine -work. - -However, after another period of running the school alone on Hands’ -departure, Army Headquarters sent me Second Lieut. Underhill, of the -1st K.S.L.I. Underhill had been wounded at Ypres, and came out for -instructional duties. The story of his being sent to the school is -an amusing one, in the light of after experience, for he was the -most tremendous worker that I have ever known. He arrived at Army -Headquarters at eight o’clock in the morning, and two hours later, -feeling unhappy at still having nothing to do, he went to the G.S.O.1, -and asked if he could not be put to work. The G.S.O.1, who was my very -good friend, seeing from his papers that Underhill had passed through -Hythe, and was stated to be competent as an instructor, sent him out -to me, and thus it was that I at last obtained a permanent assistant, -and a better no man could have had. Our establishment was still only -a tentative one, and it was not until some months later that we were -allowed the two extra officers and four extra N.C.O.’s, and the dozen -scouts and fatigue-men, who made up our staff. - -Underhill had, by that time, been promoted to Temporary Captain, for -good services, and became Adjutant, and Captain Kendall, of the 4th -Warwickshire Regiment, who, after a course at the School, had become -attached to the Royal Flying Corps as Intelligence Officer, took over -the intelligence duties and map reading at the school. Lieut. W.B. -Curtis, of the 31st Canadian Infantry, became scouting officer: he -had had nearly two years’ experience between the lines, and had been -decorated on three occasions. - -Our N.C.O.’s, too, were the very pick of the Army. There was -Armourer-Staff Sergeant Carr, Sergeant Slade, of the Essex Yeomanry, -Sergeant Hicks, of the 1st Rifle Brigade, and Sergeant Blaikley, of the -Artists’ Rifles. All these N.C.O.’s became in time amazingly proficient -at their work. I have never heard a more clear exposition of the -compass than that given by Sergeant Hicks, who, while one squad was -firing, would sit down under the bank with the other, and explain to -them all the mysteries of the magnetic North. - -The physical training of the school was in the hands of Sergeant-Major -Betts (Coldstream Guards), one of Colonel Campbell’s magnificent -gymnastic staff. - -Sergeant Blaikley, who had drawn for _Punch_ from time to time, -was invaluable as an artist, and it was he who drew our Christmas -card--“Der Sportsmann”--depicting a German gassing stags on a Scottish -deer forest. This picture, which was very widely circulated, certainly -obtained the flattery of imitation, as the same idea was used in most -of our comic papers a month or two afterwards. - -Captain Kendall was a trained surveyor, and an artist of no ordinary -merit. Whatever conundrum was brought up by officers--and a great -many were brought up--Kendall, in his own department, was certainly -unassailable. - -[Illustration: Der Sportsmann. - -Christmas Card (1917) of the First Army School of S.O.S. Drawn by -Ernest Blaikley.] - -Besides the officers and sergeants, we had another member of the -staff who did splendid work. This was Corporal Donald Cameron of the -Lovat Scouts. Lord Lovat had visited the school, and had expressed -his satisfaction at the way in which we were teaching observation and -the use of the telescope. I asked him if he could get me a really -good stalker to assist me, and he very kindly promised to do so. As -one of his own men could not come, he sent me Corporal Cameron, who -showed the greatest keenness, and had, I think, a peculiar affection -for the last man over the stile. If ever there was a weak member in -learning the compass, Cameron would seek him out and explain it. The -results were wonderful, and certainly saved several privates from -failure. Cameron, when I asked him his age on his joining, gave it as -“offeecially forty-one.” He was a very skilful glassman, and as such -was of continual assistance to me. I remember one day when we were -trying some aspirant reinforcements for Lovat Scouts Sharpshooters, and -were looking through our glasses at some troops in blue uniforms about -six thousand yards away, most of the observers reported them as “troops -in blue uniform;” but Cameron pointed out that they were Portuguese. -His reasoning was simple. “They must be either Portuguese or French,” -said he, “and as they are wearing the British steel helmet, they must -be Portuguese.” - -On my establishment, when it finally came along, there were apportioned -to me three scouts among the eleven privates to the services of whom -the school was entitled. I remember these eleven privates parading for -the first time, and I remember also attempting to pick out, with Capt. -Underhill, the three “scouts.” One of the scouts was a Salvation Army -musician, an excellent fellow, but quite unfit for his duties. Another -was an ex-barber of the White Star line, and the third had for years -been unable to break into a double. As the work of scouts with an Army -School is of supreme importance, since one uses them to personate the -enemy in scouting schemes, the employment of such men as these was -quite impossible. Good fortune here, however, came to our aid, for -some performing scouts from G.H.Q., who were giving demonstrations, -came to demonstrate to us, and were afterwards attached to the school. -These were boys under nineteen, and the three I kept ended up as past -masters of their work. By Armistice Day they had been at the school -for some eighteen months, were first-class shots, knew every detail of -the course, and could pass an examination equal to any officer. At the -physical training and ju-jitsu, which they had almost every day, they -were really young terrors. In fact, I remember a commercial joy-rider -who was visiting the school, and whom I was showing round, on seeing -two of the boys doing ju-jitsu, saying with infinite tact: “’Ere, where -do you live when you are at ’ome? I’ll keep clear o’ your street on a -dark night.” - -I might add that all three boys were accomplished Association football -players, so that we always had a really first-class centre forward, -left wing and halfback upon the premises. Our Association team, for so -small a unit, was thus a very strong one, though it might have been -much stronger had not so many of the older members of the staff been -wounded. - -I think the only other member of the staff that I need mention is -Sergeant Foster of the Canadians. At a later date, it became our duty -to train the Portuguese Army in sniping and shooting, and Sergeant -Foster spoke a kind of Portuguese. - -I have given at full length this account of the officers and N.C.O.’s -of the school, because whatever efficiency the school obtained was -founded upon their selection. Whenever it was possible to do so, it was -always a standing order that between courses, when we sometimes had -from two days to a week free, all instructors should go to the line. -For this purpose, arrangements were made with different battalions to -receive them. This kept the school in touch with the progress of events. - -I have often regretted that I did not keep a Visitors’ Book at the -First Army Sniping School, for certainly enormous numbers of visitors -came to us. Outside the officers of the B.E.F., of whom several -hundred visited the school, we had attachés and missions of various -allied and neutral powers--Japanese, Roumanian, Dutch, Spanish, -American, Italian, Portuguese, Siamese and Polish officers, as well -as large numbers of journalists, from whom, when they were not our -own accredited correspondents, I used to conceal a good deal of the -more secret parts of our work. One day, however, on being informed by -the officer-in-charge of the correspondents that they were perfectly -safe, and that I could show them anything, I showed them a small new -invention by which we were able to spot the position of German snipers. -I carefully warned them that it was not to be written about, but about -three months later I saw a large and glaring article describing the -visit of one of these journalists to the school. The description of -the invention could have been of little interest to the great public -which he served, but it was there, carefully set out. This was the only -case of a definitely-broken promise of this nature which I came across -during the war. Our own correspondents, Valentine Williams (afterwards -Captain Valentine Williams, M.C.), Philip Gibbs, Beach Thomas, Perry -Robinson, H.M. Tomlinson, Prevost Battersby, Percival Phillips, -and others who came after I left G.H.Q., were welcome and trusted -throughout the whole Army. - -The feeling in the Army against the Press--for there certainly was, -at one period, such a feeling--is really very often a rather stupid -pose adopted by the younger officers, who usually copy some downright -senior; but it will always remain as long as journalistic mistakes are -made--and that will be as long as wars last. - -Outside the members of the staff, we had help from time to time from -various officers who were attached for short periods of duty. Among -these was Major A. Buxton, D.S.O., of the Essex Yeomanry, who took two -classes of Lovat Scouts in observation. He was, I believe, the only -officer who was habitually successful in catching trout in the French -streams. Second Lieut. C.B. Macpherson of Balavil, a true expert with -the telescope and map, was also attached to the school for a time. He -came out at the age of sixty-two with his splendidly trained group of -Lovat Scouts Sharpshooters. - -Another officer who was temporarily attached to the staff was Capt. -T.B. Barrie of the Canadian Highlanders. He first came to the school on -a course, and was afterwards lent to me by the Canadian 4th Division. -Shortly after his first visit to the school he gained two M.C.’s in a -fortnight, both in raids, in one of which he penetrated six hundred -yards behind the German line. There can have been few more gallant -officers in France, and his death later in the war was a matter of deep -regret to all who knew him. - -One day Major-General the Hon. W. Lambton, commanding the 4th Division -with which I had begun my sniping duties in 1915, came to the school. -His division was then in one of the other armies, but he wished to have -observers trained, and sent up a party under Lieut. Kingsley Conan -Doyle, of the Hampshire Regiment, the son of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, -and one of the best observation officers we had at any time. Conan -Doyle possessed an extraordinary facility for teaching and was most -successful with one or two classes of Lovat Scouts which he took. He -went back to his Division, was promoted to Captain, and acted in charge -of the Divisional Battle Observers in the big battles of 1917. It is -tragic to think that when the order came out for all medical students -to return to complete their studies Capt. Conan Doyle went back to -England; there he contracted influenza and died. This has always seemed -to me one of the saddest things in the war--to have gone through so -much, to have rendered such good service, and finally to be struck down -by the horrible influenza germ instead of the German shells among which -he had walked about so unconcernedly. - -I have now given you a somewhat rambling account of the formation, -and of those who were chiefly connected with the early days, of -the First Army Sniping School. On the very day on which it was -founded, Sir Charles Monro left France to take up his appointment as -Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in India. Sir Richard Haking succeeded -to the temporary command of the Army, and as it happened was the very -first visitor who ever came to First Army School. He told us that the -King was coming almost at once into the Army area, and that he wished -Gray and myself to go back to the 11th Corps School to prepare for a -Royal Inspection. This we did, but unfortunately the King was held up -in Bethune by shelling, so that there was no time for him to visit us. -We greatly regretted this, as a Royal visit would have been of enormous -value to sniping at that time. - -One visitor who came to the school was of peculiar interest to me. -This was my old friend Sir Arthur Pearson, who arrived accompanied by -his son, whom I had last seen at the Boys’ Cricket classes at Lord’s -when he was first in the running for the Eton Eleven, of which he was -afterwards Captain. He was now an officer in the R.H.A. Sir Arthur -Pearson went over the whole school and asked me many questions. Though -he could not, of course, see the loopholes and all the rather technical -work which I explained to him, it was perfectly amazing to realize the -way in which he gripped it in its essentials. I think that he knew more -about sniping, scouting and observation after the hour or two he spent -at the school than I have known other men gather in a week. - -[Illustration: FIRST ARMY SCHOOL OF S.O.S. - -Sniper’s Robe on a 6ft. 4in. man in the open, Hawkins position. -Distance from camera, 8 yards.] - -The only ladies who visited us were Mrs. Humphry Ward and her daughter. -It was terrible weather when they came and the little path which led up -to the range, and which was really more or less the bed of a stream, -had become a glacier of ice several feet in thickness. On the range the -wind was blowing exceedingly cold, and few worse days could have been -picked for a visit. I remember Mrs. Ward saying to me that she thought -sniping--the terrible and ruthless killing of men with weapons of -precision--one of the most dreadful sides of the war. I pointed out to -her the life-saving side of sniping, and how many hundreds and probably -thousands of British officers and men were alive at that moment who, if -it were not for our snipers, would have been killed by the Germans. -Mrs. Ward quite saw the force of this argument and wrote a most -admirable account of her visit to the school. I saw this in proof, but -when it appeared the censors had clearly cut out a certain amount. Why -they had cut it out no one could ever tell. We had at that time a good -number of snipers’ robes of painted canvas at the school. The Germans -had somewhat similar robes and both sides knew that the other was -using them; but the British Censorship would never allow any mention -of these robes. You might mention something really important, some new -invention, or the effect of some new bullet, or any other matter which -would be of real assistance to the Germans, but these robes were the -one thing which seemed to interest the Press Censorship. Speaking as an -Officer-in-charge of a very technical branch of work, I can only say -that the Censorship was at times just like an ostrich hiding its head -in the sand. - -Mrs. Humphry Ward went over the whole school, and I must say that -her questions probed our work more deeply than those of the average -sight-seeing officer who visited us. - -Apart from visitors who came for various purposes to see the school, we -had also several officers who came on duty. Among these was Col. the -Hon. T.F. Fremantle, now Lord Cottesloe. Lord Cottesloe knew more of -telescopic sights and rifle shooting than did any of us at the school, -and there can be no doubt whatever that his visit was of the greatest -assistance to us. With him came Lieut.-Col. Robinson, who was in charge -of the manufacture of telescopic sights at Enfield, and who did so much -to assist us in a hundred different ways. I never had the opportunity -of visiting the school in England of which Lord Cottesloe was the -Commandant, but I had many officers and men who had received a sound -grounding there. - -Lieut.-Col. P.W. Richardson, the well-known Bisley shot, also visited -the school. He was interested in sniping from the very earliest days, -and was probably the first officer to advocate schools for the teaching -of shooting with telescopic sights. - -One evening after the school had been running well over a year I was -sitting by the mess-room fire when a couple of officers were shown in. -Both were wearing Burberrys, so that I was not able to see their rank, -but both were very young-looking. One of them said: “We looked in to -have a talk to you about schools, for we are going to start one. What -we want to know is, how this school manages to get everyone who comes -to it so damned keen on their job?” - -I pointed out that we had a really interesting subject to teach, and -enlarged upon the great theory that I always used to hold that you did -not want to have officers on a course too near a big town. If you have -a good subject to teach, and can teach it intelligently, you ought to -be able to interest them enough in the course to keep their minds at -work, especially if you have at least two hours’ games for those who -want them every afternoon. If you are near a big town, it means dinners -and sweet champagne, and other things which do not conduce to accurate -shooting. Our school was rather more than four kilometres from Aire, -and no one was allowed to go there without a pass. A pass could be had -by any officer for the asking, but I found that, once the course got -its grip, except on Sunday, Aire was very little visited. - -My two visitors then ran through the curriculum of the school with me, -and as the room was hot, removed their Burberrys. I then realized how -great a compliment had been paid to the School, for both were regular -soldiers of long service--as I could tell from their decorations and -medals--and high rank. Presently, they went, and I never saw them -again, nor did I learn their names, but we always thought that their -visit was about the highest compliment ever paid to the First Army -School of S.O.S. - -One point that certainly struck us in our first coming to Linghem was -the delight of the inhabitants in getting a permanent school quartered -in their village. This, of course, meant prosperity to them. They had -previously had one or two battalions, and there was still a large -notice affixed on one of the houses, “Billet Officer,” but when we -came they had had no British soldiers for the last six months. We -were welcomed with open arms. White wine which started the war at 90 -centimes was 1.50 a bottle. Eggs, fruit, and everything else were -cheap. When we left in 1918, that same white wine was 10 francs a -bottle, and even a potato was hard indeed to come by. - -[Illustration: FIND THE SNIPER. - -(The flat cap gives him away.)] - -We owed much to the courtesy of the Secretary to the Maire, M. -Huart, who smoothed away every kind of difficulty. That occasional -difficulties should arise is natural enough, but the French were for -the most part extraordinarily kind. Here and there, of course, one came -across difficult people, as for instance, the determined lady who, -when a Portuguese class was quartered in the village, finding that -they drank no beer at her _estaminet_--for the Portuguese do not drink -beer, and the 10-franc _vin blanc_ was rather beyond them--refused to -allow them to draw water at her well, although it was the only decent -one in the village. I had an interview with the lady, at which she wept -copious floods of tears, and said that the Sergeant who had reported -the matter to me was a _diable_, who had always disliked her from the -first day that he saw her. But she ultimately, of course, had to give -in, under threat of having a permanent guard placed upon the well. - -I have often marvelled how little friction there really was between -us and the French. If a French Army were quartered in England in the -same way that we were quartered in France, I do not for a moment -believe that our people would show towards them the same kindness and -consideration which we received from the French. - -When Gray and I had spent seven very strenuous weeks at the Army School -we were both granted eight days’ leave. Immediately on our return we -were inspected by Sir Henry Horne, the new Army Commander, who came -out many times afterwards. It was always a matter of pride to the -School to have some new thing to show to the Army Commander. On one -occasion Lord Horne inspected some Lovat Scouts whom we were training -as reinforcements for our Army Groups, and after this an order came -through to us to hold ourselves ready to train all reinforcements for -Lovat Scouts throughout the B.E.F. How much Lord Horne did to encourage -and help the School no words can describe. - -At this time also, or a little later, Major-General Hastings Anderson -was appointed Chief of Staff at First Army Headquarters. - - - - -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, as there was always a dazzle in the rays reflected -from the white background. In the Third Army area also the ground was -rolling, and it was nearly always possible to obtain some kind of a -position of vantage behind the parados. For this purpose I had had a -special portable loophole made, shaped something in the form of a wide -triangle, but the back shutter of which slid along in grooves. This -back shutter was made of steel and formed a very fine protection, as -even if an enemy sniper put a bullet through the front loophole, -the bullet was stopped by the sliding shutter behind, unless, that -is, the shot happened to be fired--a twenty to one chance--along the -exact line in which one was looking through the two loopholes. A good -many of these loopholes were used in the Third Army, but I found that -conditions in the First Army rendered them of no great value. - -[Illustration: FIND THE SNIPER. - -(Look for the rifle barrel.)] - -The First Army were holding from just south of Armentières down to Vimy -Ridge, and subsequently it held almost to Arras, but at this time their -lines did not stretch so far south. All the northern part of their -trench system was in an absolutely flat plain, where trenches were -shallow owing to the presence of water at no great depth underground, -and were really much more in the nature of breastworks. In most places -it was useless to go out behind the parados, as the ground was so low -that you got no view. This refers, at any rate, to all the northern -line, after which we entered the coal region, where posts could be dug -in the slag-heaps and in the ruins of shelled buildings. As a rule, -to put a post in a shelled building in the northern part of the line -was simply to court disaster, as these buildings, where they were near -enough to the line to admit of sniping, were continually shelled and -sprayed with machine-gun bullets. But further south buildings were -more common and might be made use of. As a rule, however, I found -that the placing of sniping posts in either buildings or trees was a -mistake. For once such posts were discovered by the enemy he had little -difficulty in ticking them off on his map and demolishing them. Of -course the same was true of posts in more open ground, but these were -much harder to spot and it is better to be shelled in the open ground -than in a house where you are liable to be hurt by falling bricks, etc. - -The problem then that the First Army line presented was an interesting -one, and I have always thought it much the most difficult line to -organize for sniping of which I had knowledge. - -Having learned my work in the trenches of the Third Army I found that -in the First Army I had first of all to unlearn a great deal. The -problem was essentially different, but after a year’s experience, -during which practically every portion of the Front was visited, one -collected a great number of ruses and plans. Still at first to put a -concealed loophole into the Fauquissart or Neuve Chapelle breastworks -was a really difficult problem, which indeed was only solved when, as -I have explained in an earlier chapter, “Gray’s Boards” were invented. -These were immediately successful, and from the time that they were -first used, it was easier to make a good loophole in the breastworks -than in any other part of our line. - -There were here and there, all along the Army front, what may be -known as “bad spots,” that is, places where, through some advantage -of ground, the enemy dominated us. In such places our snipers had to -redouble their efforts, and even then the enemy remained a thorn in our -sides. There were other places, of course, where we had an equivalent -advantage, and there we were soon able to force the Germans to live -an absolutely troglodytic existence. In fact orders were published in -the German army on some fronts, that when a man was off duty he was to -remain in a dug-out. - -Of course the greatest difficulty that we had was the continual -movement of divisions. A division would just be settling down -comfortably and getting its sniping into good order, when it would be -ordered to depart to another Army, and the incoming division would -almost always succeed in giving away some of the posts. This was a -necessary evil, and could not be helped, but the advent of a single -really bad sniping division gave an immense amount of extra work. It -was exactly as if a party of really capable sportsmen were shooting an -area for big game, or, better still, a Scottish deer forest. Imagine -these sportsmen replaced by careless and ignorant tourists. The ground -would inevitably be maltreated, the wrong beasts shot, corries shot -when the wind was unfavourable, and all the deer stampeded onto the -next forest. Of course in this case the deer did not stampede, but -plucked up courage and shot back. - -This condition of things was of course impossible to remedy, but we -were luckier than other Armies, since our southern wing was formed -by the Canadian Corps, who had the same trenches for fifteen months, -and who never changed their divisions. In this Corps many of the -reliefs worked beautifully, the incoming and the outgoing sniping -officers being thoroughly in accord with each other. Major Armstrong, a -well-known British Columbian big-game shot, was Corps Sniping Officer, -and there was no keener. - -[Illustration: With Periscopic Prism--Aldis. - -With Winchester. - -With German telescopic sight (showing use at night). - -TELESCOPIC SIGHTS. - -Diagrams showing point of aim.] - -Of course it must be understood, as I have tried to explain before, -that in writing this book I realize that my point of view is an -exceedingly narrow one, and that I look at everything from the point -of an officer whose business it was to consider sniping, observation -and scouting of paramount importance. We were continually getting new -snipers who took the places of those who had either become casualties, -or had been put to other work. New snipers were nearly always -optimistic, and it was quite a common thing for them to think that -they were doing the enemy much more damage than was really the case. A -conversation has been known to run as follows: - -“Morning, you two.” - -“Good morning, sir.” - -“Anything doing?” - -“Smith got a ’un this morning, sir.” - -“Good. How do you know?” - -“He give a cry, threw up his hands and fell back.” - - * * * * * - -Now this may have been correct, but, as a matter of fact, continued -observation showed that a man shot in ordinary trench warfare very very -rarely either threw up his hands or fell back. He nearly always fell -forward and slipped down. For this the old Greek rendering is best, -“And his knees were loosened.” - -We soon found that a very skilled man with a telescope could tell -pretty accurately whether a man fired at had been hit, or had merely -ducked, and this was the case even when only the “head of the target” -was visible; but to be certain of his accuracy, it was necessary that -the observer should have had a long experience of his work, coupled -with real aptitude for it. The idea of how to spot whether a German was -hit or not was suggested by big-game shooting experiences. An animal -which is fired at and missed always stands tense for the fraction of -a second before it bounds away, but when an animal is struck by the -bullet there is no pause. It bounds away at once on the impact, or -falls. Thus, a stag shot through the heart commences his death rush at -once, to fall dead within fifty yards, whereas a stag missed gives that -tell-tale sudden start. - -In dealing with trench warfare sniping a very capable observer soon -learned to distinguish a hit from a miss, but there were naturally many -observers who never reached the necessary degree of skill. A reason -once advanced for claiming a hit was that the Germans had been shouting -for stretcher-bearers, but a question as to what was the German word -for stretcher-bearer brought confusion upon the young sniper, whose -talents were promptly used elsewhere! - -But taken long by broad the accuracy of the information given by -snipers was really wonderful. On one occasion the snipers of the 33rd -Division reported that two Germans had been seen with the number 79 -upon their helmets. This information went from Battalion, through -Brigade, Division and Corps, to Army, who rather pooh-poohed the -snipers’ accuracy, as the 79th, when last heard of, had been upon the -Russian front. Within a day or two, however, the Germans opposite the -battalion to which these snipers belonged sent a patrol out of their -trenches one misty morning. The patrol fell in with our scouts, who -killed two and carried back the regulation identifications. These -proved the sentries to be correct. - -It was in the same Division that in one tour of duty the snipers -reported the cap-bands of the Germans opposite as: (1) brown; (2) -yellow; (3) white. This again raised a doubt as to their accuracy; the -matter was interesting, as it seemed possible that the trenches had -been taken over by dismounted Uhlans. But before long the snipers were -once again justified. A prisoner was taken, who acknowledged that the -men of his unit had, under orders, covered the state badges on their -caps with strips of tape wound round and round the brims. Prior to -putting on this tape, he said, many of his comrades had dipped it in -their coffee. - -It is only fair to say that the sniping officer of the division in -question was Lieut. Gray, and the exceeding skill of the officers and -men under him may fairly be laid at his door. - -There was in the trenches a very simple way of testing the accuracy -of the sniper’s observation. The various German States, Duchies or -Kingdoms all wore two badges on their caps, one above the other, the -higher being the Imperial badge and the lower the badge of the State. -Thus, the Prussian badge is black and white, the Bavarian light blue -and white; the Saxon, green and white. These badges or, to be more -correct, cockades, are not larger than a shilling, and the colours -are in concentric rings. A series of experiments carried out at First -Army School by the Staff and some of the best Lovat Scouts proved that -these colours were indistinguisable with the best Ross telescope at -a distance of more than 150 yards, except under the most favourable -circumstances. So if ever a sniper (who, of course, knew what troops -he was faced by) reported the colours of cockades when more than 150 -yards from the enemy, it was at once clear that his imagination was too -strong to admit of his useful employment with an observer’s telescope. - -Another great duty of snipers was the blinding of the enemy. Thus, -if the Germans bombarded any portion of our front, their artillery -observers almost always did their work from the flank, where very often -from the front line or from some other point of vantage they spotted -and corrected the shell bursts of their gunners. On such occasions our -snipers opposite both flanks of the bombarded area broke the periscopes -of the German observers, and thus often succeeded in either rendering -them blind, or forcing them to take risks. - -When Germans retaliated and shot our periscopes, we had a number of -dummies made, and by taking the entry and exit of the bullet through -the back and front of these, we were able to spot many posts from -which the Germans were firing. The result was that the enemy suffered -casualties. It is, in fact, not too much to say that in these ways we -were able from very early days to place the position of any sniper who -troubled us, and, once placed, there were many methods by which the man -could be rendered harmless. - -Another point that was not without interest was the fact that -occasionally, and apparently for no reason, the Germans sighted their -rifles by firing at marks upon our parapets. If they did this in a -high wind, it might have been possible that they were trying to get -the correct wind allowance to put on their rifles; but as they often -did it, and it happened all along the line on a still morning, we felt -we must seek some other explanation. Collaboration with Intelligence -proved that this orgy of rifle sighting seemed to coincide with the -relief by one battalion of another in the trenches. It was one of the -many little straws which showed which way the wind was blowing. - -The psychology of the different races of snipers was always -interesting. The English were sound, exceedingly unimaginative, and -very apt to take the most foolish and useless risks, showing their -heads unnecessarily, and out of a kind of unthinking optimism. Nor did -the death of their comrades cause them to keep their heads down, except -in the particular place where a man had been killed. Unimaginativeness -is a great quality in war, but when one is playing a very close game, -in which no points can be given away, between skilled antagonists -as we were doing in sniping, one sometimes wished for a little less -wooden-headed “bravery” so-called and a little more finesse. - -The Welsh were very good indeed, their 38th Division keeping a special -sniper’s book, and their sniping officer, Captain Johnson, was very -able. I think that in early 1918, the snipers of this Division had -accounted for 387 Germans in trench-warfare. - -The Canadians, the Anzacs, and the Scottish Regiments were all -splendid, many units showing an aggressiveness which had the greatest -effect on the _moral_ of the enemy. Of the Australians I had, to my -deep regret, no experience, but they always had the name of being very -good indeed. - -The Americans were also fine shots, and thoroughly enjoyed their work, -but my experience of them lay simply in teaching at the school, and I -never had the opportunity of seeing them in action. - -Of the Germans as a whole one would say that, with certain brilliant -exceptions, they were quite sound, but rather unenterprising, and that -as far as the various tribes were concerned, the Bavarians were better -than the Prussians, while some Saxon units were really first-rate. - -I remember once being in the trenches at Ploegsteert Wood, where the -Saxons were against us, and our fellows were talking about them being -“good old fellows.” All the same, it did not do to show the breadth of -your forehead to the “good old fellows,” for they were really admirable -shots. Somehow or other this idea of the “good old fellow” rather -stuck in my mind, and I used to picture Fritz the sniper as a stout -and careful middle-aged man, who sat in his steel box with a rifle, -took no chances, and carried on his work like a respectable tradesman. -This idea of the fat bearded sniper, however, was not supported by -the telescope, through which I saw some of the most desperate and -bedraggled-looking snipers that one could wish to see. Those who -sometimes got outside their own lines were, however, I think, rather -the “wild boys,” and after we got rid of them the Germans fell back -upon a kind of sober rifle fire which made up the main bulk of their -sniping. - -One point that was noticeable was the good focussing powers of the -German snipers of certain regiments, who shot very well before dawn -and towards dark. In the very crack Jäger regiments, such regiments as -were, I suppose, recruited from Rominten or Hubertusstock districts, -where the great preserves of the Kaiser lay, and in which were a large -percentage of Forest Guards, this was very noticeable. But for long -distance work, and the higher art of observation, the Germans had -nothing to touch our Lovat Scouts. This is natural enough when one -comes to consider the dark forests in which the German Forest Guards -live, and in which they keep on the alert for the slightest movement -of deer or boar. Mostly game is seen within fifty or seventy yards, or -even closer, in these sombre shades, and then it is only the twitching -of an ear or the movement of an antler lifted in the gloaming. Compare -the open Scottish hills. It was the telescope against the field-glass, -and the telescope won every time. In fact, in all the time I was in -the trenches, I never saw a German telescope, whereas I saw hundreds -and hundreds of pairs of field-glasses. - -Now the best field-glass cannot compare with the telescope. Anyone who -has tried to count the points on the antlers of a stag will know this. -I had a great deal of difficulty in convincing some of our officers, -who were used to field-glasses, of this fact, but there was near by -the place at which I was quartered in early days the carved figure of -a knight in armour standing on the top of a château. This knight had -very large spurs, and I would ask student officers to try and count the -rowels with their field-glasses. They never could do so. I would then -hand them one of my beautiful Ross glasses, and there always came the -invariable question, “Where can I get a glass like this?” - -The telescope sight, of course, made accurate shooting in the -half-lights very much easier, and indeed for some valuable minutes -after it had become too dark to use open sights the telescope sights -still gave a clear definition. At night they were invaluable. With a -large telescope sight which magnified five times, and which was very -kindly lent me by Lady Graham of Arran, several of us succeeded in -making a six-inch group on the target at a hundred yards by moonlight, -and even by starlight once we made a two and a half-inch group. I tried -hard to get an issue of somewhat similar sights for night firing -authorized, for when you think of the large amount of coming and going -which continues all night behind an occupied trench, there is no doubt -that plenty of targets are always presenting themselves. Even the -Government issue of telescopic sights were quite useful at night, but -their effect would have been many times increased had it been possible -to fit them for this purpose with a large object glass. - -On both sides thousands upon thousands of lives were saved by wind, -since it was not easy to judge its strength in the trenches, and as the -targets aimed at were usually only half a head, the very smallest error -of judgment resulted in a miss. Once a bullet had whizzed by a German’s -ear within a few inches, a second exposure of the head was rarely made -in the same place. - -Trench sniping was, in fact, as defined by Colonel Langford Lloyd, -“the art of hitting a very small object straight off and without the -advantage of a sighting shot.” - -At a certain spot in our lines not very far from Auchonvillers, known -to fame as “Ocean Villas,” a German sniper had done fell work. It is -hard to say how many British lives he had taken, but his tally was not -small. He lurked somewhere in the mass of heaps of earth, rusty wire -and sandbags which there formed a strong point of the German line. -There were twenty or thirty loopholes from which he might be firing. -The problem was from which of these did his shots actually come? The -Germans had a trick of multiplying their loopholes in this fashion. -Many steel plates were shoved up on the parapet in the most obvious -positions. These were rarely shot through, but they were certainly -sometimes used. The German argument must have been that if you have -thirty loopholes, it is thirty to one against the particular one from -which you fire being under observation at that particular moment. - -On our side there was no loophole whatever covering the area in which -this German sniper worked, and any attempt to spot his post had -perforce to be done over the top of the parapet. As he was simply -waiting and watching for people to look over, it was only a very -hurried and cursory glance that could be taken. At length, however, the -Hun was located by an officer, in the vicinity of two enormous steel -plates set near the top of his parapet. - -As I have said, there was no loophole upon our side, so orders were -given that one should be put in during the night right opposite to -those two big plates. The next morning it was hardly light when the -German sniper shot into our new loophole, which was at once closed. -The trap was now ready, and the officer whose duty it was to deal with -the matter went one hundred yards down the trench to the right flank, -while an assistant protruded the end of a black stick which he happened -to have in his hand, keeping at the same time well to the side. At the -same moment the officer on the flank shot at the right hand of the -two big plates once, and then again. The bullets rang aloud upon the -plates, and the German sniper at the second shot betrayed himself. -Thinking as he did that the shots were fired from the open loophole -opposite to him, he fired at it, and the gas from his rifle gave away -his position. The two big plates were, of course, dummies, and he was -firing almost from ground level, and from an emplacement cleverly -concealed by a mass of broken wire. The loophole was now shut for a -moment or two, and then once again opened, the officer on the flank -having moved to a position where he could command the German sniper’s -loophole. His cap had fallen off. He had a bald head. Once found, and -unaware of the fact the sniper was soon dealt with. - -One could relate very many such incidents, but they are rather grisly. -Sooner or later nearly every troublesome German sniper met his fate. - -But the duty of the sniper changed as the war went on. At first his -job was to dominate the German snipers, destroy their _moral_, and -make life secure for his own comrades. At the same time there was his -Intelligence work. Later, as the warfare became more open, he proved -his value over and over again in attack. When a trench was taken, it -was his duty to get out in front and (lying in a shell-hole) to keep -the enemy heads down while his companions consolidated the newly-won -position. When an advance was held up by a machine-gun, it was the -sniper’s business to put it out of action if he could, and the list of -V.C.’s and D.C.M.’s, as well as thousands of deeds of nameless men, -prove how often he was successful. In the last advance of the Canadian -Corps, their very skilled sniping officer, Major Armstrong, told me -that a single sniper put out of action a battery of 5.9 guns, shooting -down one after another the German officer and men who served it--a -great piece of work, and one thoroughly worthy of General Currie’s -splendid Corps. - -But the machine-gun was the sniper’s special target. Once, of course, -a machine-gun was spotted, or moved in the open, a single sniper was -quite capable of putting it out of action. In fact, the sniper’s duties -were legion. He had to be a really high-class shot, a good and accurate -observer, and a good judge of distance, wind and light. Suffice it that -in the more open warfare many a sniper killed his fifty Germans in a -single day, and whether as a rifleman or scout, he bore a part more -perilous than that of the rank and file of his comrades. If you who -read this know a man who served his year or two in the sniping section -of his battalion, you know one whom it is well that you should honour. - -A position which was much used by German snipers is supposed to have -been trees. This was the theme of many pictures in the illustrated -papers, but as a matter of fact a high tree makes a wretched sniping -post, and I rarely allowed one to be used on our side. The Germans, -however, did extensively use the pollard willows which were so common a -feature on the First Army front. We did not use them, as I have said, -but we found that the German sense of humour appears to be much tickled -by seeing, or thinking he sees, a Britisher falling out of a tree, and -when our sniping became very good, and the enemy consequently shy of -giving a target, a dummy in a tree worked by a rope sometimes caused -Fritz and Hans to show themselves unwisely. - -When the sniping was of high class on both sides, all kinds of ruses -were employed to get the other side to give a target. But one had to be -very careful not to go too far in this sort of work or trickery, lest a -_minenwerfer_ should take his part in the duel. - -From time to time wild geese crossed the trenches in the winter, and -their appearance was usually a signal for a fusillade in which every -rifle and machine-gun that could be brought to bear on both sides -took part. Very rarely was one brought down, though it is possible -that along the whole front in the years of war a dozen may have been -killed. One in particular, on a wild and stormy evening, was shot by -the British and fell in the German lines. The enemy the next day -hoisted a sign on which was painted in English the words: “So many -thanks!”--which was indeed hard to bear! - -There is another incident into which birds also came which occurred on -the Brick-stacks front of the First Army. It was when our sniping had -reached its high-water mark in the 11th Corps. Not very long before we -had been dominated on this front, but the 33rd Division had put all -that right. - -One day Lieut. Gray was coming down the trenches on a tour of -inspection, when he found a private soldier with five partridges lying -before him on the fire step. - -“How did you get them?” said Gray. - -“Shot them, sir.” - -“Yes, but I mean how did you get their bodies?” - -“Crawled out, sir, and picked them up.” - -“By daylight, and in full view of the Germans?” - -“Yes, sir. It’s all right, sir; they never shoot now.” - -Gray gave the private in question a good dressing-down, but the -incident was not without its significance. - -One day in 1915 I was knocking about on the top of Hill 63 with a -telescope. The edge of Ploegsteert Wood abuts upon this hill, and as -I came up I saw an old cock pheasant walking about. At that moment a -shell burst very close to him. He was not hit, but he was certainly -very much dazed, for he stood stupidly watching the fumes rising from -the cavity, and had it not been for the strict orders concerning -game--and the probable arrival of more shells--I could easily have -captured him; but after a few moments, during which he sat with his -feathers all fluffed out, he gathered himself together and disappeared -into the nearest thicket. - -I was always very much afraid all through the war that, having started -poison gas, the Germans might start using shot guns loaded with -buckshot for work between the trenches. Had they done so, patrolling -would have become a horrible business; but I suppose that they were -restrained by the fact either that such weapons are not allowed by the -Geneva Convention, or that the British Isles have such a supply of -shot guns and cartridges that the advantage would not remain long upon -their side. As it was, things were much more satisfactory, for there -was plenty of excitement out in No Man’s Land, what with machine-gun -bullets and rifle fire, without the added horror of a charge of small -shot in the face. - -I have touched on the work of observers in the front line in this -chapter, but it will be more fully considered in the next upon the -subject of Observation, to which this side of the sniper’s work really -belongs. - - - - -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 the line you could daily hear a conversation such as this: - - A.--“Black Sandbags--left--two feet--’alf a ’Un’s ’ead showing. - D----! he’s down!” - - B.--“Hope he’ll come up again.” - - A.--“He’s up!” - - B.--(Fires). - - A.--“Close shave--six inches high--bad luck, ole son!” - -Now the total result of the above passage was in all probability not -only that a German in the trench opposite had been fired at and missed, -but that “A,” the telescope man, had seen certain details which might -prove of interest. These details “A,” at once, as a matter of routine, -entered in his log book. He enters the time--11.18 a.m. let us say. -The place is C3d.25.85 on the squared map. So far all was simple; but -the next entry as to what he had seen was important. A Hun’s head, or -a yellow-bearded Hun, or an ugly Hun, meant nothing; but a Hun wearing -a Prussian cockade, or a Hun wearing a helmet with No. 119 on the -cover--these things were of importance, and soon, under instruction, -sniper-observers gave up reporting black-bearded Germans who leaned -over the parapet, and realized the value of the all-important game -of identification. They entered besides the details already given, a -note of the action taken and the result: In the case we have imagined, -“Fired one shot--missed.” - -It will be further understood that a sniper’s observer (and do not -forget that the observer’s work is much the more trying, and that “A” -and “B” change places every twenty minutes to rest the observer’s -eyes), saw a great many things happen in the enemy lines which did not -come under the heading of “targets.” Earth being thrown up usually -meant work in progress. The occurrence was, of course, noted down in -the log book, with a map reference at which it took place and the spot, -if worth while, bombarded with trench mortars. Or the observer might -spot a machine-gun emplacement, or locate a _minenwerfer_. - -But it will be seen that the possibilities are endless, and as the -war went on the snipers provided a mass of detail, much of which was -confirmed by raids and identifications taken from prisoners or from the -dead, and very little could happen near the enemy’s front lines without -our Intelligence being at once aware of it. - -An interesting question which arose was whether a sniper should enter -deductions as well as facts in his reports, and this question was often -asked me. The reply was that he should invariably do this provided he -marked his deductions very clearly as such. - -The most brilliant piece of deduction that I came across was that of -an officer in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, and it had a remarkable -sequel. At one point of a supposed disused trench, a cat was observed -sunning itself upon the parados. This was duly reported by the -observant sniper, and in his log book for three or four days running -came a note of this tortoise-shell cat sunning itself, always at the -same spot. - -The Intelligence and Sniping Officer of the battalion, on reading -his entries, made his deduction, to wit, that the cat probably lived -near by. Now at that part of the British line there was a terrible -plague of rats, which was probably at least as troublesome upon -the German side. So our officer deduced that the cat was a luxury, -and that this being so, it had most certainly been commandeered or -annexed by enemy officers and probably lived in some enemy officer’s -headquarters--possibly a company commander’s dug-out. - -Some aeroplane photographs were next taken and studied, with a result -that an enemy headquarters was discovered, located and duly dealt with -by one of the batteries of howitzers which made a speciality of such -shoots. - -I give the full details of this incident in a later chapter. In fact, -in trench warfare there was a great deal of scope for deduction. - -At one time, before the Germans received the large numbers of light -machine-guns which were issued in the later stages of the war, their -heavier weapons were mounted in fixed posts, which were very carefully -concealed. Sometimes these guns fired a burst at night, and we invented -a way in which it was possible to locate them. We had a large tin -structure, shaped like an oblong box and made of three walls of tin, -each some inches apart. This was mounted on straight square sticks -fixed at either end of the box. These sticks fitted into grooves which -were nailed on boards set into the parapet, and after dark were run up -until the tin box was above the parapet. Should it in this position -happen to catch even one bullet of a burst of fire, as an enemy -machine-gun sprayed our trench, it was only necessary to slide down -the legs through the grooves, and to place a periscope in front of any -hole the machine-gun bullets had made. In this way the observer found -himself looking down the course along which the bullet had come, direct -at the spot from which it was fired. - -This was rather a clumsy and very uncertain device, but it was used in -a dozen other forms. Had it been invented earlier, before the issue of -light machine-guns which I have referred to above, it might have been -quite valuable, but it came too late, and was soon discarded. - -To spot a hostile machine-gun emplacement was one of the most valuable -services a front-line observer could render, since of course a single -machine-gun can hold up an attack and inflict great casualties. -Therefore, when a machine-gun emplacement was spotted it was not -necessarily put out of action at once, but its map reference was noted -and sent to Intelligence, where it was filed, and action taken by the -divisional artillery at the correct time, usually just before a raid or -an attack. - -On the 11th Corps front in 1916 our troops were continually making -raids, and there was a great deal of competition as to who should -make the most successful. The result was that the enemy was kept -continually upon the jump. The Germans were allowed very little sleep -during those months. - -One night they decided to try and regain the lost initiative, and a -German raid was turned on, which, however, did not meet with great -success; in fact, things began to be critical for the raiders, and the -German Company Commander in charge came out into No Man’s Land to see -for himself what was amiss. There in No Man’s Land he was killed by -our men, and from his body a map was taken on which the position of no -less than eighty machine-gun emplacements was marked. At first it was -thought that the map on which these eighty emplacements were described -might be a fake intended to mislead us, but on comparing it with the -emplacements discovered during the previous weeks it was found that no -fewer than forty-two of the eighty had been spotted and ticked off, -though as yet no serious action against them had been taken. - -Such a chance never comes twice, and a few nights later the gunners -blew up all the machine-gun emplacements while the South Wales -Borderers went across and raided the German trenches. To such a tune -was the raid carried out that, though a record number of prisoners were -brought in, the raiding party suffered hardly any loss themselves. - -More than one officer in the war must have found himself in a dreadful -position when captured by the enemy with important maps of his own -lines in his pocket. Carelessness, darkness, or misadventure might each -or any of them be responsible, but bad as was the lot of the ordinary -prisoner, how much worse was that of one whose capture had given -valuable local information to the enemy! It is too painful a subject to -pursue. - -Many people seem to think that all observation is now done from -aeroplanes, but this is absurd. The airmen can spot hostile -concentrations and do invaluable work in a hundred ways, but, as the -war went on, more and more was it recognized how necessary was the -ground-observer, for he looked at the enemy from a different angle, and -his reports were often of the highest value. - -Once the Germans started a new and large form of periscope, and we -ceased destroying them at once the moment a clever observer found that -with the telescope he could read the reflection of the numbers on the -shoulder straps of the Germans who used them, thereby allowing us to -identify the opposing unit with both comfort and ease. - -It was perhaps natural enough that when a sniper first won his way into -the sniping section of his battalion, he should desire to shoot rather -than to observe, yet, as a matter of fact, the observer’s was, in my -opinion, the post of honour. It was very hard work too, especially in -summer time, and more especially still in the chalk country. Some of -the happiest days of our lives were spent with the Ross telescope, -either watching the German lines from the front trenches or from some -observation post further back overlooking the wide areas that lay -behind them. On many occasions one became so interested that meals -were forgotten, as the telescope searched and waited for the artillery -observers’ observation posts. - -Such a one there was at Beaumont Hamel. It was in the autumn of 1915, -and the leaves were falling, which is the best time of all for spotting -the posts of enemy observers. Right back in the village was a building -which, though it had been heavily shelled, still stood in a fairly -commanding position. A direct hit had at some previous time smashed -a jagged hole under the eaves through which one could see a beam -stretching across. It was the presence of this beam which first drew -attention to the spot, for it seemed strange that the shell should not -have carried it away. It looked, indeed, as if it had been placed there -afterwards; but it was a little back in the room behind, and it was -difficult to tell whether the shell might not have left it intact. - -In the morning, when the light was bad owing to the position of -the sun, it was very hard to spot the shell hole, and the beam was -invisible, but one day when the light was very good in the afternoon, -the glass revealed five bricks standing on this broken beam. Natural -enough--but not quite so natural when the next day the five bricks had -changed their position. On the first day four had been lying along the -beam at full length and one was set upon its end. On the second day a -second had adopted the erect position. - -Late in the afternoon of that clear day the officer who had observed -and who was taking interest in the five bricks saw through his 30-power -glass a German hand moving the bricks and the light glint on a pair of -German field-glasses levelled amongst them. - -The second shell from our gunners removed for ever that post of -Beaumont Hamel. - -That was one side of the game. - -The other was when your own post got given away--as it sometimes -did--usually by the flash of a glass in some unskilled hands, by -aeroplane photographs, or by some idiot approaching the post when the -light allowed of good observation from the German line. Then the first -news you had of it was the arrival of the German shells. Followed -either the decision to stick it, or the climb, during the later stages -of the war in a gas mask, down the ladder and a dash for the nearest -dug-out. - -[Illustration: - - _From a drawing by_] [_Ernest Blaikley._ - -Inside the Observation Post.] - -Once on a certain famous ridge riddled with our observation posts, I -can remember finding a path leading to every post clear in the new -fallen snow, and a German aeroplane imminent overhead. Now supposing -that plane happened to be a photographic plane, as it most probably -was, the whole of the posts would be given away as clearly as if we had -sent a map across with them marked upon it. - -I can remember how we made false trails in little parties, and never -did soldiers double at a faster pace! A fall of snow helped us a great -deal as far as aeroplane photographs were concerned, and no doubt the -Germans also, but even at such times the German flying man did not come -much over our lines. - -There was another post which we used for a long time, the only road -to which lay along a disused trench in which were several deep shell -holes. As this trench was full of a kind of thick dust or mud according -to the weather, and as the whole length of it had to be passed over -by crawling there was great fear that the trails of the observers -would one day be photographed from the air. At one point, therefore, -an entrenching tool was left with which each observer obliterated his -trail as far as he could. One becomes very careful in these small -details when one’s life hangs upon the issue. - -Perhaps the most remarkable observation posts used during the war -were three famous ones in the French lines. At one point there was -a slight rise in front of the French position and above the German. -Both trenches cut across the Paris road, and exactly upon the top of -the rise between the trenches where the observation was best stood a -milestone on which was stated the number of kilometres to Paris. - -This milestone the French photographed. The photograph was sent to the -Camouflage Works, where an exact copy of the milestone, with the number -of kilometres printed on it, was made in steel, but with an observation -eye-slit covered with gauze. Then one night a French party crept out -and removed the real milestone, putting in its stead the camouflaged -one. A tunnel from the trench was next dug, and for many months inside -that harmless-looking milestone a pair of keen French eyes noted much -of interest that happened in the German line. - -In another case, a huge dead, yellow-bearded Prussian lay, on a point -of vantage, staring at the sky. He, too, was photographed and copied, -and from the hollow shell, clothed in his uniform, another observer -fulfilled his duty. A dead horse likewise was replaced and used. - -In fact, the romance of observation was endless, forming, as it did, -one of the more human phases of the world-war, for here, at least, an -observer’s life was often dependent upon his own skill. Observers often -lay in full view, their lives depending upon quiescence and their art -of blending with the background. - -When, at a later date, there was an issue in the British Army of -sniping robes for the use of snipers and observers--robes which -tallied with any background and were ornamented with all kinds of -dazzle painting--there was a tendency to send snipers and observers -out in front. As a rule I think this was a mistake, for the hours -out in front from dawn to dark were very long, and the observer had -to keep upon the _qui vive_ for too long a period. Also the smallest -movement would give him away, and he was rarely in a position to use -his telescope over any large area. Freedom of movement is necessary to -the observer, and as to the sniper, I always felt that it was wrong to -send him out except on a definite quest, for the man behind the trench -is always in a superior position to the man who is lying on open ground -without any chance of escape. - -So far I have dealt with what is known as front line observation; -but besides this we have to consider the very wide subject of back -area observation. The sniper’s duty is to watch the enemy’s front and -support lines. The brigade observers, if any--and keen brigades were -always sending them to be trained--and the divisional observers working -from posts on their own support lines, or from some point of vantage -far behind, watched the areas lying at the back of the enemy fighting -lines as far as the glass could see. - -To some of the Army Corps were attached the Lovat Scouts Sharpshooters. -This name turned out in a way really a misnomer, for the Lovats -were found to be so invaluable with the telescope that they were in -many cases forbidden to use the rifle. Many Corps also had groups of -observers formed from their Corps Cavalry. Besides these we had the -F.O.O.’s and Artillery observers who, however, do not come within the -scope of this chapter as their work is so largely for the guns. - -In order to understand fully the tremendous mass of work done by -observers, you must realize that behind the lines the Major-General, -the Corps Commander, the Army Commander and the Commander-in-Chief -himself are all blind. Their brains direct the battle, but it is with -the eyes of Sandy McTosh that they see. And nobly through the war did -Sandy do his part. It is from him and his officers that the blind -General behind learns how the battle goes--that the brigade have gained -their first objective--that the --th are held up by wire--that at N26, -C4.3 at least six German battalions are massing for a counter-attack. -In the Vimy Ridge battle did not Lieut. Whamond and Sergeant Fraser -observe, and did not the guns they warned break up, a mighty -counter-attack before ever it was launched? - -The duty of the battle observer is to obtain the information as to how -each phase of the battle goes, and then to get that information back to -where it should be of value. - -[Illustration: - - _From a drawing by_] [_Ernest Blaikley._ - -Lovat Scouts: Battle observers.] - -The battle observer’s post or, rather, his series of posts, in an -advance, may begin in an observation post, proceed forward to a series -of shell holes and finish in a wrecked German lorry stranded upon some -convenient slope. He will use the telephone. His runners--who take back -his reports when the telephone wires are cut by shell fire--will escape -on one occasion almost unshot at; on the next gas shells will pursue -them with positive malignancy. The observer cannot observe in his gas -mask, so that gas shells are his particular enemy, and in many of the -later attacks the Germans at once drenched all possible observation -posts with gas. - -But, as I say, the observer is the eye of the High Command. Far away -a General and his Chief of Staff are looking at a map. An orderly -enters and hands over a flimsy to the Chief of Staff. He reads out the -message. The General gives a sigh of relief. He knows now that the -danger spot is behind the remnants of the gallant battalions of the -381st Brigade. Sandy McTosh has made “siccar”--he has seen--he has -verified--he has got his report back. Those eyes, trained on the hill -among the deer, may have had their share, and that no small one, in the -making of history. - -Battle-observing was the blue ribbon of observation. Although the first -battalion of Lovat Scouts went to Gallipoli, and later to Salonica, -only coming to their true work in France in 1918, yet since 1916 -this splendid regiment was represented there by the Lovat Scouts -Sharpshooters whom I have referred to above, and of whom nine groups, -each about twenty strong, and each under an officer, were attached to a -certain Army Corps. Every man of these groups was a picked stalker and -glassman, and they were used largely for long range observation. - -It fell to the First Army Sniping School to train their reinforcements. -Keener men never lived, nor more dependable. I remember once a -Zeppelin was reported as falling in the enemy back areas some six or -seven thousand yards behind the German line. This report was made by -divisional observers, but it was promptly denied by the Lovat Scouts, -who stated very gravely that there _was_ a difference between a -Zeppelin and a half deflated balloon! - -Lovat Scouts Sharpshooters were trained at Beauly in map-reading, -compass work, etc., and first came out in separate groups. A little -later Lieut.-Colonel Cameron of Lochiel arrived in France to -co-ordinate their work. At this time their _raison d’être_ was not -always apparent to the units to which they were attached, and some -of them were put on to observe for enemy aeroplanes, in which work -their skill was rather thrown away. But this was largely put right by -Lochiel, whose work was invaluable. Later they were under the command -of Lieut.-Colonel Grant, and towards the end of the war, as I have -mentioned above, the First Lovat Scouts were brought home from abroad -to take up their true work of observation, just the whole period of the -war too late. - -At first they were quarantined for a time, as most of them were -suffering from malaria, and from then onwards tremendous efforts were -made to train the whole regiment in the higher forms of map-reading. -It is, I believe, a fact that it was only on November 11th, the day of -the Armistice, that the order finally came through from the War Office -which settled the establishment of the Lovat Scouts with the British -Expeditionary Force. - -The Lovat Scouts were intensely and rightly proud of their regiment and -its work. Once I received orders to train forty foreigners as Lovat -Scouts, and called up an old Lovat and told him so and ordered him to -make certain arrangements. - -“Yes, sir,” said he and saluted. - -One of my officers was lying behind a hedge observing, and on leaving -me the old Lovat walked down this hedge soliloquizing. He did not see -the officer, who, however, overheard his soliloquy. It ran thus: - -“Forty Englishmen to be trained as Lovat Scouts! -Abominable!--Preposterous!--_and it can’t be done_!” - -The 1st Corps had a splendid system under which the Lovat Scouts -attached to it worked. It possessed a grand group under Lieut. -Whamond, M.C., whose equal at his work I never saw in France. The -system was this: Scouts from the group were available on application to -the Corps Intelligence Office. Thus, if a battalion had been ordered to -raid the enemy trenches, the Commanding Officer of that battalion could -indent for some Lovats to go and make a reconnaissance of the enemy -wire for him. Or if a Divisional Commander thought the enemy activities -increasing, he could obtain some special pairs of Lovats to watch the -part of the line he considered threatened. The group, in fact, were at -the service of all units in the Corps, and the result was that when -they were applied for, their assistance was fully valued, and they went -always to a definite job. - -Various scouts from this group used to come up to First Army School of -S.O.S. to recoup, for, during the long drawn out operations in front of -Lens, the continual use of the glass was very trying. - -A story, probably apocryphal, was always told in the 1st Corps -concerning a gigantic corporal of the Lovats who stood six feet five -inches in height, and was certainly one of the strongest men in -the Army. He was talking with his companion--for the scouts worked -in pairs--when his conversation was overheard by some men of a new -formation. As the Lovats were speaking Gaelic, these men at once -jumped to the conclusion that they were listening to German, and -demanded an instant surrender. - -The night was dark, but, as the story goes, it was not the new -formation who brought back the Lovats as prisoners, but the Lovats who -brought back the new formation. - -The final arrangement in the B.E.F., which never took effect, allotted -groups of Lovat Scouts to each Division. At each Army there was to be a -Major in charge on the Headquarters staff, and a captain at the Corps; -but, as I have said, this system had hardly begun to operate when the -war ended. - -In training glassmen, one wonderfully soon realized how impossible it -was to teach any man to use his telescope skilfully who had not been -accustomed to it from early youth. Every soldier can, of course, be -taught which end to look through, and how to focus, and such details, -but these men who began late in life never got the same value from -their glasses as did the gillies and the stalkers, and from the point -of view of accuracy they were in no way comparable. The truth, that to -use a stalking telescope well needs just as much time, practice, and -natural gift as first-class shooting, was soon recognized, and would-be -observers were sent to the First Army School from all over the B.E.F. -But work on them as we would, they never averaged anything like the -Lovat standard. - -It sounds a bold statement to make, but the Lovats _never_ let one -down. If they reported a thing, the thing was as they reported it. -Certainly the men who follow the red deer of Scotland proved themselves -once again in this war to possess qualities which, let us hope, will -never pass from the British race. - -As ammunition grew plentiful, and observation more and more adequate, -it naturally became less and less healthy for the German to move about -in his back areas in daylight. Thus, one day, two officers happened to -be in an observation post which was connected with the guns, when out -of a wood some thousands of yards behind the German line emerged three -figures. The light was beautiful, and as the figures came nearer and -nearer one of the officers began to take an interest. - -As a rule, that observation post did not ring up the guns unless a -party of Germans over half a dozen in number was seen, but presently -the officer at the telescope spoke. - -“I say?” - -“Yes.” - -“Get on to Stiggins” (the code name of the battery). “Tell them three -Hun officers with blue cloaks lined with light blue silk, blucher boots -and shining swords, will be at the cross-roads at H16, C45.5 in about -five minutes. Tell them they are probably Prince Eitel Fritz and Little -Willie. I will give the word when to let them have it.” - -Through the glass could be clearly seen--it was afternoon, and the sun -was in a perfect position--the nonchalant way in which those three -arrogant-looking Hun officers stared about as they approached the -cross-roads. - -Then, in due course, the observing officer said: “Now”--and a moment -later the shells passed over the observation post with a sound as of -the tearing of silk, and the three “princes,” blue cloaks and swords -were flying at all angles as they dashed back from the cross-roads, -only to run into another shell burst. Two fell--the other made good his -escape. It was never learned who they were. - -Another incident. One very misty day two officers were in an -observation post looking out over the huge devastation of the Loos -salient. They were not in an artillery, but in an Intelligence -observation post, which, however, was linked up with the guns. Suddenly -the mist thinned, revealing far behind the German lines, 7,000 yards -away, a number of figures engaged in harvesting. - -“Ring up ‘Compunction,’” said one officer, “and tell them that sixty -Huns are working on the corn at U22, A45.70.” - -“By God, cancel that,” cried the other, whose eyes were still on the -telescope. “There are women among them.” - -They were French women, with a sprinkling of Bavarian or Prussian -soldiers. The long distance observer saved lives, even behind the Hun -lines, as well as took them. - -Sometimes it was the observer’s duty to watch a single German for days -at a time, not for the sake of watching a particular man, but because -the man happened perhaps to be a sentry on the particular piece of line -which was under observation. - -I remember watching a German sentry in this way, or, rather, seeing -him from time to time from the Monday to the Thursday. He never gave -an opportunity for a shot, though periodically he used to peer quickly -over the parapet and as quickly subside; but one got quite used to his -routine. His dinner was brought him at his post, where he seemed to -remain for very long hours. Once a friend, who was engaged in painting -a notice, seemed to come and sit and talk with him. The sentry himself -was an exceedingly young German, and I should say an extraordinarily -bad sentry. He sometimes used to shoot at us if we gave him -provocation, but he was an appallingly bad shot. He was so exceedingly -young that I was very glad that I had not a rifle with me, for when at -last he did give a chance it was the Company-Sergeant-Major, who cared -not if he was young or old, who did what was necessary. - -There were certain observation posts in or outside the British lines -from which no shot was ever allowed to be fired, lest the post should -be betrayed, so valuable were they for observation. From one you -could see at close range a German mounted military policeman--he was -not always mounted--directing the traffic. You could almost see the -expression on the faces of the Huns. - -At another point an observation post which was linked up with the guns -had a long distance view of a straight road near a ridge running behind -the German lines, along which even in daylight Huns were wont to move -in small bodies. - -One day an officer and a corporal were in this post, when the corporal -drew the attention of the officer to a single figure moving along the -road. By deduction it was that of a German officer, for every now and -again he would meet little parties of troops coming along the road in -threes and fours, not enough to shoot at. - -“Sir,” said the corporal, “the officer stops each lot and kind of seems -to inspect them. I expect he is a disciplinarian.” - -The officer smiled. - -Some little distance further on he knew a point on the road was -registered by our guns. Before the officer came to this he gave the -word along the telephone to fire. As the shells approached the Hun -officer hurled himself to the ground, from which, after the smoke -cleared from a very nice shot, he was not seen to rise. But the -chances are he crawled away. If not, the German Army was certainly -short of an officer of “push and go.” - -Of course the difference between the really skilled observer and the -makeshifts who sometimes had to act in their places came out in a very -marked degree at the longer ranges. The latter did not understand -the telescope, and were never able to focus it so as to get the best -results. In fact, when happenings were quite clear to anyone used to -the telescope, these men were all at sea and could not distinguish much. - -Anyone who was a real artist with the telescope was, of course, always -trying different glasses and different magnifications. Apart from the -telescopes which I had purchased with Mr. St. Loe Strachey’s invaluable -fund, the Lady Roberts fund sent me out a number of very high-class -glasses of all magnifications, and after a great deal of experimenting -we came to the conclusion that during all the morning hours, when the -sun was facing us, we should do best for all our work with a 10-power -magnification, whereas, of course, when the sun went round behind us, -higher-powered glasses gave better results. Still, it was very rare -indeed that it was worth while to pull out the 30-power stop. Glasses -even of the same magnification vary to an amazing extent. Some are -what may be called sweet, that is, easy and restful for the eyes to -look through. Others, of perhaps exactly similar type and by the same -maker, are hard and unsatisfactory. Most of the Lovat Scouts brought -out their own glasses, nearly all Ross’s--indeed, I never knew of any -glass to compare with those made by this maker. - -There was one duty of back area observers which was always interesting, -and this was watching enemy railway crossings. All these crossings -were, of course, registered by our guns, and it was the duty of the -observer to keep a good look-out on them, and when a train stopped in -the station, and consequently a good deal of traffic was held up on -either side of the railway crossing, he would ring up the guns. A few -well-placed shells would then wreak havoc upon the enemy. - -A system which was extraordinarily clear and interesting was adopted by -one Corps. This Corps had, let us say, five posts manned by observers. -All these posts were linked up with artillery. Back at Corps, stretched -on an enormous table, was a large map, on which, of course, the five -observation posts were marked. The observers in the posts sent in their -daily diary of observation, and when anything in it was of importance, -it was entered on this large map. Thus, we will call the posts Tiger, -Lion, Leopard, Puma and Jaguar, the names by which they were known. -Everything observed from Lion was entered in red ink, everything from -Tiger in violet, and from the others also in different coloured inks. -It was thus possible at a single glance to tell exactly what had been -seen during the past week from each post. Of course sometimes two posts -observed the same thing, but only on the extreme limits of their area -of observation. - -A good observation post was a great asset, and sore, indeed, were the -observers if it was given away. There was one such post on a certain -front which lay within six hundred yards of the enemy’s front line. -This post had been used, and had remained undiscovered for four months. -One day there was some change in the arrangement of Corps, and a smart -young staff captain arrived at the post and stated that he had orders -to take it over from the observers. - -Luckily the observer officer, who shall be nameless, was in the post, -and he is reported to have addressed that staff captain as follows: - -“There are two ways, sir, in which this can be done. The one would -be if you were to bring me a written authorization from the head of -Intelligence in my Corps, telling me to deliver up the post. That would -be the proper and official way. The other would be to throw me out. -Which are ye for?” - -As the speaker was over six feet high, and had to pass most-doors -sideways, he remained in unmolested possession of that post. - -One lingers over observation, because it was so intensely interesting. -During the long and weary period of trench warfare, when one saw so few -Germans in the ordinary course of events, it was delightful to be able -to go and look, with the help of a Ross glass, into their private life. -Many and many a time did officers say to me that one of the things -they most desired and would most enjoy would be to go for a short tour -behind the German lines and see what it all looked like. I quite agreed -with them, but by the use of the telescope we were able to visualize a -great deal of the German common task and daily round. - -One early morning, when I was at First Army Sniping School, it became -necessary that a recently-joined N.C.O. who had just come out from -England, should be what Archibald Forbes’ German general called “a -little shooted.” Almost as soon as it was light we went down to the -line and crawled up through a wood which overlooked the German lines. -This wood would have been an almost ideal place for observation, and, -indeed, there were two or three observation posts there, but, as usual, -some incoming division had wanted some of the material which went to -the making of these posts and had torn it from them, thus giving them -most royally away. The result was that the woods were by no means a -health resort, as one never knew when the Germans would start shelling -them. - -That summer morning, however, the sun had risen clear and bright, -throwing for a short period of time some kind of illusion over the sad -and war-worn landscape--for really after two or three years in France -one began to feel a horror of broken masonry and the ugly distortion -of war. Very rarely was a scene beautiful, on that part of the front -at any rate, but on this morning there was a tang in the air, and it -was good to be alive. With our telescopes, as soon as we reached a -point of vantage, we were able to see various slight movements in the -German lines. It was a curiously peaceful movement--fatigue parties -moving about carrying large pots full of cooked rations. In front of -us and at no great distance there was a little rounded hummock, which -had obviously been strengthened with concrete. Two men came up to this, -bearing two large pots slung upon a pole between them, and shortly -afterwards four more arrived. All went into a concrete fort which was -too large to be a pill-box. I suggested to an officer who was with me -that the place ought to be shelled, but he laughed and said: “They have -tried it a couple of times, but the shells have simply bounced off. And -now they have the place safely registered on the map, and if we come -to advance in that quarter we should put some howitzer on to it which -would do the work properly.” - -Some of these German strong posts certainly did need heavy guns to -deal with them. No doubt there is a great satisfaction in having -an absolutely safe hole into which to creep when artillery fire -begins, but it is doubtful whether it is good policy to make too good -arrangements of this kind. Many Germans no doubt saved their lives by -going down their deep dug-outs and into their concrete pill-boxes, but -many more, as is common knowledge, when our men came over, stayed down -too long and were bombed to death. - -But to return. Lying on that hillside in the early morning has always -remained, for no particular reason, one of my most vivid memories in -the war, probably because there was no shelling on either side, and one -had for once the opportunity of watching the enemy moving peacefully -about his tasks. - -One point that struck me very strongly was the appearance of the -Germans, who were certainly very much less smart than our men. The -little round caps which the privates wore always reminded me of a -cook’s cap, and if the French steel helmet was a thing of beauty and -the British certainly not, the German was hideous beyond words. The -colour of the German uniform was splendid, and very difficult to pick -up. - -When in a back area observation post, one was often watching both -Germans and British, and there is no question at all that the British -were much easier to see than the Germans. This was not because khaki -was a bad colour to blend with backgrounds, but because the tops of -the British caps were all of so much larger area than the German. The -flat-topped caps which so many of the British at one time wore were -simply an advertisement of their presence, and even the soft caps, for -wearing which officers were arrested when on leave by conscientious -A.P.M.’s, were too wide. Any flat surface worn on top of the head -is certain to catch every bit of light, and a flash of light means -movement, and draws the observer’s telescope as a magnet draws metal. - -The ideal army, could I clothe it, would wear a very curious shape of -cap, with certainly an uneven outline. - -But I do not need to labour this point. You have only to look at the -photographs contained in this book to see what a terrible handicap a -definite outline is. - -[Illustration: The Fatal Cap.] - -There was one incident of observation which, although it did not happen -often, gave one a distinct feeling of importance. Most shelling done -by the Germans was on registered cross-roads and suchlike spots, and -always when they saw a body of men of any size they would, of course, -shell it. But the observer, who usually went into his post rather -late--as in the early morning observation, owing to the mist and the -position of the sun, was impossible--often received the honour -of a special shelling all to himself. This was not the usual chance -shelling, as that, as I have said, was always done upon the roads, and -very often the observer made his way by footpaths or across the open -ground. - -I think the Germans often suspected observation posts, and they paid -a compliment to observers by shelling all those who moved in their -neighbourhood. - - - - -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. - -Yet although a great mass of good material came to us, we were nearly -always able to improve every student’s shooting by 30 or 40 per cent. -It is wonderful what can be done in seventeen days if both the class -and the instructors are working in unison. - -Each class used to begin with an inspection of rifles, followed by a -lecture on care and cleaning, at which the value of the polished barrel -was taught with no uncertain voice. - -[Illustration: FIRST ARMY SCHOOL OF S.O.S. - -Comparison of sniper’s robe as opposed to ordinary kit firing over a -turnip heap. To find second sniper look for muzzle of rifle. Distance -from camera, 8 yards.] - -There were many difficulties in the way of teaching shooting with -telescopic sights, when the issue of these was so limited as it was in -France. Many times officers who ought to have known better advocated -the shooting away of a mass of ammunition through telescope-sighted -rifles at ranges of five or six hundred yards. It was hard to make -these officers realize that the sole value of a telescopic rifle lay -in its extreme accuracy, and that if the rifle were continually fired -through, the barrel would become worn, and the best shot in the world, -were he using it, would find his group spreading ever more widely upon -the target. It was necessary, therefore, that the happy mean should be -struck, so every officer and N.C.O. who came to the school was ordered -to bring with him two rifles, one of them with open sights, and until a -man had proved that he could shoot really well with open sights, he was -not allowed to touch a telescopic-sighted rifle. - -As a matter of fact, anyone who can make good shooting with the -ordinary service rifle will find very little difficulty in improving -his marksmanship when he is promoted to a telescopic sight. - -One of the greatest difficulties that we had--the difficulty which -literally haunted the whole of instruction in France, was the fact that -the telescopic sights were set, not on top, but at the left-hand side -of the rifle. This caused all kinds of errors. The set-off, of course, -affected the shooting of the rifle, and had to be allowed for, and the -clumsy position of the sight was very apt to cause men to cant their -rifles, and some used the left eye. Worse than all, perhaps, in trench -warfare was the fact that with the Government pattern of telescopic -sight, which was set on the side of the rifle, it was impossible to see -through the loopholes of the steel plates which were issued, as these -loopholes were naturally narrow; and looking into the telescopic sight, -when the muzzle of the rifle was pointing through the loophole, one got -nothing but a fine view of the inside of the steel plate and the side -of the loophole. Why the telescopic sights were set on the sides of the -rifles was never definitely or satisfactorily explained, but it was -always said that it was done so that rapid fire should be possible. I -believe the decision was taken in the War Office, and if this is true, -and the sight was set on the side for this reason (and one can see no -other reason why it should have been so set)--then surely whoever was -responsible can have had no knowledge whatever of the use of telescopic -sights. - -To take a telescope sight off a rifle occupies not two seconds of time, -and to think that a sniper could or would ever do rapid fire through a -telescope sight, or need to load with a clip, shows nothing short of -incredible ignorance. At any rate, the Germans made no such mistake, -though they made many others. - -Nevertheless, the sights came out to us in this form, and by the time -that representations had been made from high quarters in France asking -that telescope sights should be set on top of the rifle, an alteration -was impossible, as it would have thrown out all the factories who were -engaged in the manufacture of these weapons. But once again, many a -German owed his life to the original decision. - -To take a concrete instance. One day I was down in the trenches and -watching No-Man’s-Land with a telescope. There was a sniper beside me -who had one of my rifles, a Mauser, which had a telescope sight on the -top, and with which he was able to fire through his loophole. It was -very early in the morning, and the light had not strengthened, when -a working party of Germans appeared who had been working under cover -of some dead ground. They had but a few yards to go to regain their -own trench. The sniper who was next to me got off a shot, but two of -the snipers armed with the Government weapons a little farther along, -who were waiting at loopholes, found that neither of them could bring -their rifles to bear at the extreme angle at which the Germans were -disappearing. Both ran out from their posts to try and get a shot over -the top, but they were, of course, too late. - -This is only one instance of a thing that was always happening. As we -could not get the sights altered, the First Army and the 11th Corps -arranged that their workshops should cut special sniping plates with -large loopholes for the use of snipers armed with telescope sights. -But even so it was always unsatisfactory, and the sight on the side of -the rifle had a very circumscribed field of view when used from behind -cover. - -[Illustration: FIRST ARMY SCHOOL OF S.O.S. - -Typical German Loophole Disguises in Earth Parapet.] - -In order to show how little telescope sights were understood, it was, -I think, in July, 1916, that Lieut.-Colonel P.W. Richardson came out -to France to lecture on telescopic sights. On his departure he sent -in a report to G.H.Q. as to the inaccuracy of these sights. Colonel -Richardson intended to draw attention only to the inaccuracy, for -there is no man who is keener on these weapons or who knows their -value better; but the authority into whose hands the report fell read -it quite differently, and a month or two afterwards there came down -to Brigades, and indeed to all our formations, the question from -G.H.Q. as to whether it would not be well to abolish telescopic sights -altogether, especially as “economy was now so urgent.” The answers that -went back to that question from G.O.C.’s were couched in no hesitating -language, so that our telescope sights were not taken away. Had they -been taken away, the German would once again have attained his sniping -superiority, and there would be many a man now alive and enjoying life -who would never have left the endless series of trenches which we -were yet destined to defend or capture. - -But to get back to the course at the school. Our aim was to create good -shots in as short a time as possible, and not only must they be good -shots, but they must also be quick shots. After finding out errors in -the ordinary way by grouping, we eschewed as far as possible shooting -at targets; the round black bull on the white ground was very rarely -used, and all kinds of marks were put up in its place. The head and -shoulders was the most efficacious target, and practice was further -carried on at dummy heads carried at walking pace along trenches. In -fact, where such appliances as we had at the school are lacking, it is -far better to allow snipers to shoot at tins stuck up on sticks than to -permit them to become pottering target shots. - -Speed was always the essence of sniping, and it was wonderful how, -after short practice at the disappearing head, the men began to speed -up. Competition was encouraged to the limit, and on every course a -picked team of men shot against a picked team of officers. Those who -were chosen for these matches were those who obtained the highest -scores during the course. Further, a number of prizes were offered, and -competition for these was always keen. Sometimes we had the Canadians -and Colonials shooting against what they called the “Imperials,” and -sometimes the representatives of the Scottish regiments shot against -the English. - -One thing we always made a point of, and that was to take up every -shooter to his target and show him exactly what he had done. A man with -a telescope who spots each shot takes infinitely more interest in what -he is doing than does a man who merely has results signalled to him, -but going up to the target is the best method of all. - -After eight days with the open sight, those who were considered -worthy passed on to practise with the telescopic. One of our great -difficulties was that the telescopic sights were so much wanted in the -line that it was hard to call them away for courses; but, as a matter -of fact, many battalions seemed to keep a telescopic sight which they -always sent on the course. It was generally a bad one, but this did -not much matter, as we were continually having snipers sent up with -the rifles they were actually using, in order that they might shoot -them at the school. Thus a man might come on a course, and if he got a -good report, might be back at the school within a week with a telescope -sight which he was thence-forward to use and which we were asked to -regulate to his hold. - -[Illustration: 1. There are two snipers here--one in uniform and one in -a “sniper’s robe.”] - -But I do not want to go too far into this question of shooting, and it -will not be necessary to say more than that of every hundred students -who came to a course, somewhere about seventy-five went back as -quite useful shots. We had many, of course, far above the class of -“useful,” and sometimes the competition for the champion shot of the -classes was extraordinarily keen. Considering the very small bulls and -the continually moving targets, the scores made at the school reflected -great credit upon the students. - -But though there was a great deal of shooting at the school there -were many other subjects also in which students were instructed. One -of these was observation. The way that this was taught was exactly -the same that I had used from the earliest days of 1915. Two trenches -were dug at a distance of three or four hundred yards apart, and one -of these trenches was an exact imitation of a piece of German line. -Those who were to be taught observation were put with their telescopes -and note books in the other trench, while a couple of scouts dressed -in German uniforms showed themselves at certain points of the German -trench, and generally attempted to produce the exact happenings that -would occur were those under instruction watching an actual piece of -German line. Thus at one point of the trench earth would be thrown -up, and five minutes later at another a man in a helmet carrying a -pick would pass along. Here and there a loophole would be opened, and -so on. The observation class kept a look-out upon the German trench, -and noted down in their note books the time and place of all that -happened therein which they were able to observe. As far as possible, -every member of the class was given a telescope of equal power, and it -was an extraordinary thing to see how while some men sent in excellent -reports, others seemed to be quite incapable of accurate observation. - -Besides teaching the use of the telescope for front line work, this -system gave a very useful practice lesson in the art of reporting -things seen. Sometimes the officers of the staff or the Lovat Scouts -attempted to crawl out of the German trench without being seen, and on -one occasion two Lovat battle observers who were resting at the school -crawled clean round an officer class unseen, and took them in the rear. -This is an easy enough thing to do when the ground is favourable, but -our trenches had been very carefully sited, so that there were at least -three or four spots in which a man crawling was well within view, and -in passing across these he had to exercise the most infinite care if he -wished to obtain success. - -[Illustration: 2. A contrast showing the drawbacks of uniform and a -“correct” position.] - -At night time these two trenches were used for another purpose--that -of teaching patrolling. Between them was a strip of typical No Man’s -Land with shell holes which we spent a whole day blowing up, wire, -old uniforms--in fact, everything to make it as like the real thing -as possible. After I left the school, Major Underhill had the bright -idea of putting out in this No Man’s Land a number of imitation -German dead. In the pockets of these “dead” were _soldbuchs_--that is, -the German pay-books--and various other identifications which it is -the duty of scouts to collect and send to H.Q. I think there can be -very little doubt that the conditions under which patrols worked and -practised at First Army Sniping School approached the real in a very -high degree. For instance, all our work was in competition, very often -the officers against men, or Colonials against the World. Sometimes the -defenders were supplied with pistols and Verey lights, which they fired -off just as do the Germans. The attacking patrol carried with it small -pegs with the patroller’s name marked upon them. These pegs they stuck -into the ground at the most advanced or important point which they -attained. - -A certain amount of teaching of patrolling was done in the daytime by -the use of night glasses. These were the invention of Major Crum, of -the King’s Royal Rifles. On the sunniest day, once one had put on one -of these pairs of goggles, one could not see more than was possible on -the darkest night, and there is no doubt that a great deal was learnt -by watching in daylight the kind of movements that a man must make at -night. - -Experience of scouting in No Man’s Land showed that our patrols were -most often spotted at the moment of leaving or returning to our own -trenches, and great stress was laid on the proper way in which to get -in and out of a trench. Another dangerous moment for the patrols was -when they made a turning movement. The man who crept out with care and -skill was apt to rise to his knees as he turned, and if a Verey light -happened to be in the air at that moment, he was thus apt to give the -whole show away. - -There were many other subjects taught at the school into which I -need not go, for those interested will find them all set out in the -appendices, but special stress was always laid upon marching on compass -bearings by night. It was an amazing thing how few officers really -understood the prismatic compass, and indeed, how high a percentage of -them did not possess a compass worth understanding. The advent of the -gas mask, or box-respirator, added new difficulties to training, for -it was necessary to carry out a good deal of our work under gas alarm -conditions. - -At least once on every course we had a scouting scheme. For this, -the N.C.O.’s and men were told off in small parties, each under an -officer, and were given a certain line to hold. They were to report all -details of a military nature which they saw, all transport, etc. Some -of our staff scouts were sent out early in the day, and were ordered -to try and make their way back unseen through this line, and the -staff instructors used to go out and see what they could of it. This -scouting scheme gave great individual play to the fancy of the officer -in charge of each party, and many of them used it to the full. - -For some reasons a story was started that I had once gone right along -the road which was the line that was being held disguised as a French -peasant. I had never done anything of the kind, but the keenness to -spot me when I did go round was always a matter of amusement. - -The training of observers at the school, as distinct from the front -line telescope work which I have described, was always extraordinarily -interesting. I give in Appendix A the exact course the Lovat Scout -reinforcement observers were put through. We were exceedingly lucky -in having at the school so many first-rate glass-men, so that it was -possible to get ahead with teaching the telescope very fairly quickly. -Sometimes through pure ignorance a young observer, or an observer new -to his work, would think he knew a great deal more than he actually -did. It was only necessary to put him down for five minutes beside a -Lovat Scout for him to rise a much wiser and less self-sufficient man! - -Another branch of long-distance observation was the building of -properly concealed observation posts, and by the time the school left -Linghem, the plateau was honeycombed with posts looking in every -direction. - -Very early in the school’s career, a model sniper’s post was built, -and all along one series of trenches we had model loopholes. One point -that I always found when visiting the real trenches was that nearly all -loopholes were made with three iron plates in the form of a box. This -shape of loophole very much circumscribes the angle of fire. The true -way to make a loophole is to set the two flanking plates at an angle of -at least forty-five degrees, so that the field of fire may be enlarged. - -One of the most important object lessons which we used to have was -to send a sniper into the model trenches with orders to fire from -different loopholes in turn. The rest of the class then watched the -loopholes, and gave opinions as to which one the shot had come from. It -takes a considerable amount of skill to fire from a loophole without -giving away your position by the gas which comes from your rifle -muzzle. These demonstrations also taught the snipers how in the dry -weather the dust round the mouth of a loophole will invariably give it -away, and how in cold weather the smoke will hang a little. - -[Illustration: FIRST ARMY SCHOOL S.O.S. - -Showing effects and importance of light and shade.] - -Lectures on aeroplane photographs were another side of our work, and -one which was undoubtedly very necessary. All the school trenches and, -indeed, the whole school and plateau and the woods around it had been -photographed from the air. Each officer or N.C.O. student was provided -with a photograph, and went over the actual ground, Captain Kendall -accompanying them to explain all details. In this way a practical -knowledge of what trenches looked like from the air was gained. - -The demonstrations showing the use of protective colouring and the -choice of backgrounds always interested the classes very much. Often -the whole class arrived within twenty yards of a man lying within -full view without being able to spot him. On one occasion during a -big demonstration, one of the staff was lying out in a coat of the -colour and contour of sandbags on top of a trench, and the whole -party of staff officers were all round him without having spotted his -whereabouts. When I pointed him out a foreign officer who was present, -and who evidently did not understand me, thought I was referring to an -object a little further on, and in order to see it better he actually -leaped on to the camouflaged man! - -As a matter of fact, this protective colouration scheme business can -very easily be overdone, for the man who lies out in the open is at the -mercy of the changes of light and shade. What is an absolute protective -background at eleven o’clock may become quite useless at twelve. But it -was necessary to teach it to a certain extent, as in open warfare the -observer and the scout have to obtain safety by concealment rather than -by cover from fire. - -Another of the most useful lessons at the school was undoubtedly the -practical one of judging distance. On the average I think students -were worse at distance-judging than at any other subject, but a little -practice made an enormous difference. - -_The ruling idea of the School was to make sniping as simple as -possible, and for this purpose nothing was ever used in building a post -or loophole which could not be obtained at once in any trench in the -British Army._ There were many very elaborate loopholes which could be -indented for from the Special Works Park R.E. (Camouflage), but I do -not think these were successful unless they were put in by specially -selected officers, for in sending indents to the Special Works Park, -Commanding Officers usually forgot to mention the background and the -kind of earth in which their trenches were dug. - -A demonstration that used always to interest the class exceedingly -was one which showed the effect of different forms of ammunition on -various kinds of loophole plates, British and German. Some time in -1917 the Germans produced an armoured mask for snipers. This was of -steel, and of great weight and thickness, and indeed it looked as if no -bullet could possibly go through it, so much so that one of my officers -volunteered to put it on and let someone have a shot at him. This I, of -course, refused to countenance for a moment, and lucky it was, for the -first shot went clean through the armoured headpiece. Anyhow, I should -imagine, whether the shot pierced the vizor or no, the man in it must -almost certainly be stunned by a direct hit. - -Although when first I became a sniping instructor, I used to have some -firing practice at five and six hundred yards, when I went to the First -Army School I gave this up. The chances of hitting a German head at -six hundred yards with a telescope sight, if there is any wind blowing -at all, are not great, for, as I have repeatedly said, a sighting -shot is not possible, and I came to the conclusion that continual -popping away with telescopic-sighted rifles at six hundred yards simply -wore out their barrels. After all, a rifle only lasts at its highest -efficiency for, in certain cases, as few as five hundred rounds, and -every shot taken through a telescope-sighted rifle shortens the life -of the barrel. We, therefore, until warfare became more open, never -went back further than four hundred yards, and our greatest difficulty -was to teach the snipers to appreciate the strength of the wind. The -system by which wind must be taught to snipers must be both very -accurate and very simple, for some of the best snipers who came to the -school had difficulty in making calculations. Usually we found that -the best way to begin to teach wind allowance was to take the man up -on the range, and for one of the staff to demonstrate against the stop -butt. The class all had telescopes, and the puff of dust gave away the -exact point at which the bullet struck. This system had the further -advantage of teaching snipers what a distance of two feet looks like at -three hundred yards. But individual practice is the only way to learn -wind-judging. - -At the school we gave six different strengths of wind, gentle, -moderate, fresh, strong, very strong, and gale, and it was, of course, -in the judging of the gentle, moderate and fresh, that the difficulties -lay. Our range had this advantage, that it was a good one on which to -teach wind allowance by letting the men practise for themselves, for -there was almost always a wind blowing. - -Night firing and observation by moonlight, as well as many other -schemes which the reader who is interested can see for himself in the -curriculum which is set out in the appendix, took up the rest of our -time; but, from the very earliest days, the moment the day’s work was -over we used to adjourn for games. At first we used to play rounders -and baseball of a kind. Later we made a rough golf course of three or -four holes; but as soon as we got our Establishment and the school -increased in size, games became a matter of great importance, and, as -usual, football was by far the most popular. We had throughout a very -good Association team, and sometimes were able to play two elevens on -Saturday afternoons, and all the other days there were pick-up sides -and punt-about. - -In summer we played some cricket matches, and were never beaten, though -once, one lovely summer evening, we adjourned for dinner at the end of -our opponents’ second innings having fifty runs to get to win. When we -came out to get the fifty it was so dark that we only pulled it off by -one wicket. - -In June, 1917, there was a conference of sniping officers at Boulogne, -and here I first met the Commandants of the S.O.S. Schools of the other -armies: Lt.-Col. Sclater, D.S.O. (2nd Army), Major Pemberthy (3rd -Army), Major Michie, D.S.O. (5th Army) and the Major commanding the -School of the 4th Army. All the above are well-known throughout the -B.E.F. for the splendid work they did. - -One point which we always tried to impress on all who came to the -school was the vital necessity for snipers and observers to take -immediate action when anything unusual and not normal was seen. I give -the following instance to illustrate this essential. - -One day I had been ordered to visit a certain battalion in order to go -round their sniping posts and to look over their telescope sights. As -through some mistake their telescope sights were in the line, I had to -use my own rifle to demonstrate with. - -At this time I was shooting with a .350 Mauser, which, of course, -carried special ammunition, and after the lecture, as there was still -some light left, I wandered up to the line through the darkness of a -large wood. Here there was a railway cutting, across which our trenches -and those of the Germans opposing us lay. My batman was carrying my -rifle, and I descended into this cutting, where we had a post. The -Germans, at a distance of about 250 yards, had also a strong post -across the cutting. Four or five privates were keeping a look-out upon -the German line, but none of them had telescopes, and the moment I used -mine I saw a German officer who was standing up and giving directions. -I at once took my rifle only to find that my servant had left the -cartridges behind. - -Although I could see the German officer quite clearly through the -telescope of the rifle, it was getting so dark that I could not pick -him up with the open sights of one I borrowed, so that an accurate shot -was out of the question; but with the telescope I was able to get an -inkling of what he was doing. Very obviously, he was superintending the -placing of a trench mortar into position with which to bombard the post -in which I was; for I could see quite a movement of men, and earth was -being continually thrown up. - -It rapidly grew quite dark, and I went back and reported the matter -to the proper authority. Now the proper authority was, I thought, not -very much interested, and although I put the case very strongly, and -said I was sure the _minenwerfer_ would bombard our post next day, -it appeared from subsequent events that he took no action, nor did he -ring up the guns and ask them to demolish the German _minenwerfer_ that -night as I begged him to do. The result was that shortly afterwards our -post was demolished, with loss of life. - -There is no doubt that on that evening the star of the German officer -was in the ascendant, for had I had a cartridge, the chances were -enormously against his ever having left the trenches alive, as I had -the range from the map and knew the shooting of my rifle to an inch. - - - - -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, sir. That sniper Wilibald.” - -“When?” - -“Just after nine, sir.” - -“Anyone with him?” - -“Sergeant Small, sir.” - -The officer turned, and the stretcher-party resumed its way. He -stood watching them for a little, his thoughts roving from the -horrible way in which a pointed bullet, fired from a rifle with a -muzzle-velocity of 3,000 feet a second, will at times keyhole, to -the deeds and too-haunting personality of Wilibald the Hun. British -troops have throughout the war given names to any German sniper -whose deeds lent him a personality. Fritz is generic; but once let -a Hun impress himself by skill, and he is christened. Thus we have -known Adolfs, Wilhelms, Old Seven-trees, Bluebeard, and a hundred -others. At first, thanks to the Duke of Ratibor, who collected all -the sportsmen’s telescopic-sighted rifles in Germany--and it is proof -of German far-sightedness that a vast percentage of them took the -military cartridge--the Hun sniper took heavy toll against our blunt -open sights. Later, things happened, and the plague was stayed; but in -the days of this incident the Hun and the Briton were still striving -unevenly for mastery. - -The officer turned at length, and walked slowly down the trench till -he came to company headquarters. A second-lieutenant, standing at the -entrance to the dug-out, was unloading a rifle. - -“Hullo, Bill,” said the officer. “Whose rifle?” - -“My batman’s.” - -“What have you been doing with it?” - -“Wilibald shot Jack Harrison through the head. I----” - -“Don’t,” said the red-haired officer shortly. - -“Why not?” - -“Have you ever shot with that rifle?” - -“No.” - -The red-haired officer raised his eyes wearily. - -“Wilibald’s bag is big enough already. Wilibald sits over there”--he -indicated the German position with a swinging movement--“in some hole -or other as snug as a bug in a rug, _with_ a telescope sighted rifle -which he knows to the inch. You go and look for him with a rifle you -don’t know to a yard. You ---- fool!” - -“All right, Red. We know your hobby. Only we wish you’d deliver the -goods.” - -“Meaning Wilibald?” - -“Yes. Wilibald is becoming a public nuisance. He’s got nine of us, -including an officer and an N.C.O., and he’s got more than a dozen of -the West Blanks who relieve us. He’s ... Damn! that’s him.” - -A shot had rung out, followed by an ejaculation. The two officers -hurried along the trench to where in a bay a consequential private was -pouring iodine into a sergeant’s cheek. Three or four other privates -were talking excitedly. - -“It come from the ’Un trench.” - -“It didn’t. It come from the trees in the spinney.” - -“That’s right. The fifth tree.” - -“Naw. The sixth.” - -“Garn!” - -Red, with a word, broke up the group, and addressed the sergeant: - -“Hullo, Small. What’s happened?” - -“I was takin’ a spy, and Wilibald ’ad a drive at me. Clipped my cheek, -’e did,” said Small, in the aggrieved voice of the N.C.O. whose dignity -has been touched. - -“Then, for God’s sake, don’t take a spy, Small, until you learn how to -do it without offering a target. Let’s see your cheek. Only a scratch. -That’s lucky. Now, did you see where the shot was fired from?” - -“Beyond that it come from the left flank, I did not, sir. I----” - -“All right. Go and get your cheek bandaged.” - -As the sergeant saluted and went off down the trench, Red, having -ordered the observers to keep a good look-out upon the enemy trench, -took off his cap, and, fixing it on his stick, told Bill to raise it -slightly above the parapet until the badge of a famous regiment glinted -in the sun, while he watched. - -Nothing happened. - -Red laughed. - -“Wilibald’s not a dasher,” said he. “He’s a regular Hun. Probably has -some rule about not firing unless he can see half the head he’s aiming -at. ‘Shoot to kill’ is his motto. Useful man, Wilibald. I wonder if his -company commander appreciates him.” - -After passing along the trench and warning its garrison not to give -unnecessary targets, Red went a round of his observers. They were -stationed at loopholes and in O.P.s. - -“Keep a good look-out, and try to spot Wilibald if he fires again. The -light will be pretty good when the sun works round behind us.” - -“Which part of the trench do you think he is in, sir?” asked a -lance-corporal. - -“Don’t know; perhaps not in the trench at all. Some of the Royal -----shires thought he was in the spinney, and some thought he was in -the willow-trees. He got twelve of them. He must be dealt with.” - -“Yes, sir,” said the lance-corporal optimistically. - -It was four o’clock in the afternoon when Red, having passed down -an old disused trench in the rear of the British position, crawled -cautiously out behind the parados. Here was an area seamed with shell -holes, each half-full of green, scummy water, little piles of rotting -sandbags, rusty wire, nettles, and coarse grass. About fifty yards -behind the front line a heavy shell had fallen almost on the top of -the almost imperceptible rise which culminated at that point. This -shell hole was Red’s objective, for from it he could, he knew, get a -fair view of the German trenches. It was not a safe place to visit in -the morning, when the sun was behind the German lines, and everything -in the British stood out clearly to their Zeiss glasses; but in the -afternoon the position was reversed, and the Hun observers were in -their turn looking into the sun. - -To this place Red made his way. It was long before the days of -snipers’ robes of canvas, painted yellow and green and black, which for -such work would have been useful, though the earlier patterns, cut like -a greatcoat, were difficult to crawl in. Later a pattern of overall -shape was issued, which gave free play to the knees; but, as we say, -such issues were not yet “available.” - -At length, Red reached the shell hole, and slowly made a place for his -telescope among the clods of earth upon the crater-lip. Then he bent -himself to a careful study of the scene. - -The line of the German trenches was marked in white, for it was a -somewhat chalky country, with here and there loophole plates sticking -gauntly up on the top of the parapet. To these Red gave no attention. -Many of them were dummies; the danger-spots, he knew, were set lower; -often upon the ground level, where, through some gap in the rusty -wire, the German sniper’s eyes watched ceaselessly for a “target.” -Very carefully Red examined the German trenches. Well he knew their -appearance. One by one he picked up the familiar landmarks; here a -machine gun emplacement, there a suspected sniper’s post. All was -quiet. Once a sentry fired, and the bullet hummed like a bee high -above him. Next, Red turned more to the business in hand--the location -of Wilibald. No easy business, since there was a great divergence of -opinion. He had been located so often; in a sniping-post by the black -sandbags--for at one point in the Hun trenches there were a number -of black sandbags; the Germans used all colours on that front. Red -turned his glass on that point. Yes, there seemed to be a post there, -but there was nothing to prove that it was tenanted. Then he tried -the spinney; but neither the third tree nor the fifth yielded up any -secret. Then the ruined house or hovel; after that, the wide expanse -of No Man’s Land. As he watched, Red remembered the words of the Corps -Commander: “There is no No Man’s Land. It must be our land right up to -the enemy trenches.” That was an ideal to live up to. But stare now as -he would, and as he continued to do for an hour, he saw nothing, could -see nothing of Wilibald. Broken wire, shell holes, sandbags, pulverized -bricks and mortar, men lying in queer positions, men whose ragged -tunics the evening wind stirred strangely, men who would never move -again. - -All Red’s life he had been apt, in moments of tension, to recur to a -phrase which made a kind of background to his thoughts, and now he -found himself repeating: - -“Exiled and in sorrow far from the Argive Land.” - -He turned round and glanced at the sun. It was sinking red, like a -cannon-ball. Then he turned for a last look at No Man’s Land and the -Hun positions. Nothing stirred. Far away on the right, a mile or two -away, a machine gun sounded like a rapidly worked typewriter. A bat -flew and turned above the British trench fifty yards in front of him. -Red crawled back. - -In the trench he met his brother officer Bill. - -“Hullo, Red. Any luck?” - -“No.” - -Bill laughed. - -“Wilibald’s some man.” - -Red nodded. - -That evening at mess Wilibald formed the topic of conversation. The -Colonel spoke of him very seriously. - -“He must be a splendid shot,” said he. “He puts it through the loophole -in the post in Bay 16, two shots in three--at least, so Carpenter, of -the Blankshires, was telling me. Said he supposed he’d got one of those -big Zeiss telescopic sights which magnify four times. Shooting with ’em -must be as easy as falling off a log.” - -“Yes, sir,” said Red. - -It was a full hour before dawn that the chill woke Red in his dug-out. -His thoughts switched at once on to the subject of Wilibald. The man -had taken over twenty British lives. He pictured him waiting at his -loophole, his bearded cheek pressed to the stock of his rifle. A fine -shot, no doubt--Carpenter had said that he put two shots out of three -into the loophole of Bay 16 sniping-post.... Good shooting. ... Dashed -good. It was cold, though! The first cold morning. By Jove!---- - -Red had an idea. He rose and dressed hastily, his dressing consisting -of little but pulling on his boots and tunic. He took his telescope and -made his way along the dark trench until he came to Bay 16. A figure -was leaning against the side of the post. Red realized that it was -Corporal Hogg, a N.C.O. of sound sense. - -“Corporal!” - -“Yes, sir!” - -“Anyone in the Post?” - -“No, sir. You told me not to have it manned at night, lest the flash -should give it away.” - -“Quite right. Now listen. I want the loophole shut. As soon as it is -light enough to shoot--at 5.15 say--I want you to open it cautiously. -Open it from the side, in case Wilibald--got that?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Understand. Loophole to be closed till 5.15 a.m. Then to be opened by -you cautiously, and from one side. I shall be out in the shell hole -behind the parados.” - -Half an hour later Red crouched in the shell hole, his telescope -discarded, since its field of view was too narrow. In front of him lay -his watch, which he had synchronized with that of Corporal Hogg. The -hand marked 5.11. The moments passed. Red’s heart was beating now. He -glanced--a last glance, a very hurried glance--at his watch. It was -past the fourteen minutes! Hogg would be opening the loophole. - -Bang! - -A shot had rung out. From the garden--or what was once the garden--of -the razed house, not seventy yards distant, a little wisp of gas -floated away to the cold morning star. Very cautiously Red wrapped a -bit of sandbag round his telescope, and pushed it on the little plot of -turnips. - -At first he saw nothing. - -Then he was aware of some turnip-tops moving, when all the rest were -still. A moment later he had made out the top of Wilibald’s head, -garlanded with turnip-tops, and the upper part of Wilibald’s large -German face. This, then, was the explanation of the accurate shooting -and the long death-roll. Wilibald had been firing at short range. - -Red felt it was almost uncanny. - -Hitherto, in trench warfare, as far as daylight was concerned, the Huns -had seemed to him almost an abstraction, creatures apparent to the -sense of hearing certainly, but troglodytes who popped above ground for -only a passing moment, and then only to disappear. But this man, not -one hundred yards away.... - -Red withdrew into the shell hole, and quickly mapped out his course. -He must at once get back to his own trench. To do so meant a crawl -over what must be the skyline to Wilibald, and consequently a point -Red could hardly hope to pass unobserved. Red marked a thistle. It was -there that he would come into view. He would remain so for about ten -yards. Of course, could he once regain his own trench he could take -steps to deal with Wilibald, but at present the Hun held the better -cards. Red smiled grimly when he thought of his crawl to the shell hole -of the previous evening. To the sun, which was shining straight into -Wilibald’s eyes, he most certainly owed his life. Now that sun was -behind Wilibald.... Red started. As he neared the thistle, his heart -beat fast and quick. He passed the thistle. He felt very like a fly -crawling over an inverted plate while someone with a fly-trap waited to -strike. He was crawling straight away now. The thistle was behind him. -Another four yards--two--one--still Wilibald did not fire, and with a -deep sigh of relief Red hurled himself into the disused sap and safety. - -Later the C.O. was speaking. - -“So Wilibald’s gone west?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“How did you spot him?” - -“The cold woke me. I have noticed how the gas from a rifle hangs on -chilly days. Wilibald forgot that. He had a shot at the loophole of -No. 16 Bay Post, and I was watching, and spotted him. He was lying out -in the turnips, about seventy yards from our line. He had turnip-tops -fixed round his cap, and lay in a hole he’d dug. He must have come out -before dawn and gone back after dark. He was a pretty gallant fellow, -sir.” - -The C.O. nodded. - -“D----d gallant,” said he. - -“I thought, sir, if you’d no objection, I’d take a patrol out and fetch -him in--for purposes of identification.” - -So Wilibald was brought in. His cap, some letters in his pocket, -and his shoulder-straps were forwarded to Brigade; but his rifle, -beautifully fitted with a Zeiss telescope sight, which had taken over -twenty British lives, turned its muzzle east instead of west, and began -to take German lives instead. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -THE CAT - - -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, found the red sandbag, then swung to the left of it. Yes, -something moving. He cuddled the stock of his rifle, and brought the -pointer in the telescope to bear. Then slowly he began to squeeze the -trigger. - -“Don’t shoot.” - -Entworth was only just in time. - -“Why not, ole son?” - -“It’s only a cat.” - -“A ’Un cat! ’Ere goes.” - -“Come off it. If you get shootin’ cats outer this post Mr. -Nowell’ll---- Besides, it’s rather a nice-lookin’ cat. Tortoiseshell -colour. We ’ad one in Ferrers Street ’e reminds me of.... There, ’e’s -climbin’ up on the bloomin’ parados, curlin’ round and goin’ to sleep -just as if there wasn’t no war. Shall I enter ’im?” - -“Wot’s the good?” - -“Dunno. Shows we was awake. ‘Time 11.25 Ac. Emma. Cat (tortoiseshell) -at K 22.C.35.45. Action taken: None.’” - -So wrote Private Entworth with laborious pencil. As he finished a voice -sounded outside. - -“Who’s in there?” - -“Private Entworth. Private Saunders.” - -“Shut the loopholes. I am coming in.” - -“Well, seen anything?” questioned Mr. Nowell, the Sniping and -Intelligence Officer of the Battalion. - -“They’ve been working on the post at K.22.D.85.60.” - -“Seen any Huns?” - -“Only a cat, sir. I’ve entered it in the log-book. It’s sunning itself -on the parados now, sir. Line of water-tower. Red sandbag.” - -“Yes, I have it,” said Nowell, who had taken the telescope. - -“Shall I shoot ’im, sir?” - -“Why should you?” - -“’E probably kills rats and makes life brighter-like for the ’Un, sir, -by so doing. There’s a glut o’ rats on this sector, sir.” - -“The cat looks very comfortable. No, don’t shoot, Saunders. Entworth, -give me that log-book.” - -The officer turned over the pages. - -“I wonder if anyone has ever seen that cat before? Hullo, yes. Private -Scroggins and Lance-Corporal Tew two days ago in the afternoon. Here’s -the entry: ‘3.4 pip emma K.22.C.35.40. Cat on parados.’” - -Nowell’s eyes showed a gleam of interest. - -“Note down whenever you see that cat,” said he. - -“Yes, sir.” - -“And keep a bright look-out.” - -“Yes, sir.” - -Once more the loopholes were shut, and Nowell, lifting the curtain at -the back of the Post which prevented the light shining through, went -out. - -His steps died away along the trench-boards. - -“Think we’ll see it in ‘Comic Cuts’” (the universal B.E.F. -name for the Corps Intelligence Summary). “‘At K.22.C.35.45, a -tortoiseshell-coloured he-cat.’ I _don’t_ think!” said Saunders. - -“Shouldn’t wonder. The cove wot writes out ‘Comic Cuts’ must ’a bin -wounded in the ’ed early on. Sort o’ balmy ’e is.” - - -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 made things hum since he had come to the Corps -a few weeks back. - -“Anything you want?” continued Cumberland. “You’ve been sending through -some useful stuff. I thought I’d come down and have a talk.” - -Nowell led the way to his dug-out. He had suffered long from a very -official Corps Intelligence G.S.O., whom Cumberland had just replaced. -Under the old regime it never really seemed to matter to the Higher -Intelligence what anyone in the battalion did, but now Cumberland -seemed to take an interest at once. After a quarter of an hour’s talk -Cumberland was taking his leave. - -“Well,” said he, “anything you want from Corps, don’t hesitate to ask. -That’s what we’re there for, you know. Sure there isn’t anything?” - -“As a matter of fact there is, but I hardly like to ask you.” - -“Why not?” - -“It’s such a long shot, sir.” - -“Well, what is it?” - -“I’d like aeroplane photos taken of K.22 squares C. and D. opposite -here. New photographs, sir.” - -Cumberland was about to ask a question, but looking up he caught the -slight flush of colour that had risen in Nowell’s face. - -“Righto,” he said easily. “We rather pride ourselves on quick work with -aeroplane photos up at Corps. I’ll have the squares taken to-morrow -morning if visibility is _pukka_. And the finished photos will be in -your hands by five o’clock. Good afternoon.” - -Cumberland strode along the trench, and Nowell stood staring after him. - -“Never asked me what I wanted ’em for,” he muttered. “Taken in the -morning; in my hands by afternoon. Why, in old Baxter’s time such -efficiency would have killed him of heart-disease. Well, let’s hope -that cat’s playing the game, and not leading a poor forlorn British -Battalion Intelligence Officer to make a fool of himself.” - - -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.” - - -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. Private Entworth, sir.” - -“Shut the loopholes. I’m coming in.” - -He goes in. - -“Move along, Entworth, and I’ll sit beside you on the bench and observe -with my own glass. Get yours on to the spot where the cat was. Got it? -Right. Two batteries of 6-inch Hows. are going to try and kill that -cat, Entworth, in a minute and a half from now. Zero at three o’clock. -Nice light, isn’t it?” - -At these words of Nowell’s several thoughts, mostly connected with his -officer’s sanity, flashed through Entworth’s rather slow brain, but -long before they were formulated Nowell rapped out: - -“Here they come.” - -Sounds just like half a dozen gigantic strips of silk being torn right -across the sky were clearly audible in the Post. At the same instant -through the watching glasses heaps of earth, tin, a stove-pipe, were -hurled into the air. There were other grimmer objects, too, as the -shells rained down. - -Fifteen minutes later, Mr. Nowell having gone, Private Entworth was -speaking, though his eye was still glued to his glass. - -“Direct ’it right off _and_ right into a nest of ’Uns. There was ’ole -’Uns and bits of ’Uns in the air, I tell yer, Jim Saunders. Loverly -shooting, ’twas! I doubt there’s anything at C.35.45. left alive. There -is, tho’! By ---- there is! There goes that ruddy-coloured cat over the -parados like a streak, and what ’o! for Martinpunch!” - - -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 unlocated enemy H.Q., which was duly dealt - with by our Artillery.” - - - - -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 the British, and -had served out to them our short service rifle. In the Portuguese Army -they use the Mauser, so our rifle was new to all ranks, and had to be -carefully explained. - -Of course, the great difficulty in training Portuguese troops lay in -the necessity for the use of interpreters. One of my N.C.O.’s was able -to talk Portuguese, which was of great assistance, and from time to -time an English-speaking Portuguese officer was attached; but for the -most part none of the officers and men who came to the school could -speak a word of English, and the result, as I say, was that we had to -carry on through interpreters. - -In one of the first classes there was a Portuguese sergeant who was -extremely capable, and very keen on his work. As a mark of appreciation -I gave this sergeant, when he went away, a very nice telescope. About -three weeks later the sergeant, who had spent the intervening time in -the trenches, turned up at the school and said that he wished to speak -to the Commandant. He said that he had come to thank me again for the -telescope, as it had enabled him to spot a concentration of some fifty -Germans, on to whom he had successfully directed artillery fire. He had -taken the trouble to walk out quite a number of miles--at least ten or -twelve--to inform me of his success. Poor fellow, he was afterwards -badly gassed, and when I last saw him was in a very bad way. He was a -most useful man as an observer, as he had been the master of some small -coasting craft which used to sail up and down the coast between Lisbon -and Setubal, and had knowledge of instruments. - -Considering that the Portuguese troops did not know anything about our -rifle, they really came along very quickly in shooting. One of the -classes was at the school when we were informed that the Portuguese -Corps Commander and Staff and various British G.S.O.’s would come -over to see a “demonstration” two days before the course ended. The -demonstration included shooting at dummy heads exposed for four -seconds--five rounds; application on a 6-inch bulls-eye at two hundred -yards; an attack upon a position, and a demonstration of the work of -scouts. As soon as the Portuguese troops realized that they were to be -inspected at the end of the course, there was a tremendous competition -among them to get into the shooting team, and when the day arrived -the eight who were picked obtained 34 hits out of 40 shots on the -dummy head. At the 200 yards application the team scored 208 out of a -possible 224. This shows how quickly shooting can be taught when both -men and instructors are all out for success. - -The greatest difficulty we had was training Portuguese as observers; -for none of them had used a telescope before, and it was very difficult -to make them realize its possibilities. Of course, I am here talking -of the private soldiers. The officers in their observation often made -excellent reports, and developed the greatest keenness on the work. -There was one thing which occurred, owing to my attempting to speak -Portuguese myself, which always struck me as not without its humorous -side. - -I had been attempting to point out to a squad of Portuguese scouts the -elementary fact that when you were looking through a bush, or through -roots or grass, it was sometimes well worth while to put a leaf or two -into your cap. I sent them off to do this, keeping with me a few of -their number to observe the value of the experiment. The rest went over -the brow of the hill, and were away for some period of time, so long -that I was just going to see what was happening when suddenly a bush, -followed by several other trees, began to move slowly over the hill! I -found that the squad, not quite understanding my instructions, had cut -down small trees with their large knives, had bound them upon their -backs, and in the shadow of these were advancing upon me! - -A part of their training upon which the Portuguese were extraordinarily -keen was patrolling in No Man’s Land. Usually at the school we used -to begin this as soon as it was dark, often in summer, therefore, as -late as eleven o’clock at night. After two or three hours’ patrolling -the Portuguese always still wanted to continue, and once they got out -into our large imitation No Man’s Land it was not easy to get them back -again. - -At one time, when we had a class of Portuguese, to whom we had been -teaching patrolling, an officer and sergeant, who were making a round -of Sniping and Infantry Schools, to give demonstrations on patrolling, -turned up at the school. The Portuguese held the trench while the -demonstrators set out to show them the way in which a reconnaisance -patrol should be conducted. I was lying beside the Portuguese trench, -and at once realized that something was afoot. Presently one of the -Portuguese officers came up, and said, “Our men say that they hear them -and can capture them.” I told them to go ahead, and do it. - -Well, that patrol developed. A battle was going on at the time in the -north, and all the plateau was lit with the flashes of the guns and the -flares of the Verey lights, which the Germans kept firing into the air. -For a long time there was silence. The Portuguese, who had had several -days at the school and were learning well, had sent out a strong -patrol, which very skilfully worked round and surrounded the hostile -reconnaissance. I do not know what happened in No Man’s Land, but -the sergeant who was doing the demonstration, and who was a ju-jitsu -expert, famous in pre-war days in the music halls, was captured and -carried in by the Portuguese. There must have been a considerable -scrap, for the sergeant was too stiff to come on parade next day! The -Portuguese were much pleased at their success, and almost immediately -afterwards they went back to the line, where a German patrol of eleven -came out against them. The Portuguese tried their surrounding tactics -with such success that they killed eight and captured three. - -One day I was asked by the Portuguese Corps commander to attend a -review of the Portuguese Army, which was being held at Marthes, some -six miles from my Headquarters. When the time for the march past came, -I saw the forty observers we had trained go by under their officers as -a separate unit, each with a large white “O” sewn upon his sleeve. - -The great difficulty was to obtain telescopes for these observers, for -the demand was, all through the war, vastly in excess of the supply. -The G.S. (General Service) telescope used by signallers in the British -Army was, I believe, afterwards issued to the Portuguese troops, and -this was a quite good enough glass for the purpose. - -Another part of our training which the Portuguese troops took with -enthusiasm was the physical training and ju-jitsu. - -Sometimes when we had mixed classes, it was very difficult indeed, as -all lectures had to be repeated in Portuguese, and the ordinary daily -morning talks on the care and cleaning of the rifle, the stalking -telescope, or on the work of snipers in attack and defence, which -usually took from thirty to forty minutes, used to tail out, as each -sentence was translated, into a matter of an hour and a half and even -two hours. - -But I think that, on the whole, the Portuguese troops really enjoyed -their time at the school, and I remember our taking the field at -Association football with a good sprinkling of them in our team. - - - - -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 name for himself, as -did Dan Theron on the Boer side. - -First and last, I suppose that Burnham was the greatest scout of our -time. Physically a small man, he was amazingly well knit, and very -strong, and his many feats of hardihood owed much to his compact and -untiring build. His name will live on account of two feats--the first, -his passing through the entire Matabele Army and shooting the M’limo, -the witch doctor, who was responsible for the Matabele War; and the -second, his dash through the Boer lines, when he blew up the railway on -the far side of Pretoria. - -The first article of Burnham’s faith was absolute physical fitness, -and his idea of physical fitness was much more rigorous than that of -most athletes. It was not with him a matter of merely keeping his -muscles of speed and endurance in good fettle, but--what is a much -harder thing--the keeping of all his senses at their highest pitch of -efficiency. Thus, apart from his hearing and eyesight, which were very -keen, I have never met anyone else, except one Indian, who possessed -anything like his sense of smell. He could smell a small fire in the -open at an extraordinary distance, and he told me that this power had -often been of the greatest value to him. - -But Burnham was essentially, as a scout, the product of what may be -called a savage, or extra-European War, and in this war there was no -one on either side who had anything like the same opportunities of -hand-to-hand work. Whereas it would perhaps be too much to say that the -day of Burnham has passed for ever, yet it is true enough that a new -generation of scouts has arisen, whose work, or much of it, has been -of a very different nature. In open or semi-open warfare a scout may -still be ordered to go by day or night, and find out if this or that -village is occupied by the enemy, but once trench warfare sets in, -and the battle fronts of the opposing armies stretch from the sea to -Switzerland, the work of the scout undergoes great changes. His theatre -of action is No Man’s Land, which comprises all the area between the -two armies which are drawn up one against the other. - -The Corps Commander of the 11th Corps, Sir R. Haking, would never allow -the use of the word “No Man’s Land.” “There is no such place opposite -my Corps,” he would say. “All the land right up to the edge of the -enemy’s parapet is our land, and we have got to have control of it.” - -I believe I am right in stating that about seven out of every ten raids -undertaken on the First Army Front in 1916 were the work of the 11th -Corps, and they had long held the record in the number of prisoners -taken in a single raid. - -The work of the scout was, of course, to dominate the enemy in No -Man’s Land, and to this end he was continually patrolling it during -the hours of darkness. Little, as a rule, is done by daylight, though -Gaythorne-Hardy, who was Intelligence Officer of the 4th Battalion of -the Royal Berkshire Regiment, and whom I have referred to before, in -order to investigate the German wire under Hill 63, near Messines, -decided, after looking at the ground with a telescope, to crawl out by -day. The German lines were some three hundred to four hundred yards -away. The season was summer, and the grass long. In winter, crawling -between the lines was almost impossible, owing to lack of cover. - -The officer in question, accompanied by a corporal, crawled right up -to the enemy wire, and got all information and a complete plan of the -ground and obstacles. It was a task upon which any but a skilled hunter -of big game, as my friend is, might easily have given himself away. -To crawl across three hundred yards of open ground, with hundreds of -German eyes watching for any movement, and bent on investigating any -suspicious spot with a machine-gun, calls for courage and good nerve. -This officer, however, had examined his route, decided to make the -attempt, and he came back successful. He said it was no more difficult -than stalking a deer. He was awarded the Military Cross, and the -corporal is now a sergeant with the D.C.M. - -But not much was done in No Man’s Land in daylight. Snipers lay out in -it, and sentries watched it, and both sides sent a deal of lead across -it, but when night fell, it became tenanted, and scouts and patrols -crawled out into it--and sometimes never came back. The aim, of course, -was always domination, and in order to gain domination many strange -things were done. - -[Illustration: - - _From a drawing by_] [_Ernest Blaikley._ - -Night-work in No Man’s Land.] - -For instance, there was the “Silent Death,” as it was called, invented -by the Canadians, who, under cover of darkness, crawled out into No -Man’s Land every night, and lay there awaiting the advent of a German -patrol. If such came, it was attacked hand to hand with trench daggers, -and its members killed as silently as possible. This soon made the -Germans very shy of taking their evening crawl, when so many of them -who had gone over the top vanished into the darkness and were never -heard of again. - -At length the Germans almost gave up patrolling in that sector, and one -of my officers who used to be in charge of a “Silent Death” party has -often told me how dull and chilly were those long and weary waits in -the frost or the rain, waiting for Huns who never came. - -In trench warfare, No Man’s Land was the cockpit of the war. Some -sections of it were more favourable than others for action, but every -evening and every night a great number of British used to go out in -front. When one first went out, it seemed almost certain that one must -be killed. There was a spasmodic sputter of fire from machine-guns, but -as an actual matter of fact, moving about in No Man’s Land was much -safer than it seemed. - -At first our patrols were very haphazard, and you could sometimes hear -a private roaring out that a patrol was out, and that it would return -at such and such an hour to such and such a point. This was giving away -things with a vengeance to any Germans who spoke English, and it sounds -almost impossible that it should have been done--yet it was done, and -not in isolated cases only. - -I do not think that scouts ever got very far into the German lines; -at any rate, during the continuance of trench warfare. To do so was -well-nigh impossible, and behind the German battle-front the place of -the scout was taken by the spy or secret service agent. - -But to return to No Man’s Land. There was a certain sergeant who got a -D.C.M. for removing a trench board. A raid was projected by us, and, -as usual, a careful rehearsal had been gone through. The scheme was -to attack a certain sector of enemy trenches about two hundred yards -long. This length of trench had to be blocked off at each end, so as -to prevent assistance coming to the enemy down the trench from either -flank. - -Two parties were therefore told off to capture and hold the two points, -which were to be the limits of our raid. Both parties went over, the -northern party arriving in strength, but the southern had casualties -from machine-gun fire, and finally only the sergeant and one private -arrived in the enemy trench. Here the private was killed before the -enemy fled, and there was only the sergeant to form the block and keep -off the reinforcements which were sure to come. - -The sergeant, however, was a man of resource, and he swiftly removed -the duck-board from the trench draining well--a large sump hole, -or pit, which lay between him and the path taken by the retreating -Germans. The trenches are often drained by pits of this kind, dug in -the middle of the right-of-way, and bridged by a duck-board laid across -them. In these pits there collected a mass of liquid mud as thick as -glue. The sergeant removed the duck-board, and relaid it eight or ten -feet on his side of the mud-hole. Then he went round the corner of the -next traverse, and waited to see what would happen. - -Meantime, the main raiding party had got to work, and soon enemy -reinforcements came rushing along the trench towards the sergeant. -Seeing the duck-board ahead of them, they mistook the position of the -mud-hole, and in they crashed. Soon the hole was as full of men as is -a newly-opened tin of sardines. Next the sergeant opened fire upon -them. The whole raid was a glorious success. Prisoners were taken, and -German dug-outs blown up--a result that could hardly have occurred had -it not been that the sergeant had the sense and acumen to remove the -duck-board; thus, by a very simple action, holding up quite a mass of -reinforcements. - -There is another raid story, for which I do not vouch, but which was -firmly believed in the First Army. - -All enemy movement was watched by aeroplanes, and photographed and -reported. As the war went on, the science of aeroplane photography -progressed enormously. It is hardly too much to say that the Germans -could not deepen a trench without our knowing it almost at once. We -never made a raid--or, at least, need never have made one--without -all who were going over, even down to the private soldier, having the -opportunity of studying photographs of the trenches where their work -lay. - -The Germans, of course, did the same, but in a limited degree, as their -aeroplanes did not dare to come over our lines in the way that ours -crossed theirs. - -Once, when the Germans were contemplating a raid, their Flying Corps -succeeded in taking photographs of that portion of our trenches which -was to be attacked. With the help of these photographs, the German -Command caused to be built an exact replica of the trenches which they -intended to raid. They did this at no great distance behind their -lines, with a view to rehearsing the raid just as a play is rehearsed -in a theatre. We, of course, often did the same. - -But to continue. One of our aeroplanes happened to pass over just -as the Germans were having a daylight rehearsal, and, noticing the -concentration of troops and the new workings of earth, a photograph -was taken. This photograph was, of course, sent in the ordinary routine -to Army Headquarters. - -The Army possessed an extremely capable aerial photography expert, -who soon made his deduction, and as he, of course, possessed the -photographs of the entire front line system of the Army, it was not -long before he had identified that piece of it which the Germans had -copied, and on which they were meditating an attack. - -There was only one object which could lead them to practise attacks -upon so short a length of line. A raid was clearly in contemplation. -The expert informed the General Staff of his discovery, and the General -Staff informed those who were manning the threatened area. Preparations -were made and precautions taken, and, sure enough, the Germans came -over, to meet about as hot a reception as even modern war can provide. - -As I say, I do not know if this story is apocryphal or not, but if it -is, others about our aeroplane photography and its amazing efficiency -were common talk in the Army. - -Psychologically, going out into No Man’s Land in the dark, especially -if you are alone, is a distinctly eerie business. I really have no -right to write much about it, as I was only out in front on a few -occasions. On one, I remember, I was more frightened than I hope ever -to be again. Although the story is personal, as it is against myself -there can be no harm in telling it. - -I had gone out to a cottage which stood in No Man’s Land. It was pretty -dark, and a wild night, and there was, of course, a chance that some -German might be in the cottage, which, though heavily shelled, was not -entirely smashed. - -After listening for a while and hearing no sound, I went in, and on the -ground floor there was nothing but the usual mass of rubble and brick. -A ladder led up to the second floor, and I climbed up this and began -to tip-toe across the floor. One got a good deal of light from the -star-shells which were thrown up by the Germans, but in a particularly -dark moment I suddenly felt my left leg go from under me. I thought -that it had been plucked away by some crouching Hun, or else that I -had been hit by some missile--in fact, never did thoughts come quicker -or more confusedly! What had really happened was that I had put my leg -through the floor, and had got rather a heavy jar. But anything more -disagreeable than that moment I have never experienced. - -Of course, it is only one of the little incidents that are the hourly -lot of those who go out into No Man’s Land, but one’s nerves are on -these occasions strung up to a very high pitch. - -But, as I say, my experience of No Man’s Land was really so small as -to be negligible, for when I was in the line I was sniping or observing -all day, and you cannot do that and work at night also. - -Crawling out into No Man’s Land in daylight is a very different -business, and if there is reasonable cover, it is to my mind more -satisfactory to crawl out then, when your life depends on your own -skill, than to crawl about in the dark over the bodies of men who have -been dead for weeks, and when Chance of the blindest kind absolutely -rules the game. - -Now, of course, when a patrol is sent out the report handed in should -be in a definite and generally accepted form, giving the composition of -the patrol. - -I can perhaps explain my meaning best by referring the reader to the -appendix on Patrols, at the end of this book. - -Of course, patrolling in No Man’s Land is only one small part of a -scout’s duties, and when the war became more open there were many -opportunities for scouts. - -One point that struck me as being exceedingly valuable was the proper -delivery of messages by runners. Major Crum used to demonstrate this by -a small piece of acting which was extraordinarily well done, in which -an object lesson was given as to how not to deliver a message, and how -a message should be delivered. In moments of excitement many men become -somewhat prolix, and it is of the utmost importance that they should -be taught to get their message into the fewest and clearest possible -words. - -A question that arose as the war went on was the definition of the -duties of a sniper and a scout. It was held in some quarters that a -sniper and a scout were two quite different men, who had in view two -entirely different objects. The sniper, those who held this view said, -was a man whose first duty was offensive action against the enemy, -whereas a scout’s duty was not to fight, but to obtain information. -We at the school could never see it in this light, for there must be -occasions when a scout must fight to get his information back, or -indeed, to obtain it, and it seemed futile that in the morning a man -should ask himself, “Am I to-day a sniper or a scout?” - -I would not refer to these opinions had they not been rather widely -held. - -A modern scout must know a great many things--so many that it is almost -impossible to detail them all, and for this reason a scout’s work -changes with the conditions under which he is working. - -But I do not think that for a long time sufficient use was made of -modern science in the equipment of the scout. A scout may, in a single -two hours of his life, be a sniper, an observer, and the old-fashioned -scout who has to go out to find out things at close range. He has to -be essentially an individualist capable of seeing and seizing his -opportunity. He must be a man of instant decision, who understands the -value of cover and background, who possesses that quality which is very -often born in men, a sense of direction. - -His training was exceedingly difficult, and unless he had a natural -aptitude, no amount of teaching was of any real practical value. Think -what a difference it makes to a Commanding Officer to have in his -battalion a certain number of men, however few, whom he can send out to -obtain information, and who are so accurate and so dependable that he -can always act upon their reports. There are hundreds of such men in -the Lovat Scouts, but then, of course, the whole trend of their lives -is towards observation, skilled movement, and accuracy. The man who -has spent twenty years on the hill, and who has counted the points on -a thousand stags, who knows the difference between every track that he -sees in a corrie, and who is never far from his telescope, is, when he -goes to war, simply carrying into another sphere the normal activities -of his life. - -And yet there should be no difficulty in training a number of scouts -in every battalion, _but the ideal scout, or rather the ideal scout -section, in a regiment, should be looked up to. Their immense value -should be realized, and due credit and honour given to them for their -skill. The scouts of a battalion should be the pick of that battalion, -and the fact that a man has attained the rank of scout should be -signalized by his receiving extra pay and extra consideration._ - -_As long as war lasts it will be necessary to find out what is in the -enemy’s mind, and this is so important, that those who prove themselves -capable of discovering and of giving warning of what is about to occur, -should be objects of admiration and respect to all their comrades._ - -Of course there is another point which struck one most strongly, and -this was the examination of prisoners. - -It may well be that a man cannot help being taken, whether through -wounds or otherwise, but it is of the first importance that he should -give away nothing to the enemy. For this reason, as scouts and anyone -who has anything to do with any kind of Intelligence work are always -put through a much more rigorous examination if they should be -captured, we were very strongly against badges for scouts. - -Let us take the ordinary Tommy. If he is captured, unless it -unfortunately happens that he knows of some imminent move that is to be -made, there is very little danger of his giving away anything, for the -simple reason that he knows so little. But a scout is another matter. -He knows all the posts in our line; he knows something of the system by -which the various offshoots of Intelligence work are being operated, -and as he has been trained to observation of detail and deduction, he -is a man who, if he can be got to speak, will reveal things of great -value to the enemy. - -The only two questions that a prisoner need answer are his name and -regiment, but many and sinister are the tricks by which he may be -beguiled. - -A British officer who is supposed to have special knowledge is, let us -imagine, captured by the Germans. He is wounded, and is taken up to -the Headquarters of a German Division. He is examined, and, of course, -gives away nothing. Now what happens? Very possibly a German officer -comes to him and says: “Herr Captain, we deeply regret that there is no -room for you in the officers’ quarters in the Hospital. We trust that -you will not object if you are put in a room with a British N.C.O.” The -officer, of course, says he does not object, and he goes into the room. -There he will find a British N.C.O. heavily bandaged and lying groaning -upon his bed. It is inevitable, if they are two or three days together, -that conversation will take place between them. The so-called British -N.C.O. is, however, simply a decoy. He is not wounded at all, and his -business is, by clever questions, to extract certain information which -the British officer is supposed to possess. - -Again, when men were taken prisoners, very often into the guard-room in -which they were confined would be thrown another Britisher, bleeding -and wounded, who would raise a tremendous outcry and declaim upon his -wrongs. The newcomer, as a matter of fact, often was only a clever -actor coached to his part, who was simply put into the guard-house to -ferret out information. - -These are not isolated incidents, but a commonly accepted policy in -the German Army. After all, it is natural enough, for a little bit of -information may win a battle, and it was certainly held among our foes -that the end justified the means. - -But as the war went on, and these things came to knowledge, it needed -some very clever work on the part of the Germans to obtain information -from those who had been warned. Of course, as long as the world -continues there are, one supposes, men who will undertake work of this -kind, whether for money or urged on by some other motive. The motive -may be good even. The decoy may be actuated by a really high form of -patriotism. But not often. For the most part he is one of those men who -have a touch of the traitor in them, and who are in some way perverted -in their minds. - -Of course to be a decoy back at Divisional Headquarters is a safe and -probably a paying job, but it is one which must always leave a very -nasty taste in the mouth. - -So much for German methods of interrogation. - -When we took German prisoners, they were very often in a state of -pitiable fright, for they had been absolutely fed by their officers -with stories of the most circumstantial nature of the habitual -brutality of the British to their prisoners; and yet it was a fine -sight to see a German prisoner, obviously afraid to his very bones, and -yet absolutely determined to give away nothing. One really laboured -under an almost incontrollable impulse to go and shake such a man by -the hand. After all, courage of the lonely sort is surely the most -glorious thing that we can hope to witness, and whether it is displayed -upon our side or upon the other, one feels the better for having -witnessed it. - - - - -APPENDICES - - - - -APPENDIX A - - -The following is a programme which has given excellent results when -training Brigade, Divisional, Corps Observers and Lovat Scouts -Observers. - - 1st Day. Lecture. Maps and Conventional Signs. - Practical. Comparison of Map with the Ground. - Setting Maps. - Location of points by drawing rays. - - 2nd Day. Lecture. The Stalking Telescope. - Practical. Front Line Observation with Reports. - Instruction and Practice in reading. - Map co-ordinates. - Judging Distance. - - 3rd Day. Lecture. Contours, gradients, slopes, etc. - Practical. Pegging out contours on the ground. - Long Distance Observation with Reports. - Judging Distance. - - 4th Day. Lecture. The Prismatic Compass. - Practical. Taking Bearings. - Working out mutual visibility problems. - Concave and convex slopes, drawing slopes. - - 5th Day. Lecture. The use of the protractor. - Practical. Plotting Bearings. - Re-section problems. - Long distance Observation with Reports. - - 6th Day. Lecture. Scales. - Practical. Road Traverse. - Filling in conventional signs and contours. - Long Distance Observation with Reports. - - 7th Day. Lecture. Use of Scouts and Observers in Attack and - Defence. - Practical. Marching to Map co-ordinates. - Selection of positions for Observation - Posts. - Front Line Observation with Reports. - - 8th Day. Scheme. Bringing in the use of Observers in Open - Warfare. - Construction and concealment of Observation - Posts. - Taking Bearings with Compass. - - 9th Day. Lecture. Front Line Observation. - Practical. Locating of points by drawing rays. - Compass March (by Day). - - 10th Day. Lecture. Aeroplane Photographs. - Practical. Comparison of photos with the ground. - Re-section problems. - - 11th Day. Practical. Handing over and relief of Observation - Posts. - Using Telescope as Director. - Long Distance Observation with Reports. - Use of Director Board. - - 12th Day. Practical. Making and plotting a Road Traverse. - Making a Road Report. - Compass March (by Night). - - 13th Day. Practical. Enlarging Map and constructing scales. - Work with Director Board. - - 14th Day. Recapitulation and Examinations. - - - - -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. - - 1. Care of Arms and Grouping. - 2. The Enfield 1914 pattern Rifle. - 3. The Stalking Telescope. - 4. General lecture on Map-reading. - 5. Patrolling and Scouting. - 6. Elevations and Wind. - 7. The construction of Sniping and Forward O.P.’s. - 8. General lecture on Telescopic-Sighted Rifles. - 9. Duties of Scouts, Observers and Snipers in Attack and Defence. - 10. Front Line Observation and Reports. - 11. Duties of the Bn. Intelligence Officer. - 12. Aeroplane photos, with Lantern Slides. - 13. General Musketry Lecture. - 14. Bayonet Training (by Supt. P. and B.T. First Army). - -(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: - - 1. Map-reading and Field Sketching. - 2. Use of Prismatic Compass. - 3. Enlarging Maps and interpolation of Contours. - 4. Panorama Sketching. - 5. Adjustments and care of Telescopic sights. - 6. Methods and principles of Instruction. - 7. Organization and Training. - 8. Practical study of Ground. - -Practical work is also given to all students in the following subjects -at night: - - 1. Patrolling. - 2. Marching on Compass Bearings. - 3. Concentration Marches with and without Box Respirators. - 4. Siting and construction of Posts. - 5. Night Firing, and the use of Field Glasses and Stalking Telescopes - on suitable nights. - -It will be seen that the two Sundays have been omitted; on these days -the Range is open to all ranks for voluntary shooting under a qualified -Instructor. - -Instruction in the use of Armour Piercing S.A.A., Disguising, Methods -of Instruction, Practice in Map-reading, Taking Bearings, etc., etc., -goes on continually while students await their turn to fire. - - 1st Morning. General talk on the objects of the Course and - discipline during. Thorough examination of - open-sighted rifles for defects. Demonstration - of Grouping and Holding. Grouping at 100 yards, - followed by analysis of faults and correction of - rifles where necessary. - - Afternoon. Lecture: Care of Arms and Grouping. (Practical) - Observation on a German Trench with reports. - Criticism of Reports. - - 2nd Morning. Lecture: The Stalking Telescope. (Practical) - Repetition of failures in Grouping practice. - Application at 200–300 yards. Observation of - single shot strike. - - Afternoon. Practical Observation. - (_a_) On German Trench. - (_b_) Open Country. - - 3rd Morning. Lecture: The Enfield 1914 pattern Rifle. - (Practical) Judging Distance up to 600 yards. - Snapshooting at 100–200 yards, 4 seconds’ - exposure. Application at 200 yards. Hawkins - position. - - Afternoon. Practical Map-reading on the ground and long - distance observations with Reports. - - 4th Morning. Lecture: General lecture on Map-reading. - (Practical) Application at 400–500 yards. - Application at unknown range (within 400 yards). - - Afternoon. Demonstration: Use of Ground and Cover. - (Practical) Practice in selecting, attaining and - constructing hasty observation posts for open - warfare. Cover from view rather than Cover from - fire to be specialized in. - - 5th Morning. Lecture: Patrolling and Scouting. (Practical) - Application at 300 yards. Snapshooting at 100 - and 200 yards. 3 seconds’ exposure. - - Afternoon. Demonstration of Camouflage and its uses. - (Practical) Scheme: Snipers are given an area - of ground in which they must establish posts - utilizing the material found on the spot for - disguise. Observers select posts from which they - can command the above area. The snipers will - fire blank from the posts they have selected - at any observers who expose themselves; also - endeavour to give the map-reference of their - targets. The observers endeavour to locate and - give map-references of the snipers’ posts. - - 6th Morning. Lecture: Elevations and Wind. Demonstration: - Building in battens for and spotting enemy - snipers; actual practice in above each student - to locate at least two snipers. (Practical) - Snapshooting combined with movement; students - endeavour to advance unseen from 500 to 100 - yards. Targets representing enemy heads appear - at odd places and intervals in the butts. - - Afternoon. Demonstration: Building in and use of Night Firing - Boxes. Actual practice in above. Observation - on a German trench, the appearance of which is - altered by moving sandbags, loopholes, etc., - with reports. - - 8th Morning. Lecture: The construction of Forward and Sniping - O.P.’s. (Practical) Patrolling with the use of - Night Firing Goggles. Practice in the correct - use of cover and in keeping touch. Application - practice at unknown range. - - Afternoon. Practice in marching by day on Compass bearings - with and without Box-respirators. - - 9th Morning. Lecture: General lecture on telescopic sighted - rifles. (Practical) Zeroing of telescopic - sighted rifles. - - Afternoon. Complete the zeroing of rifles. Long distance - observation. - - 10th Morning. Lecture: Duties of scouts, observers and snipers - in attack and defence. (Practical) Grouping - at 100 yards with Telescopic sighted rifles. - Practice in scouting in Open Country, with - reports. - - Afternoon. Scheme: Making “Good” woods and enclosed country - with scouts and snipers. - - 11th Morning. Lecture: Front line observation and reports. - (Practical) Application at 200 yards with - telescopic sighted rifles. Snapshooting at - 100–200 yards, 3 seconds’ exposure. - - Afternoon. Concentration march. Students are put into four - parties, each representing a platoon. They - are given a map co-ordinate at which they - must concentrate at a given time. Signals - representing Gas Alarm are given, when all - students put on their box-respirators and - continue the march. - - 12th Morning. Lecture: Duties of the Bn. Intelligence Officer. - (Practical) Application at 300–400 yards. - Observation on a German trench. - - Afternoon. Scheme: To demonstrate the use of Scouts and - Snipers as a protective advanced screen to - Infantry in open or semi-open warfare. - - 13th Morning. Lecture: Aeroplane Photos, with Lantern Slides. - Practical study of aeroplane photographs on the - actual ground depicted in the photo. - - Afternoon. Examinations in Long distance and Front line - observations. - - 15th and 16th. Oral examinations. Mutual Instruction. Written - examination. Examination of note-books. - Competition shoots. - -_Note_:--The above programme is only given as a guide; changes in -sequence must often occur through inclemency of the weather. - - - - -APPENDIX C - -The following are the rough notes used for some of the Lectures given -at the FIRST ARMY SCHOOL of S.O.S. in France. - - -PART I - -CARE OF ARMS, GROUPING AND RANGE PRACTICES: - - It is essential that the Sniper shall have a really clean rifle if - he is to obtain the extreme accuracy that is required of him. By a - clean rifle I mean a rifle in the cleaning of which not only have all - the normal precautions been taken, but, in addition, the bore has - received a very high polish. This high polish is of great importance - to accurate shooting, and to be efficient as a Sniper you must be far - more accurate than the average Service Shot. Hence the necessity for - going rather deeply into Care of Arms. - - -AVOIDABLE CAUSES OF INACCURACY: - -OILY BARREL: - - 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. - -OILY BREECH: - - 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. - -CORDWEAR: - - 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. When it occurs at the muzzle, gases escape through the cord - groove as the bullet is leaving, thus forcing it in the opposite - direction. If in the chamber, it is a source of weakness, and a burst - chamber may be the result. - -FIXING THE BAYONET: - - Musketry Regulations inform us that with the “S.M.L.E.” the effect of - fixing the bayonet is to throw your shot 18 inches high at 200 yards’ - range. This is because the extra weight slows down the vibration, - and thus converts a _negative_ into a _positive_ jump. Hence, as a - Sniper, you will fire without your bayonet fixed. - - (_Note_:--From tests carried out at this First Army School of S.O.S. - it would appear that Musketry regulations greatly over-estimate the - effect caused by fixing the bayonet.) - -HOLD: - - Unless the Sniper reproduces the same hold for each shot and when he - rests his rifle rests it always at the same point (for preference the - middle band), his shooting can never be consistent. - -AMMUNITION: - - Different makes of S.A.A. give slightly different elevations on the - target. This is because the Powders burn at different rates, thus - slightly altering the jump. - -WARPED WOODWORK: - - The fore-end is fitted so as not to influence the barrel when firing. - The barrel must be able to lie perfectly straight as each shot leaves - it. If the fore-end is warped (and warped fore-ends are common) the - barrel will be unable to lie as was intended, and erratic shooting - will result. - - CAUSES: - - 1. Wet entering between the barrel and the fore-end. - - 2. Unequal dryness such as caused by rifle lying in hot sun or in - front of fire. - - 3. Dry woodwork. - - 4. Twisting of wood through insufficient seasoning before use. - - PREVENTION OF: - - Oil all woodwork daily, ensuring that the oil penetrates between - the hand-guard, fore-end and barrel. - - CURE OF: - - Armourer refits fore-end. - - -SOME UNAVOIDABLE CAUSES: - -NICKELLING OR METALLIC FOULING: - - Is really an obstruction in the bore caused by a portion of the - envelope of the bullet becoming brazed on the surface of the bore. - It is a cause of great inaccuracy, and its presence should always be - looked for. When found, it must be removed. This should be done by an - Armourer. - -EROSION: - - Is the gradual increase in the size of the bore, and is caused - through the heat generated by the gases slightly fusing the metal. - The gases rushing over the metal carry away minute particles of the - steel. This is the factor which decides “The Life of the Barrel” for - purposes of real accuracy. - -DRIFT: - - Is the continual deviation of the bullet in the direction of the - rifling. About one minute, _i.e._, one inch per 100 yards, must be - allowed for this at the longer ranges in sniping. - - -OTHER DEFINITIONS: - -SUPERFICIAL FOULING: - - The fouling that appears in the bore immediately after firing. It - is then quite soft and easily removed, but if allowed to remain, it - becomes hard, difficult to remove and, by attracting moisture from - the air, begins the rusting process. - -INTERNAL FOULING: - - Fouling that actually gets below the surface of the metal when - firing; this gradually sweats its way to the surface and should be - removed as it appears. - - (_Note_:--If cleaned with really boiling water, the pores are - reopened, internal fouling is removed, and thus the cause of - sweating is done away with. The Barrel must, however, be dried - immediately, or the cure will be worse than the complaint.) - -CORROSION: - - Is the black pock-mark or indentation left in the bore after removing - rust. - -CLEANING RODS: - - Finally it is suggested that a cleaning-rod properly used is better - than a pull-through: each Battalion is authorized to hold 32 of these - Rods on Charge. (See G.R.O.’s 512, 540 and 2,094.) - - -GROUPING AND RANGE PRACTICES: - - It must be understood that Grouping with the Open Sights is a - definite test of (_a_) the rifle, and (_b_) the man. - - Grouping is a practical system of locating faults, and it is of the - utmost importance that such faults, having once been located, should - at once be corrected. It should also be clearly understood that a - man’s average group at a given range, _i.e._, 100 yards, will (except - for the error of the day) be the measure of his capacity at all - ranges. For instance, if his average at 100 yards be a 3-inch group, - his best standard will be a 6-inch group at 200 yards, 9-inch group - at 300 yards, 12-inch group at 400 yards, and so on. - - Unless this fact is clearly understood, we shall have our men making - shot corrections when actually shooting up to standard, and if this - is done, consistent shooting can never be obtained. - -LESSONS TO BE LEARNT FROM A GROUP: - - 1. If a man makes a vertical group it is fairly safe to assume that - he is making one of the following errors: - - (_a_) Varying amount of fore-sight taken. - (_b_) Varying point of Aim. - (_c_) Not restraining his breathing when trigger-pressing. - - 2. If he makes a lateral group his error will be usually found among - the following: - - (_a_) Incorrect centreing of fore-sight. - (_b_) Varying point of Aim. - (_c_) Bad let-off. - - 3. If he gets a good group, but wide of the aiming mark, it will - be safe to assume that his rifle is throwing wide and should be - corrected at once by alteration of fore-sight. For this reason the - Armourer or other qualified person should be present when grouping is - being carried out. - - 4. If a man’s shots are widely scattered, it will be necessary to - carry out the Analysis of faults, _i.e._: - - R. Test Rifle. - A. Test Aim. - T. Test Trigger-pressing. - S. Test Sight. - - You should by this time have discovered the fault, but remember it is - of no use having found it unless you can cure it before proceeding - further. - - 5. If the rifle be correct the point of Mean Impact should be 5 - inches above the point of Aim. If incorrect the fore-sight should be - altered. The following can be got on indent for this purpose. - - Cramp R.S.L.M.E. - - Supply of fore-sights in nine different heights. - -RANGE PRACTICES: - - Nothing definite can be laid down on account of the lack of uniform - targets, ranges, etc., but the following hints may be of value: - - 1. If a liaison be cultivated between Battalion Sniping officers in - the Brigade, it will be easy to improvise a Range and Target for the - use of the Battalion in rest. - - 2. When in divisional rest it is usually possible to find a Range - ready for use in the Training Area. - - 3. Excellent work and all Zeroing can be done on even a 30-yard range - by the really keen officer. - - 4. Training in shooting should be carried out with an Open and _not_ - a Telescopic sighted rifle, which should be kept for: - - (_a_) Snapping Practice. - (_b_) Shooting in order to Zero. - (_c_) Killing the enemy. - - It is important that the barrels of these rifles should not be worn - out in practice shooting. - - 5. All training should be made progressive and where possible - competitive. - - 6. The first essential is extreme accuracy, after which the - Instructor must coach up for rapid snapshooting, the ultimate - standard being looked upon as the ability to get off a really good - shot under two seconds. - - 7. Always start with a Grouping Practice and eliminate faults as they - are discovered. - - 8. Re zero Telescopic sighted rifles: to ascertain that they have - maintained their correctness each time you are out of the trenches, - and arm only your best shots with these rifles. - - 9. Improvise cover on the Range and make all Snipers’ fire practices - under as near as possible Service Conditions. - - 10. Although normally he will not fire Rapid, keep your sniper - efficient in this valuable art. - - 11. You may at any time become a casualty, therefore train your - N.C.O.’s to carry on in your absence. - - -PART II - -PATROLLING AND SCOUTING - -PATROLS AND PATROLLING: - - 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_. - - Patrolling is looked upon by some as being particularly dangerous - work. This is not so if patrols are carefully carried out by trained - men. - - Training beforehand is essential; to send out untrained men in a - haphazard manner is worse than useless. - - No patrol should go out except for a distinct and definite object. - - -TYPES OF PATROLS IN TRENCH WARFARE - -RECONNAISSANCE PATROLS - - Are the work of scouts who go out on some specific mission. Numbers - should be as small as possible. A party of two or three will probably - obtain the best results. - -FIGHTING PATROLS - - Should consist of Lewis gun and gunners, bombers and scouts. Strength - 10–15. Object to disperse enemy working parties, to engage enemy - patrols, to obtain identifications. - - _Note_:--It may often be necessary to combine these patrols; the - Fighting Patrol going out to form a screen in rear, while the - Reconnaissance Patrol pushes forward to complete its task. This - has the effect of giving the Reconnaissance Patrol confidence, of - assisting them to pass back any casualties they may suffer, and, - in fact, provides them with an Advanced Headquarters from which - they carry out their reconnaissance. The system is particularly - useful, and, in fact, necessary, where a great distance separates - the opposing lines. - -PROTECTIVE PATROLS - - Should consist mainly of Bombers, and are used in front of our wire, - or between Isolated Posts. Numbers depend on circumstances. Object: - Protection of our line from surprise attacks. - - -OPEN WARFARE - - It is not necessary here to classify definitely. The Reconnoitring - Patrol should always be prepared to fight. In fact, all Patrols, at - all times, should be _fully organized self-contained fighting units_. - Numbers depend on conditions, but Scouts will be largely used. - -TRAINING: - - The general principles of training both for Trench and Open Warfare - are a thorough training in the following: - - 1. Map Reading. - - 2. Compass Work. - - 3. Reports. - - 4. Use of Ground and Cover. - - 5. Reconnoitring through Periscopes and by means of Aeroplane - Photographs and Maps by day, the ground over which patrol must - pass at night, and selecting the best method of approach. - - 6. Actual Patrolling by day and night. - - 7. Keeping touch. - -FORMATIONS: - - Nothing definite can be laid down, as, of necessity, formations will - vary with the prevailing conditions. It is essential, however, that - all formations shall be so simple as to ensure that they can be - maintained even on the darkest night and when working over very rough - ground. - - The Lewis gun, when it forms a part of a Patrol, must be well - protected and in such a position as will enable it to be used at a - moment’s notice. - - The Officer or N.C.O. in charge should always lead the Patrol, and - there should be a Second-in-Command, whose position should be in the - centre and rear of the Patrol; he will specialize in keeping the men - in their proper places and maintaining touch. - -EQUIPMENT: - - The rifle often hampers movement, particularly when crawling, but - it is essential that both this and fighting order be carried when - patrolling in open warfare. In trench warfare it should usually - be sufficient to carry the rifle, a bandolier of S.A.A., the web - belt with bayonet and scabbard attached, a bomb in the pocket and a - compass. Steel helmets should not be taken, the cap-comforter being - worn instead. - - If necessary to fix the bayonet, such as when rushing an Isolated - Post, it should be fixed with the scabbard still on; both bayonet and - scabbard should be well oiled; the scabbard can then be taken off - quietly just prior to the rush. - -INSTRUCTIONS TO BE GIVEN: - - Before going out personnel should be given: - - 1. All known information; - - 2. An opportunity to examine by day through periscope, by - aeroplane photographs and maps, the ground to be covered at - night. - - 3. The object of the patrol. - - 4. The pass-word. - - Everything that is liable to give information or identification, if - captured, must be carefully collected before the party goes out. - - All men in the Garrison and battalions on right and left must know - when the patrol is out, and also the pass-word. - - The patrol leader, both on leaving and returning, will himself pass - the word along to this effect. This is very important. He cannot - forecast how long he will be away, or the point at which he will - return, therefore, the trench garrison must be prepared to receive - him at any time or place. - -GENERAL: - - Patrols often give themselves away by leaving their own trench in a - careless manner. The firing of rifles and lights should continue as - usual when a patrol is out, but in such a manner as not to interfere - with the patrol. Two patrols should never be sent out on the same - front at the same time, as this only leads to their mistaking each - other for the enemy. Often, the most suitable time for patrolling - is when the weather conditions are very bad. In addition to taking - precautions against Verey lights, men on patrol can often take - advantage of their brightness to obtain the information required. - -A FORM OF PATROL REPORT: - - PATROL REPORT - - Blankshire Regiment. - Night of 12–13th/6/17. - Ref. Map Sheet 54 S.E.1. - - +------------+---------+---------------+---------------------+--------+ - | |Time and | | Information gained |Time and| - |Composition.|Point of | Object. | and action taken. |Point of| - | | Exit. | | | Return.| - +------------+---------+---------------+---------------------+--------+ - | 1 Offr. |11 p.m. |To report on |Gap in wire at Points|2 a.m. | - | and 1 |Trench |enemy wire from|No. 1 A5a65.75 |Trench | - | o/Rk. |Willow |High Command | 2 A5b20.35 |Willow | - | Lt. Tew |Walk. |Redoubt to No | 3 A5d85.87 |Walk. | - | Pte. Dew. |A6a92.85 |Man’s Cottage |Width in Gaps: |A6a95.87| - | | | | 1 about 4 yards. | | - | | | | 2 „ 2 „ | | - | | | | 3 „ 3 „ | | - | | | |Average depth of | | - | | | | wire 10–15 yds. | | - | | | |General condition: | | - | | | |High, barbed, and | | - | | | | fairly strong. | | - +------------+---------+---------------+---------------------+--------+ - - Handed in at 3 a.m. - Date: 13/6/17. - - (Sgd.) R. G. A. TEW, Lieut., - Blankshire Regiment. - - N.B.--These headings, etc., are given as a guide. They will vary - according to the nature of the information required, and the - circumstances under which the Patrol is working. - - -PART III - -THE STALKING TELESCOPE - - 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. - - -CARE AND CLEANING: - - 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 object-glass - will negative the value of the best telescope. When the telescope is - first taken from its case, a light film of dust will usually be found - to have formed on the object-glass. This should be flicked off with - a handkerchief, and if any polishing is necessary, it should be done - with a piece of chamois leather or well-washed piece of four-by-two; - this cleaning material should be free from grit, and should be - carried in a pocket or in the pay-book, where it will be kept clean. - Over 50 per cent. of the telescopes in use, in or about the front - line, have been scratched more or less badly, owing to the neglect of - this simple precaution. - - Special attention should be paid to the cleaning of the objective - lens, which is liable to become covered with dust owing to its - position in the telescope and the opening and closing of the draws. - - Never on any account touch the glass with the finger or thumb. If - the glass be allowed to get damp, fogging will result. To cause the - fogging to evaporate, remove object-glass and eye-piece, lay the - telescope out in the sun or in a warm room. Never permit the metal - work to get hotter than the temperature of your hand, otherwise the - Canada Balsam (which is used to join the concave and convex lenses in - the object-glass of all high telescopes, except the G.S.) will melt. - If the draws get wet, they must be thoroughly dried and slightly - lubricated. The same applies to the sun-shade. When an officer is - inspecting telescopes, he should inspect the cases also. In screwing - tubes or cells into place, great care must be taken not to damage the - threads. It is often as well to turn the screw the wrong way with a - gentle pressure; the threads will then come into correct engagement, - and a slight click may be heard. - - -THE GENERAL SERVICE TELESCOPE - - As has been stated above, Canada Balsam is not used between the - lenses of the object-glass of the G.S. telescope. When a G.S. - Telescope has been taken to pieces, the only difficulty experienced - in assembling it again will be in the replacing of the lenses forming - the object-glass. To do this two rules must be remembered: - - 1. The convex lens is always the nearest to the object, and, - therefore, must be replaced first. - - 2. On the side of the lenses forming the object-glass an - arrow-head will be found cut into the glass. - - Before the lenses are put back the arrow-head must be completed, - and the middle of the arrow must be allowed to slide over the - barb or raised line in the cell. - -RULES FOR USE: - - 1. Always extend your sun-shade (more O.P.’s have been given away - by the light shining upon the object-glass of telescopes than - in any other way). - - 2. Always mark your focus by scratching a circular ring on the - focussing draw. (This will allow you to focus your glass - correctly and quickly before putting it to your eye.) - - 3. Always pull out or push in the draws of your telescope with a - clock-wise circular motion, and keep them slightly lubricated. - - 4. Always carry your telescope slung on your body. If you take it - off and let it travel in a lorry or car the jolting will almost - certainly ruin it. - - 5. Always use a rest when observing. - - 6. When looking into the sun, make a sun-shade nine inches or a - foot long, to fit on the short sun-shade of the telescope. This - will give you great assistance when the sun is over the German - lines. It is a trick borrowed from the chamois-hunters of the - Pyrenees. - - 7. Remember that when there is a mirage you will get better - results with a low than with a high power of magnification. - Conditions in France are more suitable to a magnification of - under than over twenty-five. Excellent work can be done in - the front line with a glass that magnifies only ten times. - If the high-power eye-piece is used for any special purpose - when reconnaissance is finished, it should be replaced by a - low-power eye-piece. - - 8. When searching a given sector of ground or trench divide it - into “fields of view” work slowly allowing each field to - overlap. Never leave any suspicious-looking object without - having ascertained what it is and why it is there. - - 9. Slight movement is more easily detected if you do not look - straight at the object. Always look, a little left, right, - high or low. Keenest vision is at the edges of the eye. This - particularly applies to dusk or dawn. - - 10. When your object is found, consider: - - (a) Distance. - (b) Shape. - (c) Colour. - (d) Size. - (e) Position. - - Use each detail to check other details; for instance, if you can - distinguish the state cockade upon a German cap you may be - certain that you are not more than two hundred yards distant. - - 11. Do not forget that good results can be obtained on clear - starlight or moonlight nights, by the use of night-glasses or - telescopes, especially if working in conjunction with a Lewis - or Vickers Gun. Generally speaking, the bigger the object-glass - and the lower the magnification the better will be the results - obtainable at night. - - 12. In trench warfare a really good glass-man working from our - front line by day can make a most valuable wire reconnaissance. - - 13. Remember that the conditions of visibility are constantly - changing; an object which is indistinct at eleven o’clock may - become quite clear at eleven-five. - - 14. Always be ready to avail yourself of natural conditions. The - visibility after a rain-shower is almost always good; it shows - up wire and gaps in the wire, paths, ground traversed by - patrols, etc. The best season for “spotting” O.P.’s is autumn, - when the leaves fall and the grass withers. - - 15. It is a good thing to disguise the whole of the telescope by - use of sandbags or other material around it. Great care must be - taken to ascertain that such disguise is kept free from dust or - grit. - - -PART IV - -FRONT LINE OBSERVATION AND REPORTS - -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 through the hands of the Battalion -Intelligence Officer, and by him the information it contains is passed -on to Brigade, thence to Division, and so on. During the whole of this -process, the information is weighed, sifted, and compared over and over -again. Hence, that which really proves to be of no importance will be -eliminated, while that which is of value will reach those to whom it -may be of use. - -Remember that you are in close touch with the enemy, and that you, and -you only, are responsible for the observation of his forward area. You -must not rely upon the Divisional or Corps Observers to do this work -for you. - -When taking over a post for the first time you must study the ground -carefully and get to know the exact location of all prominent objects. -Then, in a few days’ time, you will be capable of giving map locations -of targets without bearings. - -It is of little or no use to look for movement until you know your -front by heart, the GOOD observer is the man who can almost see the -co-ordinates lying on the ground. In this way some of the Lovat Scouts -can give the map references of a moving object as it moves, without a -glance at the map. - -The best times of the day for you, as a front-line observer, are dawn -and dusk. Ration parties, working parties, reliefs, etc., are all -waiting to move forward at dusk, and much good work can be done by -picking up these targets and reporting them to the Artillery. The same -or similar parties can often be seen returning at dawn, particularly -after a night during which our harassing fire has been heavy. - -Again, a misty day--although the definition obtained through your -telescope is not so clear as usual--is often excellent for observation -of the enemy’s front-line system, as, on such days, through a false -sense of security, the enemy often shows himself in concealed posts, -etc., which he would never give away by carelessness during clearer -weather. - -Always note time (signal time) and map co-ordinates of anything -observed. - -If anything of importance be seen, such as abnormal movement, suspected -reliefs, etc., report them _at once_. Don’t wait until you come off -duty. - -All targets should be reported as soon as possible to the Artillery. - -If there are any Artillery O.P.’s in your vicinity, they should be -visited, as the occupants can often assist you by “placing” objects, -the exact location of which you yourself are doubtful about. The -Artillery Observers should be shown all tracks where movement has been -observed to enable them to get a gun trained on to them. - -All new enemy work must be followed closely and its object, if -possible, ascertained. - -Take a pride in extreme accuracy, let a direct statement represent -fact, but do not hesitate to include information of which you are not -quite certain. You must, however, never fail to indicate clearly the -degree of accuracy or certainty which you yourself feel. Useful words -for qualifying your statements are as follows: - - Possibly; - About; - Probably; - Approximately, etc., etc. - -Remember that your duty is rather to observe and report your -observations than to interpret what you see. At the same time, give -personal impressions. These may start a new line of thought in the -minds of those who read your reports; also, if two or three observers, -from different points, think that they have seen a certain thing, then -there is at least a strong probability that a foundation existed for -their belief. - -Realize that your observation is part of a huge net which is -continually trawling the whole enemy world for information, and see to -it that not even the smallest fry slip through the meshes for which you -are personally responsible. - -For purposes of actual observation a rough log-book must be kept in the -sniping or observation post. In this book everything seen should be -noted as it occurs. From it each evening the information must be set -out under suitable headings, and your report rendered to the Battalion -Intelligence Officer. Customs vary in battalions, but the following -list of headings may help you in this matter: - - OPERATIONS, ENEMY: - - 1. Artillery } - 2. T.M.’s } No. and Calibre of projectiles - } and targets. - 3. Grenades } - 4. A.A. Guns Activity. - 5. M.G. Fire } - 6. Rifle Fire } Methods and Targets. - - MOVEMENT, ENEMY: - - 1. Aircraft. - 2. Trains. - 3. Transport. - 4. Men actually seen. - 5. Indication of movement (periscopes, loopholes, etc.). - 6. Patrols. (Seen, heard or encountered.) - - (_Note_:--Time and place must always be given.) - -BATTALION INTELLIGENCE REPORT TO BRIGADE: - - The subject matter forming this falls naturally under the following - main headings: - - 1. Operations. (Enemy.) - 2. Movement. „ - 3. Work. „ - 4. Signals. „ - 5. General Intelligence. - 6. Weather. - - Under these six main headings are the following sub-headings: - - WORK, ENEMY: - - (_a_) Changes visible in enemy line. - (_b_) Working parties seen or heard. - (_c_) New wire observed or reported by patrols. - - SIGNALS, ENEMY: - - (_a_) Flash lamps. } - (_b_) Verey lights. } Full description of and any - (_c_) Rockets. } apparent results. - - GENERAL INTELLIGENCE: - - Information of a doubtful or uncertain nature, general impressions, - etc. - - WEATHER: - - (_a_) General conditions. - (_b_) Light and visibility during the day. - (_c_) Wind, its strength and direction. - -In some Brigades, reports on our own operations, particularly -observation of our own Artillery and T.M. fire are required in the -Battalion Intelligence Reports, but this is a mistaken policy. - -A FORM OF OBSERVATION REPORT. - - OBSERVATION REPORT - - No. of Post (Map Ref.): Teapot Post N33c55.90 Sheet 17A N.E. - - Time on Duty: 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. - - Date: 20.6.18. - - Observers on Duty, Name, Rank and Regt. - - H. Smith Pte. - G. Shaw L/Cpl. - - Wind: Gentle S.W. - Visibility: Fair. - - +---------+------------+----------------+---------------------------------------+ - | Time. | Map Ref. | Event. | Remarks. | - +---------+------------+----------------+---------------------------------------+ - |7.30 a.m.| M39d45.35 | 1 German |Ptes. carrying Probably working | - | | | N.C.O. and |wood, corrugated on entrance | - | | | 14 Ptes. |iron and to dug-out at | - | | | |sandbags. M39c78.65. | - | | | |Wearing caps | - | | | |with red | - | | | |bands. Badges | - | | | |not visible. | - | | | | | - |8.45 a.m.| Over trench|Enemy Aeroplane |Opened fire on Enemy probably | - | | at | Pilot |trench. Flying suspects | - | | M28c36.03 | and 1 other. |low, about 700 concentration | - | | | |feet. Flew off in this area. | - | | | |in S.W. direction. | - | | | |Not fired on by | - | | | |our men. | - | | | | | - | (Changed|over 9 a.m.)| |Observer--Shaw. | - | | | |Writer--Smith. | - | | ---------+----------------+-------------- | - |9.15 a.m.| G30a40.92 |Horse transport.|15 wagons, 4 Possibly ammunition| - | | | |horse, all very or heavy material. | - | | | |heavily loaded, Had difficulty in | - | | | |moving N. on ascending slight | - | | | |Vitry-Douai Road. hill. | - +---------+------------+----------------+---------------------------------------+ - - Relieved at 10 a.m. Observer: Shaw. - Handed in at 10.15 a.m. Writer: Smith. - (Signed) H. SMITH. - G. SHAW. - - -PART V - -SOME USES OF SCOUTS, OBSERVERS AND SNIPERS IN ATTACK, DEFENCE AND OPEN -WARFARE - -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 in Attack or Defence, in trench warfare or in open -warfare, has been enhanced, and he should keep this in mind when making -his dispositions. - -Prior to attack on any given objective, the Scouts and Observers can -obtain much valuable information; in fact, the actual plans for local -attack will often depend upon the information so obtained. - -The following are some of the points that should be ascertained either -by direct observation or patrolling or both: - - 1. Location of enemy M.G.’s and strong points. - - 2. Whether the enemy is holding his line continuously or by - isolated posts; if the latter, the location of each post should, - if possible, be ascertained. - - 3. If our wire-cutting operations have been successful, and the - location and width of the gaps. - -Vigorous patrolling should take place for some time prior to attack, to -ensure that the enemy is driven out of “No Man’s Land,” thus enabling -us to “jump off” from a point as near as possible to the enemy line. - -The Snipers can, by making each enemy periscope and loophole a target, -render the enemy to a great extent blind in Front Line Observation. -Before the actual assault has commenced, our snipers can be established -in shell holes in “No Man’s Land” from which they can command any known -machine-gun emplacements. They should always carry a few rounds of -armour-piercing S.A.A., and should look upon the breech casing of the -gun as their target rather than the gunners. (Your good sniper will -appreciate the fact that one hit on the breech-casing of a machine-gun -with armour-piercing S.A.A. will definitely put the gun out of action, -as it ruins the vital portion, _i.e._, “the recoiling portion” of the -gun.) - -After the objective has been gained, the snipers should push forward -beyond our new line and establish themselves in shell holes or in old -trenches. From these positions their fire will be of great value in -conjunction with the Lewis gunners in keeping down the enemy during -consolidation. - -The Scouts should be able to fill in the dispositions of the troops and -maintain touch with flanking units; they should form part of exploiting -patrols, locate the enemy’s new positions and ascertain their attitude, -_i.e._, whether they are demoralized and retiring in disorder or -whether they are under control and likely to counter-attack. - -The Observers must be in a position from which they can watch the whole -of the attack, and must be provided with a means of communication -whereby they can constantly report upon the situation. After the -objective has been gained they can push forward and locate enemy -machine-guns and battery positions; this will be comparatively easy -as, if the enemy is putting up a fight, machine-guns, etc., will be -advertising themselves. - -The Brigade and Divisional Observers will also be in positions from -which they can follow the whole of the attack, and will constantly -report its progress. They should particularly watch for any massing of -enemy troops in the back areas for counter-attack. - -IN DEFENCE: - - The Snipers can be of great value in defence, and should be given a - definite “battle station.” If the attack be delivered in daylight, - the snipers’ special task should be to pick off the leaders, and - members of machine-gun and _flamenwerfer_ detachments. If the enemy - succeed in occupying our trenches the snipers must have in readiness - alternative posts that command stretches of our trenches; they will - thus be in a position to inflict heavy losses upon the new occupants. - In this way and by working in conjunction with Bombers, they can do - much to prevent the enemy from establishing himself. - - The Observers can, in defence, find out much valuable information, - and the good observer can usually foretell an enemy attack by - carefully watching for the following signs of offensive operation:-- - - 1. Construction of new T.M. emplacements. - 2. Registration of new T.M.’s. - 3. Increased artillery registration. - 4. Bridging of trenches. - 5. Cutting of wire. - 6. Additional dressing stations instituted. - 7. Signboards erected. - 8. Unusual amount of movement in back areas. - 9. Increased aerial activity. - 10. Reconnaissance of front by enemy officers. - -OPEN WARFARE: - - In open and semi-open warfare it is essential that observers push - forward from one post to another. They must keep in touch with the - attack, with flanking units and with headquarters. - - The most important duties of scouts and snipers will be - reconnaissance. By pushing forward as an advanced screen to cover the - advance, they can collect much valuable information and, if correctly - organized, can get such information back quickly to the officers whom - it concerns. The following are some of the things upon which they - should report:-- - - 1. Where the enemy are, and if holding a continuous line or - isolated posts. - - 2. Condition of roads, etc. - - 3. Best approaches for Infantry, Machine-guns, Artillery, etc. - - 4. Any obstacles such as rivers, etc., and the best means of - negotiating them. - - 5. Places which are exposed to fire. - - 6. Any topographical features from which the enemy can be - commanded. - -In fact, there is no limit to the amount of useful information that -scouts and snipers can obtain. They can also be of extreme value in -working round and cutting off isolated posts. They may also form a -thin but effective firing-line that can delay considerably a small -counter-attack, and thus enable their unit to complete the, of -necessity, hasty preparations for holding its gains. - - -PART VI - -THE ENFIELD 1914 PATTERN “SNIPER’S RIFLE” - -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:-- - - 1. The rifles so issued have been specially selected from - thousands of other rifles of the same pattern, on account of - their accuracy, after severe and exhaustive tests. - - 2. The rifle is fitted with an aperture or peep sight, which, - as will be readily acknowledged by most expert riflemen, - possesses a great advantage over the open U or V backsight. It - is therefore unnecessary to focus the backsight, and the blur - which is unavoidable when aiming with the open U or V backsight - is entirely absent with the aperture or peep sight. - -The following are the main differences which must be noted and -thoroughly understood in order to get the best results from the new -rifle. - -THE SIGHT - - The rear of the body is made in the form of a bed in which the - sight should always lie when not in use. In this position the - aperture battle sight can be used if desired, but it should seldom - be necessary for the sniper to use this sight. The battle sight is - actually sighted to hit on the aiming mark at about 400 yards’ range. - - The sight leaf is hinged on to the sight bed and is raised to an - angle of about 90° from the sight bed for use. There are in all four - positions in which it will rest. (See diagram 1.) - - 1. At an angle of about 45° from the sight bed; this is the most - convenient position for “sight setting.” - - 2. At an angle of about 90°; this is the position when in use. - - 3. At an angle of about 135°. - - 4. At an angle of about 180°. - - The two last positions have been made possible so as to avoid - damaging the sight by accidentally knocking it, if raised - against undergrowth, etc., when skirmishing. - -_Note_:--The bolt lever must not be raised and drawn back when the -sight is in No. 4 position, as if this is done the battle sight is -sheared off. - -[Illustration: No 1.] - -ELEVATION - - The elevation is obtained by raising a slide on the leaf. This - slide carries the aperture, and, when set, is held in position by - a spring-catch adjustment on the right of the leaf. The leaf is - graduated from 200 to 1100 yards in hundreds of yards, and from 1100 - to 1650 yards in fifties. The reading line is situated in the centre - of the slide, and care must be taken to point out this fact clearly, - otherwise men are apt to take readings from the top or bottom of the - slide. - -FINE ADJUSTMENT - - The sight is fitted with a fine adjustment in the form of a worm - screw with a milled head. By rotating the milled head clockwise we - raise the elevation, and by turning it anti-clockwise we lower it. - The top of the milled head is marked off into three divisions, each - of which is equivalent to one minute of angle, which is about 1″ per - 100 yards of the range. Thus at 100 yards it would equal 1″ rise, or - fall, on the target; at 200 yards 2″; at 300 yards 3″, and so on. A - reading line is marked on the top of the sight leaf to enable these - minute adjustments to be made. (See diagram.) - - The advantage of a fine adjustment screw on this principle lies in - the fact that, without alteration of foresight, the rifle can be - zeroed with exactness in a vertical sense, for any individual hold, - thus: If a man, when zeroing his rifle at 100 yards’ range, finds - the point of mean impact to be 3 inches low, or high, he has only - to remember that he must first reproduce on his backsight the range - for which he is firing, and then add, or subtract, 3 minutes of - elevation, _i.e._, by giving the milled head one complete turn or - revolution in the required direction; he will then have his correct - zero for that particular range. (_Note_:--Before starting to zero at - 100 yards, he must raise the sight to 200 yards, and then take off 3 - minutes; this is equivalent to setting his sight to 100 yards (which - is not marked). With the sight so set, the “point of mean impact” - should be 1½ inches to 2 inches above the point of aim.) - - In addition the fine adjustment can be used to overcome the - difficulty of not having the sight calibrated to read to fifties at - the closer ranges. By memorizing the following table, the sniper will - have no difficulty in adjusting his sight to 250, 350, 450 yards, and - so on: - - To raise from To Add to Column 1. - 200 yards 250 yards 1 minute - 300 „ 350 „ 1½ minutes - 400 „ 450 „ 2 „ - 500 „ 550 „ 2½ „ - 600 „ 650 „ 3 „ - - The table has not been taken further, as 600 yards is the limit of - “individual effort.” - -LATERAL ZERO - - If there should be a lateral error when zeroing, the foresight should - be moved as in the R.S.M.L.E., except that the cramp is made to - fit over and through the foresight protectors, and, as there is no - nose-cap to remove, it is a simpler operation. - -AIM, HOW TAKEN - -[Illustration: No 2. - - Sights: - Enfield 1914 Rifle. -] - - Diagram 2 will illustrate far better than a word picture how aim - should be taken. The main thing is to look _through_ the aperture, - and not _at it_. The foresight will be centred in the aperture, - and the tip of it placed at 6 o’clock in the ordinary way. - (_Note_:--It will be found that with very little practice the eye - will instinctively centre the foresight, and that aiming, with this - sight, will in reality simply be the action of holding the tip of the - foresight on to 6 o’clock.) - -THE MAGAZINE - - The magazine holds five rounds only, and is constructed in such a - manner as to permit the magazine platform to rise and engage the face - of the bolt-head when the magazine is empty. This advertises the fact - that “re-loading” is necessary. At the same time, it prevents giving - practice in “rapid manipulation of the bolt,” unless the “Depressors - magazine platform,” or a coin such as a franc (which will serve the - same purpose) be used to hold down the platform, thus enabling the - bolt to pass freely through the bolt-way when the magazine is empty. - - It is of simple construction, consisting of three parts only: the - platform, the spring and the bottom plate. To remove: press the point - of a bullet into the hole that will be found in the bottom plate, in - front of the trigger guard, then push downwards and in the direction - of the trigger; this releases the spring and allows the magazine to - be removed and cleaned. To replace: reverse the above process. Care - must be taken when loading to ensure that the charger is placed - vertically in the charger guide; if allowed to lean forward the first - cartridge will foul the padding of the magazine, and loading will - become difficult. - - There is little possibility of a jam if the bolt-way, the breech and - the magazine are kept clean. - -SAFETY DEVICES - - 1. The Safety Catch.--This is similar to the R.S.M.L.E., but is on - the opposite side, _i.e._, the right side of the body. If the thumb - piece is turned over to the rear, it performs two actions. (_a_) - Rotates the half-moon on the eccentric stem until it engages in the - recess in the cocking piece, thus preventing the cocking piece from - going forward if the trigger be accidentally pressed. (_b_) Pushes - forward the locking bolt plunger until it is engaged in the locking - bolt recess in the bolt lever, thus preventing the rotation of the - bolt. - - 2. Bolt Lever.--This when turned down, _i.e._, when the breech is - closed, fits into a recess in the body of the rifle, and ensures that - the bolt cannot be blown back, even should the resisting lugs give - way. - - 3. The Safety Stud.--This is in direct communication with the sear, - and is constructed in such a manner as to ensure that the sear - cannot be depressed without the safety stud rising. On the under side - of the bolt is a recess, which comes immediately over the safety - stud when the bolt lever is turned fully down. It is, therefore, - impossible to press the trigger, which depresses the sear, until the - bolt lever is fully turned down and the action sealed. - -GAS ESCAPES - - Of these there are three. On the right of the hood; on the under - side of the bolt, one in front and the other in rear of the - extractor ring. They perform the same duties as the gas escapes in - the R.S.M.L.E., except that the one in front of the extractor ring - prevents air-pockets--which would act as brakes--from forming. - -PULL OFF - - This is slightly different to that of the R.S.M.L.E., the first - pull being from 2 to 3 lbs., and the second from 5 to 6 lbs. The - first pull is comparatively long, and it is necessary to obtain, by - practice, the correct “trigger squeeze” before firing the rifle for - the first time. - -CARE AND CLEANING - - In order to take full advantage of the rifle, it is essential that - it be kept absolutely clean; the following parts should receive - special attention: - - The Bore.--This should always carry a high polish. - - The Sights.--Must be kept free from oil, and the aperture free from - fluff. - - The Hood.--Must always be free from oil and dirt, as it contains - the recesses in which the resisting lugs work, and if dirt be - allowed to gather there, the shock of discharge cannot be evenly - taken on both sides, and accurate shooting under these conditions - is unattainable. - - The Breech.--Must be kept clean and free from oil by means of the - stick which is provided for the purpose. - - The Bolt.--Must be kept free from oil, and must be the correct one - for the rifle, _i.e._, must carry the same number as that shown - on the hood and on the sight leaf. - - Gas escapes.--Must be kept free from oil and dirt. - -GENERAL. - - The rifle is issued specially as a sniping rifle, and although - a bayonet is issued with it, it should not be used for bayonet - fighting practice. The woodwork of the rifle must on no account be - cut down, and as, when it is issued, it is correctly zeroed to suit - one man’s hold, it should not be transferred to another man without - re-zeroing it to suit _his_ particular hold. - - -THE END - - - - - PRINTED AT - THE CHAPEL RIVER PRESS, - KINGSTON, SURREY - - - - -Transcriber’s Notes - - -Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a -predominant preference was found in the original book; otherwise they -were not changed. - -Simple typographical errors were corrected; unbalanced quotation -marks were remedied when the change was obvious, and otherwise left -unbalanced. - -Illustrations in this eBook have been positioned between paragraphs -and outside quotations. 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