if it is appropriate to ask, could someone ask Sandy if the snipers generally carried their ammunition in stripper clips or as loose rounds, plus when they were ordered out into position did they wear the normal webbing with two front pouches, some other variation of webbing or just stuff some rounds in their pockets?
thanks.
Will ask next visit. I remember he said he wore a Denison smock but will ask about webbing as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by henry r
Many thanks to Badger for uploading the videos, sorry the sound is a bit low. Will have a look to see if this can be improved.
I have my dad shown as being in "A" Coy, he was in fact in "HQ" Coy. He or his snipers could be assigned to any of the other Coy's. (my apologies)
Dad made references to another Sniper Sgt in some of the video footage. Dad had been busted to Private and that's why these references were made. It wasn't long before he was re-instated.
Update to my post dated 10-10-2015
When dad was busted to private, he was put with "A" Coy. Three months later, he was back with "HQ" Coy and offered the position of Coy. Sgt. Maj. which he declined. He was then re-instated to Sniper Sgt.
When talking to dad recently, I asked him about carrying ammunition. He said that he carried it in ammunition pouches and didn't use the clips as the scope was always on the rifle. Loading was carried out with the magazine removed.
I suspect Don and Cass will get more detail when they next visit.
Incidentally, dad was 95 last week.
Ian.
Talked to Sandy last night, visit scheduled for Tuesday the 27th.
Just had a email from Ian, asked if Sandy had a favourite drink, apparently Drambuie so off to get him a bottle for his belated Birthday present.
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Had a great visit with Sandy today, wished him a belated Happy Birthday and Cass and I spent the better part of two hours talking with him. He made us tea with cookies and we really enjoyed our time, and as usual more interesting stories from his life. We gave him a bottle Drambuie, he told us he would have a nip just before he went to bed tonight. Sandy wondered how we guessed he liked it, told him Ian told us, he laughed.
When Sandy held the Lee Enfield converted to .22 it brought back memories for him of the last time he shot one. He said he was 14 or 15 years old and he really enjoyed shooting them. One day at the drill hall his superior officer, who had heard he was quite a shot, told him to shoot a threepence coin out of his hand that he would hold at 20 yards. The officer held the piece on top of a sand bag with one finger and Sandy didn't miss. I think that shows just how good of a shot he was and how his officer trusted in his ability.
The other picture is a modern Savage .308 rifle which Sandy found interesting. He tried the trigger and commented on how well it worked, very light trigger and no creep. He did comment when told about the mil-dot reticle on how much easier it would be to use rather than having to guess the hold over.
I asked him about the amount of ammunition he carried, he replied usually about 25 rounds in 5 round charger clips. The ammo was held in a M37 webbing under his Dennison smock. He did remove the magazine to reload as with the scope it is impossible to use the chargers.
Ian asked me to remind him of a incident he had in Germany after the war ended. Sandy told us he was on guard duty one night when a young German woman came toward him screaming, obviously in distress. The young lady spoke "broken English" and he was able to understand that a Russian POW was holding her child out a window threatening to drop the child if she didn't have sex with him. Sandy said he went with this young lady, took the baby from the Russian and punched his lights out. He also told us it was utter mayhem because so many POW's had been released and they had been mistreated and had gone wild.
Another story I found fascinating was when Sandy and a friend were working in Northern BC and decided to go Steelhead fishing. They were travelling between Kitimat and Terrance when they came to a logged clearing that went all the way down to the river. They decided it would be a good place to try so they drove toward the river and took out their fly rods to try their luck. There was a very large log lying close to the river with two ladies, whose boyfriends were fishing by the river, sitting on one end. Sandy and his friend sat on the other end and proceeded to get their gear ready. After Sandy and his friend were talking one of the ladies called over what part of Hawick he was from? When asked what part of Hawick he was from he replied and told her the area ( I can't remember) and she replied oh where Granny lives and Sandy said that was his Grandmother! Sandy was rather shocked that even though he had been in Canada for almost three decades this young lady recognized the local dialect of that area of the borders. They talked and the lady asked if he was in the KOSB. He replied yes in the 4th Battalion and she asked if he knew Lenny Bell? Again yes and Sandy told her he remembered Lenny married a lady he met during the war in France. This lady then said that lady was her mother and Lenny was her dad. To think just how small the world is that you could meet this person decades later in Northern B.C., in the middle of the woods.
As usual we had a great time, gave the horses on the acreage some carrots, visited with Sandy's Border Collie Sheeba and his daughter Karina who also lives on the property.
I've always wondered how life went for people like Sandy when they returned home from the war so I asked him. He had been in the thick of things for several years and we all hear it can be difficult to return to what we think is a "normal lifestyle". He replied that for the first couple of years he found it very difficult, and usually on Sundays he would go for long walks in the hills around where he lived, and find a quiet place to sit and think. There were times he told us he would cry. I think this shows that Sandy, even though he was asked to kill, never lost his basic humanity. His story shows just how difficult it is for soldiers to return from war as often they feel there really isn't anyone to talk to.
The loss of close friends and Jimmy Proudfoot in particular to this day still bring Sandy to tears. I think it is important to tell more than just the military side of Sandy, his entire life is a lesson in resilience.
Will be visiting dad late in May this year. Spoke to him last night and told him that I was hoping to get a photograph of the trophy that his name was on, when he won the shooting competition in Calgary in the 50's. This triggered a story of when he was shooting at Bisley during WW2. He witnessed a Company Sgt Major instructor, fire 46 rounds in 1 minute, he was standing in a trench leaning on its edge with clips of ammunition all laid out by his right hand. Dad said when he was firing, his hand was a blur. He hit 45 bulls and 1 inner, dad couldn’t remember what the range was, but he did say that if he hadn’t been there, he wouldn’t have believed it. Some story!
Have asked him when I'm over, to elaborate on his time training the Home Guard at Stirling Castle, hope to video it.
Cass and I visited Sandy today and he was feeling a little under the weather at first but after a check up with the clinic was his same old happy self. We took him another bottle of Drambuie so he can have a good shot before bed each evening.
He is excited that his son Ian is going to visit in May along with his grandsons Jon and James as well as a great grandson. We intend to take the "younger" generation to the range and will let his great grandson shoot a No4T so he can say he shot the same model as his great grandpa. I have never shot either of my T's, however think his great grandson needs to do that. Who knows, maybe all the "younger" generation will shoot them.
Sandy told us about shooting the mountain goat at 900 yards with a Lee Enfield with a regulation sight and asked if Cass and I were any good at long distances. Cass laughted and said we shoot out to 500 meters but so far not past that. I did shoot at 900 yards once years ago and 600 a fair amount but those were using a PH5C, much easier than a regular issue sight. Sandy then said rarely they would take a shot past 500 yards, knowing if they missed their target the chances of being spotted were increased. I think in the last few years he has realized just how dangerous it was to be a sniper, before that realization he was "just doing a job".
He did mention the Russian POW's that were running amok when released from their detention camp near Bremerhaven, guess it was absolute chaos.
When we were leaving I talked to Sandy's daughter Karina who also has a house on the acreage. She told me she realized over time just how "tough" her dad was inside. Apparently he made good decisons quickly and wasn't afraid to make a decision. Also she wonders how he kept going considering what he experienced.
Another great time with Sandy, he is such a special person.