303 snipers

[CINDERS]

Couple of snipers displaying their wares of the trade unknown if this is WWII period or later.
May be a Vickers MG under the camo at their Rt rear

Information

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[Peter Laidler]

They seem to be carrying an awful lot of kit. Pouches, bandoliers (is it bandoliers or bandoleers?) signal satchel, small pack etc etc but no camouflage cream for those bright and cheery faces. Looks like it's one of those 'meet the Army' days photos. But a good quality photo

[CowboyBillWatts]

interesting. is the guy on the right holding a T enfield with a camo finish on the wood? enfield on the left appears to have traditional finish. looks like both bolt-handles are of the "hollow" variety.

[ActionYobbo]

a quick search brings it up as

"ghillie" suits, of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion

with the description

1st Canadian Parachute Battalion (Two unidentified snipers, in "ghillie" suits, of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion during an inspection by King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and Princess Elizabeth, Salisbury Plain, England, May 17, 1944

Title: Two unidentified snipers, in "ghillie" suits, of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion during an inspection by King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and Princess Elizabeth, Salisbury Plain, England, 17 May 1944.
Photographer: Bonter, Elmer R.
Location: Salisbury Plain, England:
Subject: Army.
Date: May 17, 1944.
MIKAN Number: 3298173
Item Number: 1281

from here http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discove...IdNumber=1281&

[Surpmil]

I guess warpaint wasn't suitable for a royal inspection in those days? Leather gloves is an interesting approach to hand cam. Vickers gun under the netting.

Yet to see any photos of a ghillie suit being used in action in WWII.

[boltaction]

I could see those suits being really useful in some sort of urban warefare situation--you know, there you are, standing completely still in the automated carwash and no one knows you're there. Have to figure out how to keep the rifle dry, though. Hmmm. I guess I'm dating myself with that comment, as most carwashes now are "touchless" to preserve the clearcoat finish. When I was a kid, I loved going through the carwash with my Dad when he was cleaning the old Meteor, and it would get automatically buffed at the end by some spinning thing that looked a whole lot like that Ghillie suit!

[martins8589]

Here's a pic I found browsing the web of a WWI Sniper.
Oh, seems as though you cannot post pictures from your computer here. Only shows some url thingy.

[Badger]

Here's a pic I found browsing the web of a WWI Sniper.
Oh, seems as though you cannot post pictures from your computer here. Only shows some url thingy.

To learn more about about how to handle pics, please read this thread in the Q&A - Help Forums, which also appears as a "sticky" thread at the top of every forum on the site.

How do I upload pictures to my posts for storage on milsurps.com? (click here)

If you still have problems, email them to me at badger@milsurps.com and I'll resize them for you, then post them in the thread under your name

Regards,
Doug

[martins8589]

Attachment 68977Attachment 68976Attachment 68978Thanks Badger, here are the pictures.

[Warren]

I also was getting ready to say CANADIAN, as painted camouflage rifles and scopes were in the Canadian order.
Canada actually issued camo rifles and scopes.
Found the records on this as some time ago when I turned up a camo No.32 scope but the nay sayers said it was not to be and never done.
Knowing the history of the scope I have and and educated guess at the age of the paint I had no reason to doubt the story and then the documentation was out there stating they are kosher.