WWI Marine Scout Sniper Accuracy - Wow!

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Jim,

That is sure some accurate precision rifle fire... How about the fire the 2nd Marines employed during the advance across the wheat field; 750 yards with the battle sight. Also impressive.

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[Jim Tarleton]

Jim,

That is sure some accurate precision rifle fire... How about the fire the 2nd Marines employed during the advance across the wheat field; 750 yards with the battle sight. Also impressive.

I agree.

The best example of the Marine's accuracy was the defense of Hill 142, where by all accounts, Marine and German, the Marines were nailing the Germans at ranges from 300 to 800 yards, leaving the German dead in piles.

An interesting side note, Col. Catlin describes the Marines 6th Reg advance on the afternoon of 6 Jun as a casual walk across the wheat fields. Lt. P. S. Taylor, 4th Platoon Commander of the 78th Company, 6th Marines, describes it as a dead run. Lt. Taylor was none other than Paul Schuster Taylor, the radical agricultural economist at Berkeley for many years (until 1984).

Lt. Taylor had an unobstructed view from the right flank due to the shape of the Marine front lines. I suspect the assault began as a walking assault as witnessed by Catlin, Catlin gets shot by the sniper, and subsequently, the German machineguns start taking a serious toll on the 6th Marines, vastly hastening their speed of advance (or should I say seach for shelter?). There was none in those wheat fields (south of Belleau Wood, west of Bouresches).

Notes:
1. Holcomb only allowed Sharpshooters and Expert shooters in his battalion.

2. Messersmith liked tall Marines, as 76 Marines in the 78th Company were over 6 feet tall.

3. Lt. Eddy, 2nd Platoon Commander, 78th Company, 6th Marines, wasn't a Marine (he was an Army officer).

4. Capt Zane's wife was the daughter of the sitting California Governor.

5. Over a dozen surviving Marines from the 4th Brigade wrote books after the war, and many more wrote monologues or published diaries.

6. On 3 June 1918, the French occupied both Belleau Wood and Boureches, all the Marines had to do was occupy the territory without firing a shot.

Semper Fi,
Jim