Target Shooter magazine - WW1 British Snipers

[Nigel]

The Feb issue of the free online magazine Target Shooter is now available. See pages 57-64 for my article on WW1 British sniper rifles. It is a repeat of an article I originally wrote a few years ago for Target Sports magazine but some of the photos are new - a couple previously unpublished including one of Hesketh Prichard.

Information

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[Surpmil]

Some nice photos there. Nice to see Maj. Crum getting a bit of credit. Col. Langford-Lloyd deserves the same.

[Badger]

For those of you who have not had a chance to read some of Nigel's previous excellent articles, here's some others which are currently available for viewing and research in the Technical Articles for Milsurp Collectors and Re-loaders (click here)



"WW1 British Sniper Rifles and Accessories by Nigel Greenaway" (click here)

This is a series of three articles that Nigel originally wrote about WW1 British Sniper Rifles in a UK magazine last year, which were published over a four month period covering February 2008 to April 2008. The publisher, Target Sports magazine, has given him permission to scan the articles and post them independently.


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No.4 Mk1(T) Sniper Rifle by Nigel Greenaway (click here)

This is a series of four articles that Nigel originally wrote about the No.4(T) sniper rifle in a UK magazine last year, which were published over a four month period covering July 2007 to October 2007. The publisher, Target Sports magazine, have given him permission to scan the articles and post them independently.

Regards,
Badger

[Alan de Enfield]

For those who dont know, or who havn't already got it there is a free downlad of the book "Sniping In France" which gives a good history of the development of WW1 sniping.

WARNING - it is a 38meg download so may be slow if you are in dial-up.

Internet Archive: Free Download: Sniping in France, with notes on the scientific training of scouts, observers, and snipers

[Badger]

Thank Alan .... that's a great find for members ..

Remind me to create a new Knowledge Library article around this download, for the benefit of all the members.

I have the hard copy and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, which was reviewed in our Book and Video Review Corner.

For anyone wanting to get a sense of what it was like to train and operate as a sniper during the Great War 1914-1918, this book Sniping in France 1914-18 by Major H. Hesketh-Prichard DSO, MC. ISBN: 1874622477 that Alan located on-line is a must read.

This is a highly interesting read and discusses the use of tactics, equipment, training methods and the creating of the first official sniper training school for British forces. To realize that their engagement ranges for early SMILE and Pattern sniper rifles with Winchester A5, Aldis and Periscopic Prism scopes was between 200 and 400 meters (average distance between trenches) is fascinating, when we think about modern military sniper engagements today starting at 600 meters and going out to 2,000 meters with heavy caliber rifles.

There are two rifles of the kind Prichard talks about being used, in the England - Milsurp Knowledge Library (click here)

1916 ShtLE (Short Lee-Enfield) No.1 MkIII* Sniper Rifle (click here) .....

No3 MkI* (T) Rifle - (Pattern 1914 Mk1* W (T) Sniper Rifle)(click here) .....

This book is out of print, so I'd suggest you use a "Google" search on the title to see if you can find a hard copy from one of the rare used book sources on the Internet, or save yourself $70 plus dollars and download the electronic version from the link (click here) provided by Alan de Enfield. I personally like hard copies for my paper based research library, so I found it as a reprint on Amazon.com.

SNIPING IN FRANCE 1914-18: With Notes on the Scientific Training of Scouts, Observers, and Snipers (Click here for Amazon.com)
Hardcover: 176 pages
Publisher: Helion and Company Ltd.; Newly-typset Ed edition (August 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1874622477
ISBN-13: 978-1874622475
Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces

(Click PIC to Enlarge)

Book Review from Hellfire Corner - Great War Web Pages

This is a very well-made book - an excellent product. It's the first in a new series from Helion, to be called "The Helion Library of the Great War." They have chosen a much sought-after title to begin with.

The magnificently-named Hesketh Vernon Hesketh-Pritchard was very much an action man. A big-game hunter, considered by many to be the best rifle shot in the world, he was a much-travelled and essentially practical man. He loved sport - especially cricket - and in some ways he was the stuff of the "boys' own" type of all-action stories which were so popular at the time, and even wrote some examples of the genre himself!

When the great War began he secured a commission in the army and before long he was being looked upon as the army's own "Sniping Expert." His expertise and enthusiasm for his subject, were beyond doubt. He was also (to use one of his own phrases) a "man of push and go" and these qualities must have made him a considerable force when he set about the task of convincing his superiors of the need to organise the army's sniping activities by means of a scientific approach and proper training. Before long, Hesketh-Pritchard was in charge of the First Army School of Sniping, Observing and Scouting in which he was able to put into effect his theories - not just about snipers as effective shots, but also about how to make use of the attendant skills which sniping entailed. For example, his experience as a hunter had taught him the importance of becoming extremely familiar with the habitat of his quarry, and it was an easy step for him to transfer these skills to No-Man's Land. He saw how a sniper, patiently watching a section of enemy trench, and familiar with every detail of it, would notice slight changes, movements and signs which a less interested observer might miss - information which could have a significant Intelligence value.

"Sniping in France" is Hesketh-Pritchard's own account of how he went about the job of developing his ideas. It's an engaging read and the written style is wonderful! It's almost an object-lesson in how to write a war memoir, 1920-style. If Hesketh-Pritchard had a sergeant who was in charge of correcting telescopic sights, then you can be sure that he was the best man in the world at this job. The Army commanders he came into contact with were "without equal" in all aspects of leadership. All private soldiers talk with a mixtures of dropped aspirates and unlikely sentence-construction - wonderful stuff.

Behind this modern-day amusement though, there is a serious side. Hesketh-Pritchard doesn't mention big, set-piece battles. There are no Sommes or Passchendaeles in his book. His focus - like the view through his telescopes - was very narrow. He was concerned with the solitary task of lying concealed and watching. While other branches of the army looked for ways of killing the enemy en masse amid great uproar and drama, he was concerned with killing Germans quietly, personally and one at a time.

As students of the Great War, it does us good to leave off looking at the "big picture" now and then, and look in detail at a very small part of the whole thing, just as the snipers and observers did. There is a lot of important and absorbing detail in this book. For example - we all know that British snipers used telescopic sights, but how many of us knew that the sights were actually fixed to the side of the rifle, not on the top? One wonders why. So did Hesketh Pritchard!

A really welcome addition to the current Great War library. Congratulations to Helion on launching their new series so well.

[drummerboy]

Hello, this is my first post here. Prichard's book is actually old enough, along with other Great War pamphlets and manuals, to be included in full length on this archive.

http://www.archive.org/details/snipi...ncew00pricrich

Enjoy Sniping in France

[A. F Medic]

I found the original book at an auction and I did not know what I had until I read it. I just saw the word sniper and I bought it for a couple of bucks.

I found out that the US/England actually had to bring in sporting scopes to arm the snipers. Then had to find large caliber rifles to try and penetrate the armor around some German snipers. Finally turned the bullets around and had armor penetration.