A Rifleman Went to War

you may also get an idea of the bullet’s line of flight when it hits — or misses. (This is one match where a miss is worth as much to you as a bull, possibly more.) Many times it is an impossibility for the men in the trench, or hidden in from where the target is being offered and manipulated, to see anything at all; they must keep their heads down continually or be shot. Hence it may take an entire squad of men, and much time before one even learns where the shots are coming from.

Along towards the latter part of my experience in France we received some very elaborate and life-like hollow manikins, made of papier-mache or some such material, to be used for sticking up over the parapet in decoying enemy snipers to give away their location. At the time all this struck me as being very funny, just some more junk issued to make the poor soldier’s life miserable, and to be lugged in and out of the trenches. The trouble with all that’ sort of stuff is that when the time and occasion arises to use the trick, the manikin is somewhere else — miles to the rear probably. It all works out very nicely at the sniping school or training camp — adds interest and looks very practical — but just don’t always pan out anywhere else.

At this time I might mention that now and then you’ll run into a pretty smart sniper whom you cannot fool with these decoys, helmet-on-a-stick, or such tricks. Some are like preachers I have known — they will only bite on live bait. The Germans had such men, and in particular I remember one Dutchman who worked his way up within a hundred yards or so of our front line and fired from there for several days. This chap was so close that he could tell a real target from a decoy and was located so that observation was impossible without a periscope. He could readily tell periscopes, or any thing else for that matter, and even when we stuck up a large and elaborate trench periscope he never shot at it, but passed up the chance for a real one. That Heinie showed sense, he was not going to give away his position for a lot of fool rifle practice. I don’t remember that we ever did locate that chap at all, not while I was around anyhow. Possibly one of those lifesize “dummies” would have worked on him; I don’t know.

Chapter 17. The Rifleman in Battle

SO FAR, we have dealt almost exclusively with the business of sniping from a fixed position in siege or trench warfare. There is another phase of the sniper’s work which differs in a vast degree from this sort of sniping, and that is during a battle when his force is in the open and advancing or retreating.

Then he has no opportunity or time to construct anything in the way of hiding places, but must make use of whatever natural cover he can find. In a withering, sweeping barrage, where it is imperative that the line continue the advance, he takes his chances with all the rest. He may be and often is, cut down before he has had a chance to fire a shot. During this first stage of the attack he is “just another soldier.”

But, if he survives long enough to come into contact with the enemy, when the resistance stiffens and our line begins to break up under the fire of hidden machine guns, then he may have a chance to show just how good he really is. His job, and it is a big one, is to work his way into such positions that he can see and fire on individual enemies — not to cower in the most convenient shell hole. If it is a machine gun that is doing the dirty work, it is up to him to endeavor to work around into a position from which he can cut the gunners down with enfilading fire. Difficult — nay, impossible as this may seem, it has been done so often that it became almost commonplace. You have all heard of Sergeants Woodfill and York. Now I’ll tell you of another one — Captain MacCrimmon of the 21st Battalion. He was a sergeant when I was one and rose to the command of B Company. At the Battle of Arras, having gained his objective, he found his position enfiladed by a battery of three field guns, so, taking a rifle and calling for a sergeant to go with him (I am sorry I do not recall that sergeant’s name) he proceeded to abate those guns. The two of them then rushed the position, shot some more of the gunners and then stood, back to back, holding off the rest of the enemy until his men came up. Then, he calmly took a piece of chalk from his pocket and marked the guns “Captured by B Company.” He had done many such stunts before, both as an officer and as an enlisted man.

No, impossible though it may seem, it is possible for a cool, resourceful man to circumvent and actually destroy a large number of the enemy.

But, leaving aside these brilliant exploits, the rifleman in battle has his own work cut out for him. It is not easy; not by a long shot. Nothing is easy when a man is stumbling and crawling and creeping through an inferno of flying, howling and shrieking missiles: through dust or mud, straining every muscle to move at all — probably wearing a gas mask which will fog up and sweat, in spite of all the dope that can be put on it. No, no, it is not easy.

I have read Major Hesketh-Prichard’s book “Sniping in France” and find it exceedingly interesting. He describes at length the methods used in training snipers in the “Imperial” schools. I also had the opportunity, during the summer of 1918 while on duty at Camp Perry, of observing the sniping school there, which was conducted by Major Godard — who had received his training at one of the above mentioned schools.

It was all intensely interesting and exceedingly clever; the way they worked up artificial cover — camouflage and all that — but I could not then, and cannot now agree that their system was sound. For use in permanent locations — perhaps yes, but for troops that are continually shifting — no. It requires too much paraphernalia. In my opinion, the true sniper must “travel light” in order to be able to take advantage of all natural cover in whatever situation he may find himself. That, I think, defines the point I am trying to bring out — that to train men to the belief that they will always have a “sniper’s robe,” long grass and turnip tops, or other similar material with which to construct concealed positions — is to lessen their ability to take cover where none of these commodities are available. Furthermore, when out in the open, as in an advance, you do not have all day in which to get a position fixed up, or to get in position, or even to take a shot. Conditions change very rapidly and the sniper must have been trained to act and shoot at once — or pass up that opportunity.

By taking advantage of “natural” cover, I do not mean to be able to get into some old building and make a nice little nest from which to shoot, although I have spoken a great deal of having done that myself on many occasions. When such locations are available, it is fine business — until the enemy gets suspicious and starts to shell the place — but such locations are generally rare and the sniper must be in position to “carry on” even from the middle of a vacant field. Even when we had our nest in Sniper’s Barn, we also had many other places outside — behind a bit of hedge or even just a few sprigs of shrub — once with no concealment other than several unusually long tufts of grass. An enemy will always devote most of his time to scrutinizing what he considers the likely places for a man to be hiding. It may be a stump, stone, bit of log — anything that would offer concealment. Seldom will he waste time watching what, to him, appears to be an open expanse of ground.

All my sniping was done from that one sector — I mean the regular sniping, and not battle firing — and we were prone to make use of that position in the Barn because it was so comfortable, even though we knew that Heinie would shell it every day. That we were not killed there was no fault of ours. Just luck.

In any sort of an advance, the type of country and surroundings may undergo a decided change. One moves from the flattened-out country of shell holes and blown down buildings over into comparatively open ground, with growing vegetation and standing buildings — plenty of cover of an entirely different color and type. What fitted in closely some ten miles back will draw fire if tried in the new surroundings. Have something ready which will fit in, do you say? Hey, who is carrying all this stuff anyhow? Not the Quartermaster Corps, hell no, they are some fifteen miles to the rear just now. No indeed, you and I must lug it along — which means that we left it back at the jumping-off place and are now carrying nothing but our rifles, ammunition and possibly a pair of binoculars.

Under conditions such as these it will be seldom possible for the rifleman to assume the orthodox firing positions he has learned back home on the rifle range. He must be able to adapt himself to all sorts of restricted positions and still deliver accurate rifle fire. A shell hole or small hollow in the ground will be the usual place from which one fires, and as little as possible of one’s anatomy should be exposed to the bullets which will be flying about. Under such conditions, the rifleman invariably rests his rifle over the edge of the shell hole to fire, and one soon learns to take advantage of every possible assistance of this nature. I have often felt that we do not give enough instruction in range firing from positions in which the rifle may similarly be rested. Sometimes it is necessary to kneel or squat, or even stand up, in order to see the target at all. In an advance one often has to assume these