Sniping in France: With notes on the scientific training of scouts, observers, and snipers - Hardcover

Hesketh Vernon Hesketh Prichard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0850524261 ISBN 13: 9780850524260

Publisher: L. Cooper, 1994

Synopsis

Written by the adventurer and big-game hunter who developed and ran it, this is an account of the British Army sniping programme in France in World War I. At the start of the war, Germany's edge in the sniping duel cost thousands of British casualties, and the book explains the methods Hesketh-Pritchard used to reverse the situation and help win the sniping war.

About this title

About the Author:

Major Hesketh Vernon Hesketh-Prichard, DSO, MC, FRGS, FZS (17 November 1876 – 14 June 1922) was an explorer, adventurer, big-game hunter and marksman who made a significant contribution to sniping practice within the British Army during the First World War. Concerned not only with improving the quality of marksmanship, the measures he introduced to counter the threat of German snipers were credited by a contemporary with saving the lives of over 3,500 Allied soldiers. During his lifetime, he also explored territory never seen before by white man, played cricket at first-class level, including on overseas tours, wrote short stories and novels (one of which was turned into a Douglas Fairbanks film) and was a successful newspaper correspondent and travel writer. His many activities brought him into the highest social and professional circles. Like other turn of the century hunters such as Teddy Roosevelt, he was an active campaigner for animal welfare and succeeded in seeing legal measures introduced for their protection.

Review:

an interesting book about the setting up and running of a sniper school in ww1. a bit about the trenches and setting up of rifles sights ect. I found it an interesting read and in a similar vain to A Rifleman Went to War by h.w. mc bride. another book of similar ilk is With British Snipers to the Reich by c shore. all 3 books are interesting from their historical perspective --By k wedgwood

It would appear that this title has not been published since its first appearance in 1920; a great pity given its unique subject and the authors' expertise and experience in the field. Prior to the war, Hesketh-Prichard had been a big-game hunter, expert shot, cricketer, and travel author. He entered the army in 1914 and set about trying to improve the poor standard of British army sniping evident in France, eventually creating the "The First Army School of Sniping, Observing and Scouting (SOS)" which set the standard for sniping in France. In this very readable book, the author discusses his enthusiasm for sniping and the problems he encountered setting up such a school in a British army that had no `Establishment' (his words) for such a thing. Early on he describes seeing a sniper in action who was adamant he was putting every one of his bullets through the enemy's loop-hole at 600 yards with his telescopic rifle. Hesketh-Prichard observed through his own Ross telescope that they were consistently striking six feet to the left. This illustrates a common theme in the book, where `snipers' used telescopic rifles that weren't sighted in, were poorly maintained, and were used by untrained soldiers with little or no experience of stalking, using cover, or camouflage. The result was that the Germans had the upper hand and were causing appalling casualties. Hesketh-Prichard could see the benefit to unit morale of having truly expert snipers using specialist weapons, and successfully fought to teach this unique skill. The book discusses the early days, memories of both sniping and observing, the curriculum of the School, the training of the Portuguese, and includes two chapters illustrating the value of observation and information-gathering, `Wilibald The Hun' and "The Cat'. Following the book proper is three appendices that discuss the training of observers, the general teaching cource at the First Army School of SOS, and care of arms, range practice, patrolling and scouting, the stalking telescope, front line observation and reports, use of scouts, observers and snipers in attack, defence and open warfare, and the Enfield 1914 pattern `snipers rifle'. The text is leavened with a number of expert sketches and photographs illustrating points in the book, such as cover and camouflage, observation, etc. I did note several instances of lax proof-reading, limited to full stops in inappropriate places. These do not detract from what is a fine book written by a recognized expert in his field, and which is a joy to read. Very highly recommended. --By Tor Riley

This short book is obviously unique and covers more-or-less what you would expect. The read is, for the most part, pretty dry. There is a lot of information about the inter-service machinations that resulted in the establishment of the observation and sniping schools: who did what, and how the schools came about. I found this somewhat uninteresting. There is also material, of course, on what the schools taught, etc., and although this is interesting material, it is presented in a very dry manner--much of it as an appendix which is a schedule of the courses taught, broken down by day and hour, without details on the actual course of instruction. The actual observation and sniping anecdotes are very enjoyable, but also fairly infrequent, and a few of them are told twice to illustrate various viewpoints. I would stress that although the book is entitled "Sniping..." it would be more accurately entitled "Observation and Sniping..." If you're looking for a more-or-less historical perspective without much of the "action", and you don't mind the rather steep price, then this is the book for you. If you're more interested in the "war stories", then I'd suggest Herbert McBride's book instead. --By Clark B. Timmins

About this edition

• Publisher: L. Cooper
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0850524261
• ISBN 13: 9780850524260
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224