SNIPER AND HIS METHODS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1441, 2 September 1915, Page 4

SNIPER AND HIS METHODS.

FAIR METHODS AND FOUL. GORDON HIGHLANDERS BAG. The gentle lifts of the sniper Live been well known to British troops ever smeo Hie forward poliey 111 India hegun puslan;; 111.' battalions ever outwards towards me Khvber Dills and beyond. Gentlemen ot the* same diameter were not unknown in Rimllj Alriea, It would seem that, as in. many other tilings, the Germans have taken 11,0 lessons to heart ol previous wars lunglit by others in the matter ot sniping, ami have made this style ot minor wanare a special study. 'mat, at any rule, is t ic impression gained by consideialien ot the trench warfare of ihe pas* lew months. Indeed, snipers became almost it necessity for 110111 SK ' ( ' S sol>ll 11 b 1110 Winter set in, and tho trendies pushed their wav forward until yards only separated tho one” line from the other. ihe Germans were the hist to get busy, and before long succeeded m arousing tlie Allied forces to a sort of minor tren/.y. At ueriods the latter would organise snipe drives” with varying success, but m tno ml thev found that the best manner m UK 1 ,-etiiiate was to snipe themW |'ve ‘ Thus an officer iu tlie Gordons ref with a certain amount of just.hable hues vuth a crack shot was gusto how the IL - m ' L “ t uia , abl v hidden at on one occasion . that in one a certain point thirt night he made a total w D Germans . r j r methods Even m sniping th< « ‘ Ia f t ) ie and foul, as witness to s i uu .p-shootor: following' story ot a Hemt s f ■ ht -> “We had one who c^ o £., l ° llims Jlf in, writes an olhcei. ° ,\ s soon and then proceeded to groan. shot &£" 'StuXVSc ***** and his death was not a pretty one. THEIR OWN COIN. Tlie choicest shots have been picked by the British troops, and they have at once

proved' their worth. Private William Gibson, of (he Koval Irish Rifles, speaks nf one- of these, chosen marksmen and the useful work he performed : “One of our chaps went out to do some 'sniping,' and he did it well. Unobserved, lie made bis way from our trenches to a tree, which gave him a good command of the enemy’s Hues, line he began to do a great deal of damage He was a crack shot- anti he got Ids man every time, lie killed so many of (hem that they made a special effort to get rid of him. One of them crept up near the tree and shot him in the leg. and when he tell they fired two or three volleys at him. His first wound was, however, the only one he got, the rest of the bullets missing him, and he succeeded in getting back to our trenches. The last I saw of hint was when he was being taken away on a Stretcher. lie was smoking a cigarette, joking and laughing, and seemed perfectly happy.” LURK OK THE LINOLEUM. Sometimes the daring sniper gets more than he bargained for, as the following incident shows: "The German sharpshooter has many inventions to his account in the way ol cover. The other morning there was observed in front of one of our trenches a big roll of linoleum, which had apparently 11i'op]H*i 1 in ;i hurried evacuation oi a neighbouring cottage. Inside this, however ' a daring German was comfortably ensconced, in « position enabling join to snipe the trench. Unluckily lor him, a machine gun riddled his linoleum and Ins body as well.” , The ingenuity of the sharpshooter is endless, but there is also a tireless ingenuity set to catch him. Some ol the traps do credit to the human knowledge ot onr men. One story tells how the lilies were troubled liy a sniper lurking in a wood behind onr lines. lie was a straggler, cut olf from Ids own army by a plucky and continuous war ol his own lor days, Ihe woods were searched, but he was never found, and it seemed a hopeless task to stop his continual pot-shotting, until a brilliant private hit upon a happy idea. Tills private knew that stragglers must he hungry persons. lie placed a plate ot fund on (he fringe of the wood. Kor days the' man resisted the templali but the fresh supplies of food vaiupiished him. He stole out of the wood to gel it and was captured.