Sniping in France 1914-18

Book excerpt: The first volume in the new Helion Library of the Great War, a series designed to bring into print rare books long out-of-print, as well as producing translations of important and overlooked material that will contribute to our knowledge of this conflict. Sniping in France provides a detailed and richly-informative account of how the snipers of the Great War British army trained and fought, and measures taken against their German counterparts. The author was responsible for organising a cohesive structure to the training of the snipers via the First Army School of Scouting, Observation and Sniping, established in 1916. Written in a very readable style, filled with anecdotes and fascinating detail, the author's study covers the genesis of sniping in the army, his early days instructing XI Corps, and then First Army, including much on the curriculum and work at that unit's School of Scouting, Observation and Sniping. It also includes anecdotal chapters describing sniping memories, before concluding with recollections of training the Portugese Expeditionary Force's snipers, and looking ahead to the future of sniping. Detailed appendices reproduce relevant excerpts from the army's wartime training manuals. Originally published in 1920, copies are highly sought-after. Helion's reprint is a high quality edition, newly-typeset, with a new index, and featuring a number of charming pencil sketches by Ernest Blaikley.