Sniping in France

Before it became a standard military tactic, and immortalised in film, the science of sniping was both untrusted and often regarded as unsportsmanlike by the military.

To nostalgic British generals ardent for the cavalry charge and volley fire, the use of a crack marksman, working alone to pick off unsuspecting enemy, was just ‘not cricket’.

But the Germans were not so short-sighted.

By the end of 1915, the German sniper dominated the battlefield, inflicting countless British fatalities, and severely weakening morale.

That same year, the renowned adventurer and big game hunter, Hesketh-Prichard arrived in the trenches to remedy the perception of sniping in the British army, and wrestle the initiative away from the Germans.

Armed with his personal supply of rifles and telescopic sights, he was given the freedom of the British front-line to hunt the deadliest of German snipers and inspire the British to better marksmanship.

In this absorbing account he tells the story of those duels, the genesis of scout sniping, the ruses invented to lure an enemy out into the open, and the founding of the first British army sniping school.

‘Sniping in France’ is the true story of how one man and his rifle helped alter the course of war. In an impersonal, machine-ruled conflict, Major-General Hesketh-Prichard sketches a rare tale of British ingenuity, dramatic duels and extraordinary individuals. Endeavour Press is the UK’s leading independent publisher of digital books.