Excellent work as always!
I wonder if one's eyes would be automatically drawn to the open window so he can shoot people from the closed one.
Excellent work as always!
I wonder if one's eyes would be automatically drawn to the open window so he can shoot people from the closed one.
Would it not be better to not poke the rifle out of the window, but sit further back? Not only can the gun be seen from the sides, it may also reflect the sun.
I've heard that in the Middle East, snipers on both sides will typically sit back in the room, with a bit of light screen over the window if available. It helps block vision in, but you can still see and shoot out.
The issue then becomes field of vision. How much of the ground can you see if you're sitting in the back of a 4th story room? The reason snipers sit as close to the window as possible without revealing themselves is so they can actually see the ground.
I'd imagine it probably depends on what their goal is. If they just want to keep their eyes on a section of street, or a gate or something, it might work fine. I'm no sniper, so I might be way off base.
On both sides lol...
Car sales man slaps roof of middle east "You can fit so many conflicting ideologies in this bad boy!"
Yeah if Battlefield has taught me anything, always look for scope flare to spot enemy snipers
Edit: I mean this wasn't really posted to be serious but okay lmao you guys need to lighten up
If counterstrike taught me anything, need to jump off the second story short at de_dust, do a 360 spin and no scope the guy camping spawn.
True, but many modern militaries use tinted-lens scopes or simply partially cover the scope with a fabric mesh/net to minimize this!
Probably but often these sniper photos from WWII are taken during lulls in the fighting, when it's safe and they're not in the middle of a battle. This is another photo from C Company Black Watch taken in Gennep who I assume is the exact same sniper, so my guess is there was likely some "posing" involved for the camera because being that exposed on such a high location makes him far too much of a target.
This is probably a more realistic version of what snipers would do in urban situations.
This comment has been significantly changed.
My original comment was made before I payed enough attention to the unit this guy is from. Yes, pointing your rifle barrel through the window is a bad idea. But I was going to cut the guy some slack because the U.S. sniper program was nonexistent in WWII, and those that were considered "snipers" received training primarily in long distance shooting and very little emphasis was put on concealment. A lot of hard-earned tactical sniper knowledge was lost between WWI and WWII when sniper training was discontinued (in the U.S.). If you're trained to prioritize making the shot over hiding yourself, this kind of thing can result.
All that being said, the U.S. sniper program is irrelevant because The Black Watch isn't a U.S. unit - they're a Scottish outfit. He should have known better.
In short, this guy is doing something stupid and I said something stupid. Thanks to /u/Im_Tiny_Rick for setting me straight.
decades of war experience
Nowadays you let kids play PubG for an hour and they’ll be doing it instinctively haha
That the USA's version of conscription.
Either you misspelled China, or you play a different PUBG that isn't infested with the Chinese.
NA servers aren’t bad?
They default to AS...
Years ago I read an article that said gamers did a lot better during basic training than other recruits.
Yeah I read the marines used a gaming controller for a mini drone they deployed. The Marines could instinctively control them well.
It goes far beyond dexterity and is mostly probably not dexterity.
Video games aren't rocket science but they do have an understated mental aspect. Understanding cover and fields of fire are instinctively in most shooters. Depending on the type of game you play, you will also develop an innate understanding of suppression, flanking, etc. The more time and variety of games you've played, the more little things you pick up, like waiting for enemy reloads, feinting certain maneuvers, sneaking based on what the enemy is doing/thinking, etc.
If you've ever watched a brand new player walk out slowly, crouched in the open, you'll understand how little someone with 0 exposure to these topics knows. The fact that the skills carry across different games with very different ways of handling shooting shows that maybe it's not necessarily the dexterity that makes one good but also the mental skill.
I read that a marine's main food is the crayon.
They were but the MREs switched to RoseArt around 2006. Nothing ruins your appetite more than seeing some army fuckstick pull out a fresh pack of Crayolas and refuse to share.
Also that they hate the Navy, even though by definition they are intrinsically tied to it...
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I'd like to see the Marines land and resupply without us Seabee's <3 /s
I guess we will never know. But i read this book " Sniping in France: Winning the Sniping War in the Trenches ", and it appears that there was a wealth of experience and knowledge about sniping at the end of WW1.
Something tells me there aren’t a ton of windows on a trench tho. I think fighting on streets and buildings might be a bit different than fighting in a mud pit
You should know that not all of WWI was in trenches. Towns, cities and forts all were main focuses of offensive campaigns and defensive strategies.
Sure. But not as much as wwii and the book is specifically about trench warfare in France.
Understanding concealment is understanding concealment, period. It's bush craft. That's why Robert Baden-Powell started the Boy Scouts and taught them all the skills he learned as an army spy/scout, so that Britain would have a pool of young men schooled in at least the basics if war were to break out again.
At any rate, so much of WWI took place in what used to be villages and wrecked homesteads, because those places were incorporated into the trench systems and were shelled and fought over. Tons of fucking rubble and partially-collapsed buildings to learn about shooting through windows, as opposed to carving out a blind in a shell hole or learning to shoot through concealed loopholes in the trenches.
That guy is talking out of his ass.
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Maybe he posed for the photo?
This is the most likely scenario.
Definitely posed. His safety is engaged.
Well yeah, but there's a big difference between saying it while sitting at a desk or lounging around with your phone and looking at a picture, and doing it while in country on a multi-year campaign. When you're actually in the middle of things, you do what you're trained to do, and sometimes the logical part of your brain takes a break.
I'm not trying to make excuses for the guy - he's definitely doing the wrong thing. I'm just trying to extend a possible explanation for why. If sitting back from windows wasn't a regular part of training for WWII snipers, I think he can be cut a bit of slack for not doing something that we now recognize as a bad idea.
You definitely made an excuse for the guy in the first paragraph.
While you're right about the difference in sniper tactics, were talking about the barrel of a gun being in plain sight.
Snipers knew to keep their gear out of sight well before the introduction of urban warfare.
I think you're talking out of your ass, unless you have sources that is.
I know Wikipedia isn't the best source, but here's a short excerpt from their sniper article that summarizes sentiments I've read in other sources:
In the United States Armed Forces, sniper training was only very elementary and was mainly concerned with being able to hit targets over long distances. Snipers were required to be able to hit a body over 400 meters away, and a head over 200 meters away. There was almost no instruction in blending into the environment. Sniper training varied from place to place, resulting in wide variation in the qualities of snipers.
U.S. snipers simply weren't as well trained as their German counterparts. People in combat do what they're trained to do. My source for this is my own experience in Iraq as an infantryman. If you're trained to put yourself in the best position to make a long-range shot and not pay much much attention to your concealment, then that's what you're going to do.
http://spartacus-educational.com/FWWsnipers.htm
Here are some accounts from WW1 snipers. They take great care in making sure the enwmy can't see them, or their gear.
Here is some history of Scottish snipers: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovat_Scouts
It even mentions the Black Watch in there.
They were trained to hide.
Oh shit. That was my bad for not paying enough attention to the unit this guy is a part of. My brain immediately went to the inadequate U.S. sniper program in WWII and didn't stop to think about the fact that this isn't a U.S. unit.
He's doing a stupid, and I'll shut up now.
Lovat Scouts
The Lovat Scouts was a British Army unit first formed during the Second Boer War as a Scottish Highland yeomanry regiment of the British Army. They were the first known military unit to wear a ghillie suit and in 1916 formally became the British Army's first sniper unit, then known as "sharpshooters". It served in the First World War and the Second World War and today forms A (The Lovat Scouts) Company within the 2nd Battalion, 51st Highland Volunteers.
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Well shit, there's definitely a Scottish one too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Watch. But the black and white original of this thread's sniper photo is on the Scottish one's page.
Black Watch
The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment of Foot (The Black Watch) was amalgamated with the 73rd (Perthshire) Regiment of Foot. It was known as The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) from 1881 to 1931 and The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) from 1931 to 2006. Part of the Scottish Division for administrative purposes from 1967, it was the senior Highland regiment.
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This picture is of a soldier from the Canadian one.
How do you know that?
I was wrong, its the Scottish one. I looked at the modern Scottish Black Watch, which is now only a single Battalion, and not the 5th Battalion, while the Canadian one is the 5th Battalion, so I thought it had to be. But I didn't look closely, turns out during WWII "The Black Watch" was an entire regiment, which did have a 5th Battalion, and they were a part of the 51st Highland Division, which fought in Gennep. Sorry about that.
It's probably a staged photo op...
All that being said, the U.S. sniper program is irrelevant because The Black Watch isn't a U.S. unit - they're a Scottish outfit. He should have known better.
What makes you think the British sniper programme was any better?
Edit: I've seen the comments below. Just because the Lovat Scouts had some historic connections to the Black Watch, doesn't mean this man was an expert sniper. At this stage in the war, in a territorial infantry battalion, with manpower running so low, and few troops given specialised marksmanship training, that's unlikely.
I wouldn't say it was "unknown knowledge" in general, though. Urban warfare with guns had been going on for a while at that point.
Indeed, Ideally the rifle would be back from the window, and resting on something covered with (wet) cloth to keep the shot from kicking up dust.
But maybe wouldn't be able to see anything farther back because it looks like there's some sort of balcony, or he just moved into this position to take a quick shot, or, most likely, he's posing for the photo.
Normally yes, it looks like this guy is using the board in front of the window to rest his barrel so the stability to his next shot could be worth the trade off in concealment.
Also bad technique if the barrel isn't free floating. Even minor pressure on the barrel can affect the accuracy of the gun in ways that can't be accounted for.
Yeah usually and that has been basic for snipers since before WWII (you can find it in manuals dated earlier) but he is resting it on the balcony outside the window which he definitely wants to do especially because shooting from that position past the balcony would give him way less angles.
This looks to me like a temporary position. He's going to take a couple shots and move on. Also the angle he's working at makes it look like his overwatch area is well to the left (note the nearby building directly across) so a couple inches of barrel is going to be difficult to pick out against the building itself.
He's also using that piece of plywood for cover and as a rest, so if he moves back from the window, he'd need to find something else inside the room to replace it.
You work with watcha got.
It's most likely just a staged photo
You're right, I guess they just didn't used to make them like they do today.
Yeah these days that would be a big no-no, especially if your enemy has air support.
They do this when they don't need the angle.
It would also be better to lie down in the prone position (maybe on a table if he's indoors) .
I find prone keeps the rifle more stable than kneeling. Standing up the rifle barrel start waving all over the place.
Although sharpshooting has been around as long as guns have, sniper training is relatively new. Modern snipers are trained to construct “hides” where they are typically away from the shooting opening. This is only possibly due to advances in both firearm technology and advanced mathematical equations allowing the sniper to accurately shoot through a small opening while positioned away from the window or opening
True sniper tactics weren't really developed until almost the Vietnam war. I think it was much more natural hunting shooting abilities.
They learned a lot
Those rifles had their barrels embedded in wooden stock all the way to the tip. The fear of reflection is more apparent these days because of lonely barrels sticking out of the rest of the rifles.
This is correct, but more of a way of staying concealed to the roving eye before any shooting starts, people generally look and don’t see, brain basically getting its attention grabbed by an open window, and going “nobody there, let’s move on”. In an urban environment a sniper will often take a couple of cheeky shots and move on once it gets noisy. he’s also a meter back and off to the side, which makes you very hard to spot from outside. If you look at a lot of videos of the ‘snipers’ with little to no training from recent civil conflicts such as Ukraine and Syria, they’ll be in the middle of the window and quite close to the wall pinging shots off with gleeful abandon, basically framing you and highlighting you as a big juicy target.
Source for information at the start: my father’s recollection of his time serving in Northern Ireland during the troubles.
During the troubles...TIL thats the actual name of the war in Northern Ireland
I always thought that “the Troubles” is such a fitting term, because it’s both such a perfectly British understatement to neutralize the impact, and a perfectly Irish bit of sarcastic cynicism over the whole affair.
And who can forget the music inspired by the events like 'Sunday Troubling Sunday'.
Sounds like a Winnie the Pooh adventure
We did want to call WW2 ‘A bit of bother with the Jerries’...
Tiocfaidh ár lá!
Game of Troubles
Can confirm all of this. Source: I’ve played a lot of counter strike
My book in collaboration with historian Dan Jones will be out in just a few days, so please consider pre-ordering it if you can. That's the best way to support my work. Thank you!
The 5th Battalion landed in North Africa as part of the 153rd Brigade in the 51st (Highland) Division and fought at the Second Battle of El Alamein in October 1942. It also took part in the Normandy landings, while attached to the 3rd Parachute Brigade, in June 1944 and saw action at the Battle for Caen followed by the Battle of Bréville later that month. It saw combat again at the Battle of the Falaise Pocket in August 1944 and the Battle of the Bulge in January 1945.
The regiment helped to suppress the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya in 1953 and to suppress the actions of EOKA terrorists during intercommunal violence in Cyprus in the late 1950s. During the state funeral of John F. Kennedy in November 1963, nine bagpipers from the regiment were invited to travel to the United States and participate in the funeral procession from the White House to the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle. They performed The Brown Haired Maiden, The Badge of Scotland, The 51st Highland Division, and The Barren Rocks of Aden.
Congrats on the deal with Dan! Your work is fantastic, well deserved!
Thank youu :)
Is this all the information you have of the picture? Usually there is a lot more detail.
Unfortunately, yes.
Ah, I see. Thanks though! I always love your work and can't wait for your book!
Thank you!!
Very cool, this is in The Netherlands though. Holland is two of the twelve provinces in The Netherlands called south- and north-Holland. This picture was taken in Gennep which is located in the province of Limburg which is one of the twelve provinces of The Netherlands, if there are any questions I’ll be happy to answer them (:
Always nice to know I'm not the only one who gets triggered by this.
Yeah I'm right there with you my boy. Lived in Arnhem for a year and the amount of people that were like 'whats life like in Holland?' I got so sick of it I just said 'I wouldn't know but the Netherlands is great'.
I always get triggered by people who get triggered by this. Holland is a classic pars pro toto. Deal with it.
Reee
It’s like calling the whole USA “Carolina”
NEVER call Limburg ‘Holland’ :)
You mean Germany?
Nope, Limburg is a backup of Belgium.
Bedoel je Zuid-Nederland?
r/cirkeltrek MOBILISEER!
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Ik heb het nu niet over de inhoud wat je zegt.
Guess
Is real
bekritiseert veramerikanisering
🤔
Koning Leopold I Intensifies
Wat is dat Angelsaksisch gebrabbel?
Tais-toi vuile Waterduitser.
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It's a joke. I have family in Limburg, I know about the German shopping expeditions over the border in places like Roermond.
Then again, in about 15 languages the Netherlands is called Holland instead.
See CGP Grey's Video for further information on The Netherlands/Holland
Holland is a common nickname for the Netherlands, deal with it. Yes, it's wrong, but it's not difficult to know when it refers to the country and when to province.
I kinda agree. I mean we call the US america so.
And every so often the UK even calls itself Britain
But that only excludes the Northern Irish, and half of them don't mind.
America can refer to the continents, in which there is far more than the USA.
Britain makes up the vast majority of the UK.
Calling The Netherlands "Holland", it like calling the UK "England" (most people and most famous landmarks); it's just wrong.
But the United States are in America. The Netherlands aren't in Holland, it's the other way around. It would be like calling the United States California.
Wow, TIL! I always thought Holland and The Netherlands were just 2 interchangeable names for the same place.
So is this post's title saying something along the lines of Oregon, New York?
Yeah something like that, more like new york city in Oregon.
I have a question, whats 3 + 2?
My grandad was in the black watch. He also saw the collapse of Clydebank.
As did mine. Our grandfathers likely served together.
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Prob deserved it, tbh.
It’s quite possible. Mine didn’t talk about it much I wish I’d asked him more about it before he passed away.
I wish I knew more as well. My grandfather died when I was 4. I only have one fuzzy memory of him, and some second hand stories about the war from my father.
They may have even been lovers
Clydebank F.C or Clydebank shipbuilding?
Scottish or Canadian ?
Scottish from the Black Isle.
Thank you
Your welcome.
Didn’t the black watch get practically wiped out outside of Caen on July 18-25, 1944?
Maybe. My grandfather was captured as a POW at some point.
Is he alive? And Canadian? Does he know Arthur Campbell wilkinson?
Dead for a while. Yep, Canadian citizen. I have never heard that name before, but I will ask my dad. What is his significance?
I found this book called 'ottawa to caen'. It was published by Arthur's mother. It's all the letters he sent to her while overseas (1938-44). The last letter is a telegram. He was KIA on July 18 outside of Caen.
I wonder if this is a staged photo taken after the fight was over because most snipers are taught to shoot from cover. Based on that the tip of the rifle shouldn't protrude through the pane giving away his position. Just wondering, not pontificating.
This... also, trained sniper would never poke out the barrel of his weapon, which is a sure tail red flag... very easy to spot.
Safety is on as well
I mean it is perfectly fine to take a staged photo for the folks back home. Also, I'm not trying to trivialize or marginalize what any combat soldier has experienced. My Dad won the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart in the Battle of the Bulge. His unit lost over 90% of its men. I have nothing but respect and admiration. But it does cause harmful mental conflict to see mistakes like that.
Well I'm sure he's sorry for causing you mental conflict.
Pretty sure snipers where a pretty new thing back in the day.
The British Army has had marskmen armed with rifles (like Sharpe) since the Napoleonic wars. And a dedicated sniper unit (The Lovat Scouts, originally formed during the Boer Wars) since before the First World War.
In the US Army's History:
Rogers' Rangers French and Indian War; used Rifled Flint lock. The Longrifle, Kentucky rifle, or Pennsylvania rifle, used by frontiersmen/ hunters/ farmers in the French and Indian War, American Revolution, various Indian wars ( see Daniel Boone). American Civil War: 1st United States Sharpshooters ( Green Jackets ). and in WWI: M1903 (Mauser based) bolt action, which would go on to be the basis for the best scoped sniper rifle in US Army history ( used up through Vietnam and into the future)!
So, no, not a pretty new thing back in 1944-45...
PS: Watch "Saving Private Ryan" one more time... get your self edumacated...
PS: Watch "Saving Private Ryan" one more time... get your self edumacated...
You're not wrong about sniping...but films are rarely a good source of information on anything. Try a history book, not a piece of popular entertainment.
A sniper back then wasnt taking 1000m kill shots. This soldier was likely covering the street or area below the window as well as further out.
Hell the sniper rifles of any country back then were significantly less accurate than a budget $500 deer rifle off the shelf of cabelas today.
That very well may be true. It is all conjecture on my part but he just seems posed. But as I said in another post, no shame in that.
Our knowledge of sniper training, urban sniping, and urban hide building has come a long way in 70 years. A lot of WW II sniping was hedge row sniping.
Additionally, just because the man is holding a Lee Enfield T model doesn't mean he was a classically trained sniper. We call anybody with a precision rifle a sniper these days, regardless of experience and formal training.
most snipers are taught to shoot from cover
Classically trained snipers shoot from concealment, not cover. Cover is nice, but concealment is key. If the enemy knows where you are shooting from, cover does you no good, as you will be leaving that cover.
That all makes perfect sense. This is one of those situations where my tiny bit of knowledge isn't really worth much.
Also he's not bracing the sling against himself for more stability
Often they'd set the barrel, and still do actually, on a sand bag or bipod for stability.
Never thought I'd ever see the place Gennep mentioned on reddit.
Regardless of the little classic ''Holland mistake''
What rifle is this?
303 Lee Enfield No. 4 with an optical sight mounted.
Rifle No.4 Mk I (T), aka the No.4 Lee-Enfield in the sniper configuration.
Could be a Mk I , but the differences are quite small and it'd be impossible to tell without closer inspection. The Mk I rifles have a few simplifications to make them easier to produced, and they were only produced in ~~the US~~ North America by Long Branch in Canada and Savage in the US, Mk I rifles were primarily produced in the UK which would be a dead giveaway.
Long Branch is in Toronto, Canada. Lee-Enfields produced in the U.S. were made by Savage. You are correct that Long Branch produced Mk I* rifles though.
Ah, right you are, I forgot about Savage, I did think it sounded a bit wrong Long Branch being in the US.
Rifle No.4 Mk 1 (T) w/ No32 Mk2 Telescopic Sight
Your gunna wanna pull that barrel back from the window. Maybe some back drop, wet surrounding ground...
Not being a dick, but why saturate the surrounding area?
This was a good question, I appreciated it.
Keeps the dust down when you fire.
No knee pads, that must be painful.
The building is not ruined: it’s a fixer upper.
Amazing work! I though this may be interesting to share, here is a 'Roll of Honor' for the members of the 5th battalion of the Black Watch who were killed in the war. Including the dozen or so who fell at Gennep http://www.blackwatch.50megs.com/5thbtn.html
barrel sticking out the window
Rip
ITT: people who've played video games and therefore think they know better than an actual sniper fighting in an actual world war against a peer enemy.
Yes his rifle would be less visible back from the window but maybe, just maybe he isn't a dumbass and has a good reason for doing it?(even if it's just that the light is better for a photo op nearer to the window).
Sniping has also came a long way since back then though, snipers of ww2 and modern snipers are drastically different.
The text on the other building says “sigaren” which are cigars.
The small text says "sumatra" which is an island in Indonesia were the Dutch got their tobacco.
I like how he uses the window that isn't open, like window camouflage.
intesne
Fantastic work as always; I just pre-ordered my copy from Goldsboro :)
Awesome! Thanks so much.
“Happy Valentines Day, muthfucka”
“Hey mike take a pic of me real quick”
Everyone discussing the gun poking out the window. Guns are LOUD and having the muzzle clear of the window helps a quite a bit. Probably posed for the picture though.
This isn't actually Holland, but the Netherlands. The netherlands is the country, Holland is the two most populated provinces called: Noord holland and Zuid holland (north and south holland). Just to be a pedantic fuck. However, i'm from the north of the Netherlands and i would rather die than be called a hollander.
Klein Erna snackt platt
Southerner here, we use Hollander as an insult
He's flagging that barrel hard though. Live and learn
How bout we learn from history?:/
All these armchair warriors criticising a battle experienced soldier....
Gennep is in Limburg, not Holland?
Back up a little bit guy, don’t stick that thing out the window
Had to be a posed picture. No sniper would have his rifle sticking out the window.
Its makes me think its a 'staged' photo as its pretty much infantry 101 to not hang your weapon out the window.
Not gonna be a sniper for long with his pecker sticking out of the window like that. ;-)
Sticking your barrel out the window just give away your position...
We know that now. This guy was literally writing the book on that sort of knowledge.
I love that you think you know more than this guy, whatever he was doing was probably perfect for the scenario because, he's the give away that hes good, He's alive in 1945
Or maybe he got sent over to mainland Europe in 1945 lmao
It's just basics, I'm no expert but I do find the history of sharpshooting interesting and know some of the basics. Also just because he's alive in 1945 doesn't mean he's been in action any longer than 5 minutes.
Wow amazing photograph
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Spectacular work... The level of luminosity you've maintained is brilliant. I'm really impressed by this. It totally "reads" like a color photo to me and that's just remarkable.
Thank you! I hope you have a chance to read the book x
Are there any video games that look like this?
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Scottish. Don't think the Canadians had a 5th Battalion.
Canadian. https://www.blackwatchcanada.com/en/heritage-and-history/a-brief-history
The Canadians didn't have a 5th battalion Black Watch in WW2. The Scottish did. If you check out Mark Zuehlke's books and maps, both the Canadian Black Watch (as part of 5th Canadian Infantry Brigade of 2nd Cdn Division) and the Black Watch of the 15th (Scottish) Division were in the specific area of Gennep around Feb 1945, both preparing for the launch of Operation Veritable. However, it was the 10th battalion of the Black Watch that was part of the 15th Div. Too, the 5th battalion Black Watch was a part of the 51st Highland Div, which was also staging near this area in Feb 1945. So honestly, by saying it's the Black Watch, and without a cap badge or should badge, and it being a sniper, it could be either the 5th or 10th Scottish Black Watch or the Canadian Black Watch.
Edit: Just read some comments above - which of course I should have done prior - that this is indeed the 5th BW based off of the author's notes above
Can someone explain to me how ppl do this?
Looks very well done, btw.
Manually, in Photoshop.
A better shot would of been to have him actively firing.
Maybe next time
My grandfather was a part of The Black Watch in WWII. Very cool photo, thanks for this.
Didn’t know there was a town that was spelled the way people pronounce my username in rainbow six
i think you mean kkkkkgggghhhhennep, holland? great work tho!
Focking camper
I remember reading about german snipers that stayed behind retreating german soldiers to hide in bushes and trees when advancing allied soldiers pushed forward, pinning down squads of soldiers,
Barel out the window.....
Maybe I'm confused by the perspective, but wouldn't someone notice the barrel of his rifle pointing out of the window? Doesn't seem very stealthy to me.
Somebody had to physically write all that down while they were there, either the photographer writes fast or this soldier hasn't played call of duty... You have to keep moving man!
I didn’t think snipers put their gun out a window? Wouldn’t that give their position away?
My melee finger is twitching...
Campers are everywhere smh
Real question. Why he is wearing a doughboy helmet?
At what point did snipers back away from the windows and holes to better conceal their positions? All the WW2 sniper photos show the shooter sticking the rifle out into view but all the modern photos of military snipers show them backed away from the opening.
Excellent info. Thanks for clarifying.
Not smart having the barrel sticking out of the window like that, not hard to spot.
Suddenly everyone is B4 qualified....
That sniper is not too bright. Anyone can see the barrel sticking out of the window
Saint Anthony
“happy valentine’s day Jerry”, he whispers under his breath as he takes aim...
Going to get shot sticking that barrel out a window.
The graphics look so good, can't wait to play
What kind of sniper has his gun hanging out of the window though, that's a death sentence
Reminds me of the sniper from saving Private Ryan
That’s an old ass helmet for 1945. Was that style specific to snipers, maybe preferred for some reason? Or just old stock?
Canadian forces helmet. ww1 army surplus no doubt.
Thanks, Canadian didn’t even cross my mind.
DIMITRI! THIRD FLOOR! ON THE LEDGE! SHOOT HIM!
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How do you think it's out the window? The right side window is obviously shut.
Is his muzzle sticking out the window like a nube?
Welp, time to go watch clips of Band of Brothers again.
Wow I can almost hear him walking and everything on the ground crunching.
My back hurts just looking at this and knowing he probably sat in that position for so fucking long.
I’m watching the Ken Burns documentary called “The War” on Netflix right now (it’s a pbs documentary for those of you who don’t have Netflix) and it’s really put into perspective how insane WWII was.
I highly suggest anyone who’s interested in History and/or war documentaries to watch it.
Not this one sorry there was another black and white photo below of a sniper side on looking through a hole in the roof
Hi.Been a subscriber for while now but never feeling need to comment..Corny I know, but the pictures really do say it all.This picture however made me tap away at this mesg to say 'incredible' & to thank op,as, this picture in colour seems to me,taken as if was only yesterday.
Thank you so much.
Lee enfield??
yep, i see the magazine sticking out, and the Black Watch are a Scottish regiment
Are these black and white photos colorized? If so how do they color to perfection?
Yes, they are colorized by hand in Photoshop.
Beautiful work as always, Marina! Nice to see something from the Black Watch. My grandfather was in The 5th Battalion as well so it's great seeing this one coloured!
Crazy to think how far you've come since your first post on here (which was great too by the way). Been following you ever since. Pre-ordered the book too so can't wait to sit back, have a couple glasses of whisky and look through it.
Good luck with the launch!
Amazing! Thank you so much for your kind message. I hope you like the book!
I wish I could do this there's a few pictures I would like to see colorized
I wonder if this is staged. The Black Watch are Scottish and the concealment part of sniping is very Scottish hunting in origin, for example ghillie suits, and you don't want to put yourself in relief when sniping, you sit further back from the window or hole in the wall or whatever you're shooting through.
Why would he have his barrel out the window?
Campin ass
That's a Canadian Black Watch Sniper . the Royal Highland Regiment of Canada had 5 guys who were rather famous.
Their nickname was also the Black Watch.
Is he British? Or American with a English helmet?
Lee Enfield?
Imagine how many less homeless there would be if we would just stop fucking destroying everything.
Such a cool picture. Almost the whole story of the war in this picture. Distraction and killing.
Seems like such a curious scene to take a photo of. I’d love to pick the brain of a war photographer.
Man, you never know who's looking out of the corner, or in this case a window.
Such a beautiful rifle.
That was a staged photo op, real snipers would never expose themselves like that.
Don't put the end if your gun out the window
Amazing.
Also to note, I have been playing Fallout 4 too much...I wondered what perk I'd get from collecting the magazine in the bottom left. Which also goes towards your clarity, for that matter.
Friar and semi-naked woman badge.
nice kar98k
I thought that too idk why downboted
pokes muzzle out the window
Fucking Amateur....
Rookie exposing the barrel out the window, should be further back in the room
Would a real sniper let his gun stand out of the window?
i assume this is before the days of being taught to shoot from within the room and not to hold your rifle out of the window? preventing an enemy from seeing the muzzle sticking out of the window preserves your stealth.
How come there are never any images of axis soldiers on this sub?
Do snipers really sit like that, and with thr barrel sticking out a window??
This is an amazing photo, the Canadian Black Watch was very well known for its tenacity and was feared during WWII. It was one of the Commonwealths elite units and suffered tremendously huge casualties throughout the war.
Edit: Although they were Scottish by ethnicity, the nationality of the Royal Highland Regiment was Canadian and based out of Montreal Canada! They were formed by several chieftains during the height of the American Civil War and utilized by the UK Commonwealth throughout both world wars aswell of several other international conflicts. (:
Edit for the edit:
Ah, apparently there are two black watches?? Apologies !
He's Scottish not Canadian.
You’re kinda right! They were primarily Scot in origin, but we are talking about nationality!
No, I am right. The Black Watch was and is a Scottish regiment. The Canadian black watch are different. This sniper is Scottish; the Canadian black watch didn't have a 5th battalion in the second world war.
I guess that’s where I was confused! Still Super awesome though.
Your edit is still wrong. The original Black Watch are a Scottish regiment in the British Army (they’re actually a battalion in the Royal Regiment of Scotland now).
Looks photoshopped, muzzle is going through glass window. Unless the window is completely broken this looks fake.
The window is broken.
s/sniper/terrorist
I love how terrorists document their state-sanctioned organised mass murder campaigns.
The mass shooters in USA should take notes:
If troops defended our freedom, we'd be free! If they die for our freedom, we'll only be free once they're all dead.
Remember kids: Murdering people makes you a hero!
What the fuck are you talking about?
Do us all a favour and fuck off, yeah?
Nah, that's something for the terrorists to do.
If that idiot learned to not stick is fucking barrel outside he would be in the B or even A company already. I guess he wonder why he is with the retards.
... or maybe this is a staged photograph.
Complacency kills.
I don't think companies work like that?
Major Stevens. You are hereby demoted to Minor Stevens.
Nuuuu do i get an F company?
B Battery
You can see a balcony out the window
FUCK ME that's where i live!! Never in my life would i except my city of only 16000 people see on the front page of reddit
Heres another photo from Gennep for you, most likely the same guy!
Fuckin campers
Gotta get that 0 deaths though.
No respawn in RL
U sure tho?
Terrible design IMO, the devs need to fix this shit ASAP.
If you die in real life THEN YOU DIE IN REAL LIFE
gotta love when your K/D is undefined
Love wakin up to a good math joke
Me: God damn campers. Also me camping: I was just strategically placing myself.
Hard scoping n00b
Sick name rofl
It's a legitimate strategy!
Does anyone know the name of this guy because he looks exactly like me and it is really freaking me out
Colin Farrell?
[deleted]
Oh don't mind me. You did it right. The man in the photo slightly resembles the actor. I made a dumb reference.
holy shit
Maybe it is you. Are you having dreams about spiders?
Must be your dad if you look similar to another human
How can you tell he looks like you from two pictures? One of which doesn't show any face, and the other in which only a little is shown but it's pretty low detail.
hes also a ww2 sniper but he was born in 1992
Boy’s got a knack for sticking his barrel out a window. Wild’n’out in the old days.
What's it like postwar, any signs of ww2 still?
It seems like this sniper is sitting in the Zandstraat (literal translation: "sandstreet".)
It currently is our shopping street but our city hall, which is actually 400 years old this year is luckily still here. There are also many buildings in that street and the city in general that survived since Gennep was not heavily bombed. One of our church towers was renovated a few years ago because of the church itself was destroyed after our city got evacuated. My grandma told me they had to go to Utrecht.
Besides that there are the general monuments made just like in many other cities. Our famous Maas (River's name) bridge is still here and was actually used as entry point for the germans when they were invading (oops).
I took some time googling foto's and stuff and i think the location of the sniper was "zandstraat 63"
There's an empty streetcorner now were i believe the sniper's building would have been.
The building at the other side of the road is Sambeek Sigarenfabriek, gone now but in it's location an Aldi supermarket.
So you’re saying the germans are still there?
have you checked the beaches lately ?
Full of young British men waiting to be picked up? It’s happening again...
That's true. There used to be a building there not long ago selling sport items. Now after it got demolished they started to make a some sort of square but it's going very slowly
You know what’s crazy your city hall is as old as the first English settlement in America. Jamestown turn 400 years old this year.
Not really crazy. The netherlands as country is like 200 years older then the US. Our oldest city hall is 550 years old and our oldest city, nijmegen, is 2000 years old if not older.
I understand most European cities are much older, but putting them in perspective or on a timeline with each other is amazing to see
Edit: words
What's super crazy is the city of Jericho which is one of the first cities in the world
The church I got married in is very nearly 1000 years old.
That’s awesome!
My high school in the UK was 500 years old, wasn't even private or anything, just a standard state shitty state school.
Wow if those are walls could talk they would have endless stories to tell! Just the changes in curriculum over that time would be crazy.
I can't speak for Gennep, but I shall give you my observations on another Dutch town very effected by the war, Arnhem.
Superficially, Arnhem is the idyll European town. The main square is surrounded by buildings of remarkable architecture from centuries past. None of it is authentic.
After the battle which took place in September 1944, Arnhem, already damaged by the fighting, was razed by the Germans, and most of the town was evacuated. When I was there in 2009, I met an old lady who was a young girl at the time, who told me that Arnhem was never liberated in the traditional sense, as there was nothing left to liberate.
I came to the thought that the Arnhemmers took the opportunity to rebuild their town almost as it was before the war, perhaps psychologically to return to life as it was before occupation. The Dutch have never forgotten the war, and as a Canadian, their gratitude is touching, and it isn't duplicitous that they don't wish to remember the actualities of occupation. Very little remains of the fighting and destruction
If you mean bullet holes, craters, ruins etc, no, all that stuff has been scoured away a long long time ago.
The Dutch don't like leaving old stuff around when they can just build new stuff in it's place :(
The city council of Rotterdam decided immediately after the Germans bombed it in 1940 they would tear the whole thing down and start over.
Stuff like that has happened a lot here sadly.
Defensive walls broken down and moats filled in because they were no longer needed and new stuff build in their place and later entire neighbourhoods torn down for new giant malls and shit like "Hoog Catharijne" in Utrecht...
I've been to Hoog Catharijne... it wasn't that bad...
The new one or old one ?
The new one. Visited the city earlier this month.
ah, i haven't seen that one yet.
I was talking about the old one, it was pretty horrible and before that there was a nice neighbourhood with 19th century buildings that was torn down for it.
Any chance of sharing some pictures in r/TheWayWeWere?
I don't have any pictures since i just passed through it a bunch of times in the past but here's a google search result showing a bunch of relevant pictures :p
https://www.google.com/search?q=utrecht+stationswijk&num=30&client=firefox-b&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiyxb2zu73cAhWLL1AKHYDQDMUQ_AUICygC&biw=1760&bih=888
I tried to find good pictures of the ugly period but couldn't. It basically was a maze made from a bunch of strip malls in the 60's with a low roof and no windows or 90 degree corners so you always felt crowded, claustrophobic and disoriented.
It could be worse. It could be Birmingham.
Birmingham doesn't look that bad on google.
The thing that made Hoog Catharijne so bad though was it's location.
The center of Utrecht is absolutely beautiful with it's old buildings and canals and then there's that giant turd on top...
Here's a sneak peek of /r/TheWayWeWere using the top posts of the year!
#1: Women trainees of the LAPD practice firing their newly issued revolvers, 1948 | 402 comments
#2: My ridiculously attractive grandparents sitting for a portrait in the early 1940s. | 408 comments
#3: Dublin, 1962 | 171 comments
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Not always.
https://www.travelblog.org/Photos/8728798
I like to think the folks at the time said “No, leave it. When we are all dead, who will tell the story?”
[deleted]
I am unwilling to engage in coitus based on mere location.
I have no idea what you mean
You started with, "Fuck Me" and I say, "No, I will not!"
Could you pinpoint exactly where this is?
Like an other guy said you can see the Sambeek Sigaren building. That building was owned by a man that even was my dad's costumer as car mechanic. His wife is still alive at age 93.
Looks like a fixer-upper. Maybe you should move?
Welcome to the big leagues kid