The two men would swap their roles regularly, so whoever was sniping could avoid eye fatigue.
This would involve scanning the area with a periscope to pick out potential targets, monitoring atmospheric conditions and keeping an eye out for any enemy movements nearby. During the First World War, it was standard practice on this side of the conflict to have one man controlling the rifle and the other “spotting”. On the other hand, the Allied marksmen almost always worked in pairs. Germany usually had their sharpshooters work as individual and largely independent units, emphasizing camouflage and concealment. Ones and Twos A spotter would use a periscope to scan for targetsĪnother key difference between the Allied and German snipers was the numbers in which they would be deployed. Although after this the British quickly began to emulate this new tactic, the German sharpshooters would always hold a certain notoriety. It wasn’t until Allied forces moving through German positions stumbled upon rifles equipped with scopes that they realized what was really going on. The Allies were not aware of this sniping innovation, so when the German sharpshooters began claiming lives across seemingly impossible distances, the French and British soldiers just assumed it was pure potluck.
