Sniperism

[Michael Dorosh]

Originally posted by Nippy:

Come on, the Soviets were on of the first countries in the world to use Sniper/Scouts in pairs instead of one person by themselfs.

That's funny, I thought the British, Canadians and Australians were doing that in World War One.

And again in World War Two.

[Gaylord Focker]

Yes, i'd like my free turn with that subscription.

[Michael Emrys]

Originally posted by whizbang:

Please enlighten me. Why was Zaitsev called the Noble Sniper (ref Antony Beevor, Stalingrad, page 203/4) and not the Noble Sharpshooter. And what about Sniper Kovbasa, the Ukrainian?

Bear with me; this may get a little complicated.

I think the difference between 'sniper' and 'sharpshooter' as used on this board (reflecting a usage by professional historians, at least in some cases) was brought about by a real difference in training and tactical utilization in practice. There were two different types of gunslingers and we need two different names to distinguish between them and not confuse ourselves. With me so far?

Now as it happens, the men on the firing lines felt no similar compulsion to make that distinction. To them, anybody taking potshots at them outside of a general firefight was called a 'sniper' even if he was just an ordinary soldier who stayed behind to cover the withdrawal of the rest of his squad or platoon. It further happens to be the case that written accounts of the "I wuz there..." variety tend to use the term in exactly that same pattern. Since such accounts are more popular, more people have encountered the term in that sense and haven't had to face the problems such usage entails.

As a side note, I would observe that a fairly large proportion of the people who come to CM and this board do so with a set of mental images about the war determined by what they have seen in the movies, possibly salted by a bit of reading of the more popular texts. They come seeking to have those images affirmed. Instead, they find them challenged in no uncertain terms. But I would hope that they understand that if those images are subjected to criticism here, it's not necessarily because the other posters are just being inhospitable or mean to the noobs, it's just that the ideas—as distinguished from the persons bearing them—have been examined and found wanting.

HTH

Michael

[ November 03, 2002, 10:50 PM: Message edited by: Michael emrys ]

[Tarquelne]

(Still waiting for the total breakdown in rationality and civility so often engendered by a sniper-thread, and thus the chance to attack my many enemies here at will. My scathing wit, cruel criticisms and crappy spelling masked by the general chaos! Maybe I'll check back if this reaches five pages...)

[Cull]

To lose your junior member tag, you need 500 postings.

Actually, I think they increased it to 750.

I believe you also now get the "Giant Member" title at 5,000 postings. Haven't seen any yet...

[Michael Emrys]

Originally posted by Tarqulene:

My scathing wit...

Ooooo, this I gotta see!

Michael Emrys

Giant Member for Life

[whizbang]

Crete I'm not aware of but will check with my friendly Amazon.com as here in Chile English books are few and far between - and usually translations into Spanish. I do have Beevor's "Berlin" on order which should tie in nicely with CMBB (just in case the moderator thinks we are having a private chat on his website).