Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-01-24

our own position, for nothing catches
the eve quicker than movement and
contrasting colors. Just os he was
cbout to shoot. this rag would sway
with the breeze and attract the eye;
he would lose time examining the OBJ
ject and finding out what it was, be-
eides unsettling his aim. Fritz, OF
course, uses similar "wheezes.' AT
one time he brought out colored sand
,bags-reds, greens, purples, every con-
ceivable color-to use on his posts
and looking at bit of his parapet was
like being at an exhibition Of futurist
or cubist patterns.
We snipers also learned that any
thing with which the Hun was famil-
lar could be used to deceive him. We
discovered, for example, that If we put
an old shoe on the edge of shell hole
or a trench, and left it there for three
or four days, t e Germans would not
even waste bullets on it. They would
think it was just an old shoe and not
bother with it. Then about the fourth
day, we would carefully remove the
heel Of the shoe, conceal the muzzle
of a rifle in the opening thus made
and shoot through it. Time and again,
we had the Germans running around
in circles, trying to figure out the To-
cation Of our snipers. Instead OF
thinking Of the obvious and familiar
thing, they sought the new and COM
Fplex.
We expended much more ingenuity
however, in getting a shot at Fritz
than in making themselves safe from
his bullets. On or off duty, we were
always planning some new way to
make Fritz lift his head above the top
of the trench. And when we had
made him do this, we must unfailing-
ly get him. THAI is what we are pick
ed and trained for-to observe sharply
and shoot quickly. But we can't shoot
at what we can't see. Sc we use every
possible device TO cause the enemy to
show himself.
OF all the m, .hods used, the most
successful are those based on human
nature. For instance everyone Is cur
ious, and the Hun is no exception to
the rule Therefore, to puzzle him, to
arouse his curiosity we would send up
little colored paper balloons. The wind
would carry them toward the German
trenches, and Fritz would poke up his
head to see what new thing" was
coming toward him. In the same way,
whenever we put up signs or posted
notices in No Mans Land. Fritz would
take a chance and lift his head an inch
or so to read what was on them.
Allied victories on other fronts, or
interesting news, which we knew was
withheld from the German soldiers
was the basis of most Of the placards.
We also learned from prisoners that
whenever anything unusually funny
or interesting was posted the Huns
ssessad.ssAaa-,s ,se-sssasa aaethasste~ ~taakes-a
look at the sign. Accordingly. we
tried to be as r!ginal as possible.
Our ingenuity was always directed
more at the German sniper, however,
than at the ordinary soldiers in their
trenches, because snipers were much
more of a menace to our own men.
so much on curiosity as on their anxiety
Our tricks to get them were based not
to shoot. When a rifle is fired, II
gives off a wisp Of smoke or gas ana
by watching sharply through tele-
scopes we could sometimes discover In
this way the location of the Hun
sniper Therefore. to draw his fire, we
used such things as a dummy head
made from papier mache, wearing
trench helmet and perhaps even having
a cigarette in it's mouth. This dummy
was very realistic, and when we lifted
the head very slowly over the top of
the trench Fritz thought it was one of
our men cautiously taking a look, and
fired at it.
When he did Sc, the head had to be
lowered very cleverly, in imitation
of our man ducking, or falling dead,
for if the enemy sniper suspected that
a dummy had been used he would at
once decamp.
Dummies and imitation periscopes
were also much used by both the Ger
mans and ourselves, because if you
could trap the other fellow into shoot
ing at it, the alignment of the holes
made by his bullets would give you
very close idea of the location of the
place from which the shot was fired
Another scheme was to construct a
dummy loophole and to hang loosely,
Immediately behind the aperture, a
lcrge piece of white paper. The breeze
swayed the paper, and as the white
surface approached the opening it gave
the appearance of light shining through
from behind; as the paper 'receded
everything appeared black in the aper-
ture. This gave a very realistic I'M
pression of a man at watch through
it and blocking out the light, and
stepping away, allowing the light to
shine through again.
There were many times however
when the Hun snipers were so careful
that our efforts to draw their fire fail
ed completely. Our men were being
picked off. We knew that sniper had
got a commanding position over US
Yet, in spite of all our devices, VIC
could not locate his hide closely enough
to get him out of it. When this hap
pcned, if we were losing so many men
that headquarters complained about 1t
we were forced TO the desperate meas
ure to giving Fritz the target he loved
best of ala human one!
| mean that to draw his fire, one OF
the snipers would deliberately expose
himself giving the Hun fair mark
while his own partner watched for the
gas from the rifle.
The man who took the chance vol
unteered for the job, knowing wei
what kind of a proposition he was w
against. and he did 1t deliberately