Loopholes (Part 3)

Loopholes...The British developed a sniper shield, which consisted of a steel plate structure that was well acclaimed. The first was the box's design, which had two protecting plates and two loop holes for firing. Second, the front plate was covered with half filled sandbag sides, making it indistinguishable from any other sandbag forward face. During the night, a hole in the British parapet would be made, and the sniper shield would take the place of a piece of the parapet. It was completely hidden once it was in position, as part of the hundreds of thousands of sandbags on the front.

Accuracy and speed

It was discovered that a sniper not only had to be precise, but that most possibilities for shots were only a few seconds long. In two seconds, the target has to be acquired and fired. This was a huge undertaking.

It wasn't enough to be good; you also needed to be quick.

Keeping track of results

The observer scopes for potential sniper targets and confirms whether they were hit or miss. The fact that a deadly shot causes the sufferer to pitch forward rather than backwards was an essential lesson learnt. Binocular-wielding officers were particularly popular targets, and the usual rule was that if the binoculars dropped towards the British lines, the target was killed. If they fell backwards, the target was still alive, perhaps hiding or injured.

Keep an eye on everything.

Scout sightings of a cat emerging on the enemy parapet over time led to supposition that a new officer's dugout had been built. To deal with the rats in the trenches, officers would keep a cat. Aerial surveillance was ordered over the suspected region, and comparisons with prior pictures indicated the construction of a new dugout there. It was shelled right away.

Bombs of nonsense

(Continued below)