Hesketh Vernon Hesketh-Prichard

“ I had at this time no assistant myself, and was dealing with a class of fifteen officers, as well as sometimes as many as fifty snipers, who came up from the line for a day's instruction. My N.C.O.'s, however, stepped nobly into the breach, and Armourer Staff-Sergeant Carr took over the explanation of telescopic sights—work which lay entirely outside his duties. At that time there were ten or fifteen patterns of these sights in the Army, and each officer on the course had to learn to manipulate every one of them. ”

“ As the work of scouts with an Army School is of supreme importance, since one uses them to personate the enemy in scouting schemes, the employment of such men as these was quite impossible. Good fortune here, however, came to our aid, for some performing scouts from G.H.Q., who were giving demonstrations, came to demonstrate to us, and were afterwards attached to the school. ”

“ The feeling in the Army against the Press—for there certainly was, at one period, such a feeling—is really very often a rather stupid pose adopted by the younger officers, who usually copy some downright senior ; but it will always remain as long as journalistic mistakes are made—and that will be as long as wars last.
Outside the members of the staff, we had help from time to time from various officers who were attached for short periods of duty. Among these was Major A. Buxton, D.S.O., of the Essex Yeomanry, who took two classes of Lovat Scouts in observation. ”

“ If you are near a big town, it means dinners and sweet champagne, and other things which do not conduce to accurate shooting. Our school was rather more than four kilometres from Aire, and no one was allowed to go there without a pass. A pass could be had by any officer for the asking, but I found that, once the course got its grip, except on Sunday, Aire was very little visited.
My two visitors then ran through the curriculum of the school with me, and as the room was hot, removed their Burberrys. ”

“ CHAPTER IV. THE FIRST ARMY SCHOOL OF SCOUTING, OBSERVATION AND SNIPING THE First Army Sniping School was formed for the purpose of training officers, who might act as Instructors in the various Corps Schools, Brigades and Battalions throughout the Army.
The system of Corps Schools was, as I have said, peculiar to the First Army, who, for the next year and a half, turned out three snipers to any other Army's one. Further, the First Army School became recognized throughout the B.E.F. as the training place of observers with the telescope. ”

“ Those who were to start the First Army School got aboard after an early breakfast. They were only six in number, Lieut. Gray, Armourer Staff-Sergeant Carr, Private Fen-some (an extremely capable and skilled carpenter) , myself and two batmen. We took with us all the spares we could obtain from the nth Corps School as well as a lot of sniping kit belonging to Gray and myself.
As we rode through the country in the direction of Aire we passed a huge desolate camp which, I believe, had once been inhabited by Australians. ”

“ A man in a sandbag-covered helmet is looking over at A. and a man in a cap is looking between the sandbags at B. N.B. - Bags must be filled with broken stone of shingle to be bullet-proof; but should be sparsely used in case of bombardment.
On Gray's departure there set in for me a very strenuous time, for at the same moment the Commandant of the nth Corps School was also spirited away. I found an officer who had been through the course at the First Army School to take his place, and at the same time it became necessary to find a Commandant for the 1st Corps Sniping School. ”

“ When they rolled up their sleeves for digging, we noticed, too, that their arms were white, forming in this a great contrast to our fatigue men. It was necessary to dig trenches, make stop-butts, build snipers' posts and observation posts, and all this hard work the A.S.C. working party tackled with extraordinary energy. ”

“ By Armistice Day they had been at the school for some eighteen months, were first-class shots, knew every detail of the course, and could pass an examination equal to any officer. At the physical training and ju-jitsu, which they had almost every day, they were really young terrors. In fact, I remember a commercial joy-rider who was visiting the school, and whom I was showing round, on seeing two of the boys doing ju-jitsu, saying with infinite tact : " 'Ere, where do you live when you are at home ? ”

“ If you have a good subject to teach, and can teach it intelligently, you ought to be able to interest them enough in the course to keep their minds at work, especially if you have at least two hours' games for those who want them every afternoon. ”

“ Sniper's robe on a 6ft. 4in. man in the open, Hawkins position. Distance from camera, 8 yards.
I remember Mrs. Ward saying to me that she thought sniping—the terrible and ruthless killing of men with weapons of precision —one of the most dreadful sides of the war. I pointed out to her the life-saving side of sniping, and how many hundreds and probably thousands of British officers and men were alive at that moment who, if it were not for our snipers, would have been killed by the Germans. Mrs. ”