Not sure how common allied snipers were in the second world war but It's strange that neither TP or BOB chose to show a single moment featuring a sniper, we had flamerthrower, mortar, heavy gunner squads etc.
There were moments in both series (more so in the Pacific) where a sniper would have come in handy !
Episode 6, they're running through an open field, someone gets shot in the back and a guy yells "Sniper!!". I've been watching all morning, I'm on episode 6 now and that's all I've seen so far.
shareWatch episode 6 again, and keep a sharp eye out for an American sniper. I believe they show him twice: once making the advance toward the airfield, and another moment after the airfield has been taken, they show him observing through his scope. Again, they show him for a split second, but they do show a Marine as a Sniper!
shareThere was no official sniper training in the US military in WWII. Some units might have had a Springfield 1903 with a scope and given it to their best marksman on the European Theater but that was about it.
There were some Marine snipers in the Pacific theater, but we don't see any because none of the guys in this series had any interactions with Snipers.
Does this mean that they lied to us in Saving Private Ryan and that Jackson actually wasn't a sniper? He went to all that trouble with his custom scope and a 1903A4
shareHe wasn't a sniper, he was the group's sharpshooter.
shareMy dad was a sharpshooter in WWII (in Italy). He never talked about the war except for his buddies (some of them became lifelong friends) and them visiting Switzerland and how beautiful it was.
Anyway, I'm wondering what the difference is between a sharpshooter and a sniper.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharpshooter
shareAh so like Shifty Powers; He was the best shot in Easy Company & the saying goes, it didn't pay to take a shot at Shifty.
Why can't you wretched prey creatures understand that the Universe doesn't owe you anything!?
Since the Marines in The Pacific and the paratroopers in Band Of Brothers were on the offensive most of the time, a sniper doesn't really come in to play for the attacking side. Snipers are usually employed by the defending side and in a stalemate situation. An assaulting force could use snipers to neutralise enemy outposts but their only effective if they are attacking over open country. See Generation Kill for a depcition of a sniper team in the spearhead of the invasion of Iraq.
@Twitzkrieg - Glasgow's FOREMOST authority
The sniper isn't a common role in a strike force. The sniper's role comes into play in a defensive or holding strategy and both the mini series followed mobile, tactical units that didn't have opportunity for sniping. "Fire and maneuver" was the standard technique.
shareIn Peleliu and Okinawa, the snipers aren't technically shown but you know they shot someone.
There was also 2 snipers set up across the ledges in Iwo Jima. I can't believe people missed that; although to be fair it was probably another sharpshooter.
TO be fair, IMO I don't think snipers would be an effective weapon in the type of environment the war was fought in the Pacific; it's why there are flamethrowers, heavy mortars, grenades, and gunner squads. The enemy usually did a kamikaze charge or hid in underground tunnels/burrows. Snipers won't do you any good.
In specific however, both Russia and Germany had prized snipers. The Russian sniper was so revered that they made a movie depicting the scene and that *beep* game CoD depicted it as well when they get blown by bombers and get overrun and it's just you and this officer as you take the rifle and shoot the Nazis while the bombers flew right above them. However, it made more sense for snipers to set up in the European theater as they often fought in cities/towns or long roads.
In the Pacific, snipers didn't really have much use except for those that set up a line by the treelines in Peleliu.
Mellet, Sawosko, Herron, Webb and Webb in episode 7. Lipton names them as men who were taken out by the kr@ut sniper. Blythe took a nasty shot to the throat, as did John Julian.. well actually I don't think it was quite the throat for Blythe. Anyway, then in The Pacific there were a lot of marines getting shot by snipers, just didn't happen to be more than extras.
However, I think you're talking about allies. Well, Shifty? What about Lipton and Ranney going up in the tree in episode 2? And I seem to recall Winters being a sharp shot too. And how about Hoobler counting the number of enemies he was hitting in episode 5?
As for The Pacific, Bill Leyden was called upon a few times to take out a few guys with his M-1 while the others set up the mortar. As portrayed in the series he was a good shooter.
Not sure how common allied snipers were in the second world war but It's strange that neither TP or BOB chose to show a single moment featuring a sniper, we had flamerthrower, mortar, heavy gunner squads etc.
There were moments in both series (more so in the Pacific) where a sniper would have come in handy !