Even among the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s many noteworthy sniping programs, the United Kingdom’s marksmanship legacy stands out as long and distinguished. They helped pioneer advances in early sniping, have continued to influence the craft in significant ways, and now serve as a clear demonstration of the importance of snipers for any era.
British soldiers played a critical role in the debut of the modern sniper during World War I but made forays into the art of sniping even earlier than that. Through the Boer Wars, which took place over a decade before WWI, they had become some of the first to experiment with the field craft and long-range marksmanship that are in practice today. The Second Boer War, fought for English influence in Africa from 1899 to 1902,1 can be considered one of the first major preludes to modern sniping along with the American Civil War. Fighting devolved into guerilla warfare where long range shooters at first plagued the United Kingdom armies and then were adopted by them to a degree. Most notably for modern snipers, the Second Boer War saw the creation of the United Kingdom’s Lovat Scouts who later evolved into the Lovat Scouts, Sharpshooters in World War I. These esteemed scouts pioneered methods in observation and stalking and, notably, introduced the Ghillie Suit to those wartime responsibilities.2 Their development of such critical skills and consequent legacy of accomplishment cement the United Kingdom’s place as one of the principal founders of modern sniping.
British forces began to significantly expand their sniper program when the deadly effects of capable German marksmen were made evident in the trenches of World War I. The British, like most other nations with long sniping legacies, initially relied primarily on the knowledge of hunters. But unlike other countries including Canada, Finland, the United States, and Germany, hunting was often practiced predominantly by the wealthy as a sport in the United Kingdom. In the first major training schools of dedicated marksmen, it thus fell to a limited number of officers with a background in hunting or target shooting to convey essential sniping skills and training.3 One notable figure of these efforts was Major Hesketh Vernon Hesketh-Prichard who, among many other things, was an explorer and big game hunter that helped organize and train these first sharpshooters which went on to play a significant and visible role in the war.4
Just as in most other countries, the British essentially discontinued the sniper role in the interwar period, getting rid of dedicated schools and relevant equipment. Despite being among the most effective shooters of the previous conflict, they once again had to play catch up with Germany and others when World War II disproved the popular but erroneous idea that snipers were only a niche feature of trench warfare. The United Kingdom unearthed and built upon the solid principles learned from the first World War to build a cadre of more mobile marksmen that eliminated key targets and gathered critical intelligence in each theater of this new, dynamic war.5Following this success, the British once again placed their sniping efforts on hold until Soviet shooting capabilities at the height of the Cold War intimidated them into another course correction around the 1970s which has largely endured to this day.6
The Global War on Terror provides a more contemporary illustration of the United Kingdom’s commitment to sniping and success within that realm. British snipers were consistently utilized in Iraq and in Afghanistan became highly valued as their capabilities became identified not just by their lethality, but also their cost effectiveness, low rates of civilian casualties, and psychological impact on the enemy.7As a whole, the nation is a major contributor to the modern era of sniping and strong participant in the global marksmanship community. Notable accomplishments include record breaking shots like that of Craig Harrison and the founding of highly successful equipment manufacturers including Accuracy International, which builds the L115A3 rifle currently in use by the military. This rifle, chambered in 8.59mm (.338 Lapua Magnum), has been well-received and used to great effect.8 British snipers also continue to innovate and apply their thoughts and expertise to the strategies and technologies of modern day war.9
The success and influence of snipers in the United Kingdom despite several pauses and restarts in their program demonstrate several lessons for militaries around the world and especially NATO allies. Principally, their history illustrates that snipers will consistently prove their worth on the battlefield, making investment and development today the best decision in the long run. Today’s decision makers should prioritize these sharpshooters now and trust that any doubts they have will be dispelled like those of their predecessors. The British story also inspires hope that even if sniping does get set aside due to drones, new developments in warfare, budget cuts, or any other arising circumstance, it will never be too late to restart programs in the future. Their history of repeatedly training snipers on solid fundamentals and for new eras of conflict provides a shining example that others can surely follow. This leadership may be vital in the coming years as an apparent scaling back of sniping in the United States and lackluster implementation in conflicts including Ukraine point to a possible diminishment of interest like that which followed each world war. But regardless of whether this trend plays out in full, the members of the North Atlantic community will count themselves lucky to have the expertise and prestige of the United Kingdom to elevate their sniping capabilities against future threats.
Stirling E.
Sniper Central Global Affairs Analyst
Leave a Reply