I see a Ross Rifle

[Square boots]

I'm watching "how this Canadian victory over Germany shaped their identity, battle of Vimy Ridge" on utube and what do I see? At 36:12 in, when Paul Gross starts talking sniping, there are 2 Canadians using what looks like Ross rifles, I think Mk IIs, as I cannot see the mag of Mk III. It is unfortunate that Paul references lee enfields at the time, but voice overs. What can you do, eh?

I noticed this because I'm holding my new to me Ross Mk II in my sweaty paws, bahahaha.

Check it out and let me know what you think, but the Ross is pretty distinctive.

 

[Junckopolo]

I am pretty sure they are not Ross Rifles. The narator is still wrong however, because those are Sprinfield 1903. Notice the long grooves in the wood on the side and the wood bump on top of the stock, also the long bolt handle.

You can get an image here on Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1903_Springfield

 

[vykkagur]

They're Springfields, because that's stock footage of Americans in WWI (although the majority of American troops in WWI carried the M1917, not the Springfield). You can even see the difference in helmets. They're not even snipers, just regular infantry. A sniper wouldn't last ten minutes out in the open like that. However, at 38:09 you can see the Ross in use. And that's probably not at Vimy either, since most of the Ross rifles had been replaced by 1917.

You can't really fault Paul Gross for the glaring errors; blame the writers and editors. Gross is only reading the script he was handed. He's probably not even seeing the video as he records it.

 

[smellie]

Battalion and even some Company-level snipers were allowed to use their Rosses until the end of the war.

The way it worked, according to my Grandfather (a sniper with 54 Battalion "The Kootenay Regiment" before it was renamed) was that the shooter carried TWO rifles, a Short Lee-Enfield for "quick work" AND a Ross for precision slow fire. The rest of the man's equipment was distributed among the others of his platoon in order that no-one be too heavily-burdened and thus over-tired when they reached their position in the Front Line. Some of the Rosses, more as time went on, were "stripped", the rifles no longer requiring the extra woodwork which was there to protect the shooter's hands; the Ross shot equally well with the bare barrel as it was heavy enough to not require the additional woodwork.

The system must have worked. The only shot he ever spoke to me about involved the taking-out of an enemy sniper who was making a nuisance of himself by taking out several 54 Battalion men. This was accomplished at 300 yards, in total darkness, Of the three teams involved in the effort, he was the only one in the right position to reply to the enemy's fire when the match was struck to "light the ###". His aiming-point was directly into the flash from the enemy's rifle; range on the rear sight was set by targetting enemy sandbags earlier in the daytime, when it would not be noticed.

The Ross could SHOOT. NO question about that!

 

[smellie]

The horrible, disgusting, anti-social, politically-incorrect word which the blasted AUTOCORRECT CENSOR has obliterated was a synonym for "cigarette", one of those objects included in their daily ration packs.

It is spelled "EFF eh? gee!" for those not familiar with the Great War abbreviation.