Even though the Ross was withdrawn from general issue, they did soldier on as a scoped sniper rifle to the end of WW1. Generally a sniper had more of an opportunity to clean and maintain his piece as he did not stand continuous duty in the trenches and was able to go to and from his chosen firing positions with some flexibility, and thus devote more time to "babying" his rifle when off the line. More than 40 yrs ago I had the privilege to know a gentleman who had been a sniper in the trenches during WW1 and had used the Ross exclusively. He thought a lot of it. The 2 books written by McBride give some insight into sniping with the Ross during WW1.
Ross vs. Mauser???
- Thread starter Nelson84
- Start date
Imperial Russia was knocked OUT of WWI by the Central Powers. Hostilities on the Eastern Front stopped in late 1917 after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed.
The USSR however, kept most of the German Army and its Axis allies on the Eastern Front in WWII. I think the Axis had some 500 divisions on the Eastern Front, compared with about 200 divisions facing the Western Allies (I'm not sure about those numbers, I recall reading them once a long time ago)
Herb McBride was an American who enlisted in the Canadian Army long before the U.S. was involved in WW1. He is considered the father of sniping tactics by many and his books are really interesting. They are "A Rifleman Went to War" and "The Emma Gees". The first is a lot about sniping even with excerpts from his daily sniping diary. McBride won the MM and was very brave and inventive by all accounts but was eventually court-martialled and "dismissed from his majesty's service" for repeated bouts of drunkeness and dereliction of duty in 1917. He enlisted in the U.S. army in 1917 but was eventually pushed out there also but was given an honourable discharge due to his combat record.
McBride is a great read, but "In The Trenches, 1914-1918" by Frank Iriam is an even better book IMO. Iriam served in France from 1915 to 1918 as a scout & sniper and has lots to say about the Ross. Also one of the most brutally honest war memoirs ever written.
