“I’m a Sniper” – British Training Film, September 1945

WANTED: A copy with sound of the British training film “I’M A SNIPER” Army film # C.915 (also numbered B.915).

 “I AM A SNIPER” This training film was approved in September 1945 and features the use of the No. 4 MK. I (T) Lee-Enfield sniper rifle and the Scout Regiment Telescope. I showed ithis fil, to the men of the Reconnaissance Platoon that I commanded in the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada back in the early 1970s. I would love to have a copy of it now, with sound, in any format. It was still in use in training Canadian snipers in 1993. Happily, the Imperial War Museum has now posted a copy of this film, though sadly this version is without sound. Their number is Film: IWM (DRA 915). They styate that it is 35 mm but the one I showed to my platoon was 16 mm, which was a standard size for training films, so I suspect thet they made a mistake. 

WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT SEEN IN THE FILM

  • Rifle, No. 4 Mk. I (T) sniper rifle .303″ with No. 32 Mk. 3 scope (3 times magnification) and M1907 leather sling.
  • Sten Gun Mk. 3 9X19 mm  Machine Pistyol (submachine gun)
  • German machine pistol (submachine gun) MP-40
  • German assault rifle MP-44 7.92 mm Kurz
  • Denison scocks – Camouflaged baby jackets with pockets. Crotch strap keeps it from riding up if the man has to crawl backwards. Originally designed for Airborne Troops. 
  • Face veil, camouflage colours, worn over the top, sides and back of the head, and draped over the shoulders.
  • Balaclava
  • Binoculars, 6 times magification 
  • Scout Regiment Telescope Mk. II s, 20 times magnification.
  • No. 8 Mk. I scope case (cleaning gear scene)
  • Prismatic Compass
  • Map & map case
  • Watch GS ( General Service)
  • Field Telephone, connected by wire back to their own lines behind them. 

Film length is 50 minutes 51 seconds. 

NOTE: The IWM’s posting of this film is in five (5) segments. Below the main screen are five small boxes:

1/5 Running time – 10:34 Sniper tream stalking and spotting Germans.  Then the sniper’s quarters where a sniper section of 8 men are cleaning equipment and relaxing. Flashback as to the jobs snipers had in civilian life. Then they are summoned to an “O Group” with the Intelligence Officer who briefs them on their mission. Then the film follows one team as they head off, one with a No. 4 Mk. I (T) and the other with a Sten Gun Mk. 3. No webbing, but items tucked into pockets of their Denison smocks which have a bits of scrim attached . They are in a firing position, and have identified a target but the Observer checks his watch and signals a 5-minutes wait, presumably to coincide with a planned attack. The noise of an attack would  tend to mask a sniper’s shots and firing early could alert the enemy.

British sniper aiming while in prone position.
I’m a Sniper – Hawkins position

2/5 Running time –  9:56 “Monkey run” on hands and knees, slowly, clearing twigs out of the way with their hands. Then a sudden sprint (perhaps they had come under fire?) and quickly dropped down behind cover. Then Leopard crawl, Russian version. The sniper adopts a Hawkins position, i.e. rifle low with left hand on ground and grasping sling and front swivel. Sniper adjusts his range drum. The clouds shift and reveal a full moon. They observe a German running across a road and into a bushy area. An enemy patrol of 6-men leaves a tree line and enters an open area. The leader, with an MP-40 is shot by the sniper. The enemy returns automatic fire with an MP-44 Assault Rifle. The Observer, using binoculars, spots the man with the MP-44 and directs the sniper who then shoots him.  The surviving enemy scramble away. The sniper starts to crawl backwards. The team Leopard Crawls and enters a ditch. On can see that the Observer is carrying a Scout Regiment Telescope in is case, slung on his left side. The lead man lifts up a hessian (?) cloth and enters the hide. This cloth is closed behind them so that when they open a front vieing hole, they will not be silhouetted. Then each man slowly opens a front cover for their opening. The Observer then uses his Scout Regiment Telescope.  They search the ground out front, right to left initially. 

3/5 Running time – 10:16

One man tugs on a line tied to a bush that is some distance from their hide. This is a decoy to see if the enemy are present. If the enemy fires at the movement, it could give away their position. Then the Observer picks up a dummy head that was in the hide, the front openings are closed, the Observer exits and the rear opening is closed again. He crawls to a deserted ruined house nearby while the other man watches, holding the Scout Regiment Telescope. The man in the house, with Sten Gun at the ready, carefully climbs the stairs to the floor above. He “Monkey Runs” (hands and knees) crawls to a position inside a room,  below a window. He carefully lifts the dummy head on its stick and slowly moves it as if it is a human peeking out from different angles. Finally a shot hits the head. The sniper, back in the hide uses the Scout Regiment Telescope to spot the German sniper up in a tree (not a good place to be!). Then he picks up his rifle and shoots the enemy sniper.  In the next scene a man is observing with the Scout Regiment Telescope and spots two Germans at the edge of a wood. 

In daylight, a different sniper moves up into the attic of a house. An observer is there and briefs him on the terrain with the help of a map. 

4/5 Running time – 10:11

Looking through existing holes in the roof, they search with binoculars and a Scout Regiment Telescope. A note is made of their observation.Using the binoculars, the Observer tells the sniper of a suspicious location. The sniper checks it with the Scout Regiment Telescope, and then takes a compass bearing while the Observer writes it in their log book. Probably an enemy machine gun position. A suspicious building with some roof tiles missing catches their attention. It looks like they called for artillery fire on a target because they congratulate each other. 

Another sniper team, each armed with a sniper rifle, a flashback to their briefing by the Intelligence Officer. They lay out their kit on a table, preparing for a mission.

Observer’s Kit – Sten Gun Mk.3., face veil, Prismatic Compass (carried in external left chest pocket of smock); Watch G.S. (carried in inner chest pocket on left side of smock); Scout Regiment Telescoope in its leather carrying case; map; Blaclava face veil;  two primed No. 36 M Mk. I hand grenades and two loaded magazines for the Sten Gun.

Sniper’s Kit –  Binoculars with some hessian wrapping as camouflage and the carryting strap tied to shorten it so that it is worn arround the neck and tucked into the front of the Denison smock,. Camouflage face paint applied using a mirror; Balaclava; Removing personal papers to leave behind in a small pack. Two primed No. 36 M Mk. I hand grenades, one in each bottom front pocket of the Denison smock. There is a bandolier of 50 rounds of .303 ammunition in chargers (stripper clips, but with the scope on the rifle thay would have to be loaded one at a time into the magazine), but he appears to only take 10 rounds out of the bandolier or maybe a few more. The sniper ensures that the two large knobs securing the scope bracket to the rifle are secure. He then checks the settings on range and windage. dials.

They head off and into a ruined building  and observe the terrain, staying well back from the window openings.

5/5 Running time –  9:54

The Scout Regiment Telescope has a face veil draped over it, but not in front of the lens. They leave the building and pass through a small wood, into a field with scattered bushes.I'm a Sniper - kneeling aimI’m a Sniper 

At a treeline, there is a road they cross by rushing across together in case the enemy had weapons covering it. Then they quickly get down on their bellies in the tall grass on the other side of the road. The sniper observes with binoculars while the observer moves up behind a bush (cover from view, not from fire), opens up the Scout Regiment Telescope and drapes a face veil over its body as camouflage. Leopard Crawl, Russian version. They take up a new firing position in bushes at the edge of a field. The sniper shoots a German. The other Germans reply with a machine gun, not knowing exactly where the sniper is. A second German is shot. The sniping team then withdraws

The film then dows a quick review of what it just covered.

Click on the link below to watch the first segment film “I’M A SNIPER”, then click on the boxes just below the main screen to view the other 4 segments.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060008775