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Still required reading for Marine Corps snipers, and with good reason. McBride describes making "hides" for sniping, and he describes what happens when the "hides" aren't quite good enough to fool the eagle-eyed German counter-snipers. Read this book is you are a rifleman, a student of warfare, of tactics, of sniping, of history, trench warfare, battle psychology,. McBride sought out action, and atest for his skills, in World War One by leaving his native Midwest and joining the Canadian Army. A Rifleman Went to War is one of the best combat books ever written- far better than the more famous Storm of Steel by the German novelist and General Ernst Junger (although that's a must read, also). He was no wet behind the ears boy recruit - he was a grown man, with years of experience in the Far North, in mining camps, and in the National Guard. H.W. His descriptions of this intense and brutal life, well written in just-a-bit antiquainted American English, are masterful.
Foremost, McBride was a nationally ranked marksman, and it was this skill that shaped his experiences in the trenches and killing fields of the First World War. He writes of war as an eager, cold-eyed participant, a warrior hunting targets on the field of battle, making raids, matching wits with German snipers and random gunners in a winner take all game, played in a landscape of absolute destruction. the list can be as long as you want to make it. Hal Herringauthor:Famous Firearms of the Old West: From Wild Bill Hickok's Colt Revolvers to Geronimo's Winchester, Twelve Guns That Shaped Our History
But there is no complaining, whining or bad-mouthing in this which seems so common in today's published war stories. This book used to be required reading in the Marine Corps Scout Sniper Schooling.hope it still is.Few books have captured the grinding boredom and unwavering terror, the fatiguing sleeplessness of war as does this book. Just tough as nails honesty from one man's perception.If one wants a first hand account of combat without the Hollywood fluff and before publishing editors spiced up combat accounts of wars and battles into a marketable SNAFU, this is one of the best picks around.While it may be one man's account, it is the account of one exceptionally proficient true warrior and killer of men in combat who makes no excuses for what he did.It's sheer rawness cannot be ignored and must be fully understood.In my system of beliefs: A RIFLEMAN WENT TO WAR is one of the most honest accounts of contemporary warfare methods and brutally ever printed.Rev. Along with the fact that this book is a fast collection of the reflections of an individual soldier neck deep in serving and surviving the killing of war, much is spoken about preventing being killed as well, making this a unique work of prose, a true war classic.In his intelligent, direct and purely utilitarian fashion, McBride paints a vivid picture of how he survived, prevailed and experienced the lethality of the European Battlefield of World War One as an expert rifleman. He even honestly speaks about how the war eventually wore him down. A. Bodhi Chenevey, RM, DD
This book was even used as a text when the U.S. This book is a must read for riflemen. This is the classic account detailing rifle use during trench warfare with a focus on sniping. military "rediscovered" sniping after the quiet times following WW I, WW II, and Korea. Also look for his other work, "The Emma Gees".
A soldier with.303 British (about equal to modern NATO 7.62 ammo) could only carry about 200 to 300 rounds. They are still useful today. McBride thinks both the British and Canadian Armies did much better with their training time than the US military. However, Mr. He talks about sniping, putting in a properly sighted machine gun, raids, and patrols.
Now, this book was written in the mid-1930s. As written before, this book is five star. McBride has written a book that nearly perfectly talks about what can be expected from a modern infantry man. So, Mr.
Indeed, he thinks the US Army and military is overly tied up with paperwork. Some were rigged to go off if picked up. McBride knows the problems of lugging ammunition. McBride thinks the armies should carry ammunition of about.27 caliber. McBride writes a book about the birth of the modern infantry man.
Mr. And that observation was made in 1918.This is a five star book by a soldier who knows his field craft. Pay attention to his anti-sniper traps. Also, the book is great for telling about how the Germans would leave abandoned grenades after an attack. This is exactly the same solution the US Army discovered after 5 years in Iraq.I liked this book. Indeed, their is little difference between a Tommy of WWI with a Lewis gun and a Grunt in Vietnam carrying an M-60 machinegun. Honestly, this book is so good that most Army ROTC and Marine Infantry instruction may want to have their future officers and NCO candidates read this book.I will give you a story that really stuck me as being ahead of its time.
In 50 years little had changed.The modern professional soldier can learn a lot from this book. That is almost exactly 6.8 mm. Mr. Mr. Some university military history departments may want this book for an individual study of a hard infantry man.
Also notable to me for how it reaches across 70 years to contrast how we've changed as a people. A thoughroughly enjoyable, mesmerizing, collection of a soldier's WWI remembrances. For example, I don't think this book would be published as written today. Somehow manages to be more than the sum of its plainly told, shy, politically incorrect, wars is hell but you get used to it parts. It ends up assembling and describing bit by bit the remarkable character of the author. The editor would have probably added more polish, removed some of the namecalling and stereotyping and would have thus diminished the book.
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