Royal Marines have been wearing a crossed rifles badge to show competence as a marksman since at least 1893!
Royal Marine Snipers during WW2
In 1942 Derrick Edmund Cakebread serving with 5th Battalion Royal Marines was issued a big box by the QM, and asked to sign for it, when he opened it it contained an American P14 sniper rifle, he was not yet a sniper and had not volunteered but quickly found himself loaded onto a sniper course at Penally S Wales.
Here skills honed including zeroing and grouping, field firing, methods of judging distance; camouflage, snap shooting, and field craft.
They used mud to blacken the face and cover exposed skin and with a camouflage net over the head they would generally shoot at targets from 100 - 500yds, watching for the effects of dead ground on distance and using the trees to judge wind speed.
The Battalion in Hursley formed a sniping section with 2 snipers from each company, 8 in all.
They were then issued with the No.4 Lee Enfield, these were standard issued rifles selected for their accuracy during factory tests, and modified with the addition of a wooden cheek rising-piece and mounts to take the No. 32 3.5× telescopic sight, they were then designated the No. 4 Mk.I (T) (Telescopic).
They were also provided with a breech cover and a felt valise to protect it from the elements and accidental damage. A special sling was also fitted to the rifle to enable it to be braced for aiming and firing.
Derek then attended the Army Sniper course in north Devon, practicing navigation, and stalking over the dunes at Woolacombe.
After the forming of 45 (Royal Marines) Commando and completing his Commando course Derek attended the Commando Sniping course which was deer stalking with the game keepers in Scotland.
During the battle for Normandy the two snipers from each Troop were used as point men, likely conducting route selection and scouting ahead to ensure the path was clear of enemy.
It was here, especially during the impasse in the Orne Bridghead sniping came into its own, a Brigade Sniper section was formed and sniper pairs would exploit no mans land, watching for enemy activity, gathering intelligence and topographical information between the forward lines.
Snipers would operate in day light hours, for around 6 - 8 hours a day, and on completion would also take part in other patrolling activities.
Derek was credited with over 30 kills.
'Tommy' Edward Charles Treacher also from 45 (RM) CDO tells how he and Derek were a sniper pair and on joining the Brigade Sniper section they would be sent out by the Intelligence Officer Lt Bryan Samain (Author of Commando Men)
They would pass through 3 CDO lines and head towards Longuemare Farm the pair would find two separate but mutually supporting positions around 20 yds apart where they were to observe the road, report on the effects of shelling on the roads, and shoot any opportune targets.
They would head back around dusk before the Germans moved back into the area.
On one occasion a runner came looking for them shouting their names, close the the enemy lines the pair were surprised, but when they learned a Naval Bombardment was imminent they ran like 'Roger Banister' escaping just in time.
Lord Lovat in his memoirs 'March Past' mention Derek Cakebread (p.354) and the effects of the snipers within the overall plan in the Le Plein area,
'The vigorous offensive policy carried out made it difficult for the Germans to mount any fresh attack'
Samian in Commando men also recounts this period:
These sniping expeditions were generally successful, as they deserved to be, for it was extremely hazardous to venture as close to the enemy's positions in broad daylight as our snipers did, crawling to within a distance of one hundred yards. There they would lie in wait, heavily camouflaged, in a nearby hedgerow: motionless, despite the fact that they were, as often as not, plagued incessantly by mosquitoes.
One of the best snipers in our Commando was a Marine named Cakebread. A hairdresser before the war, Cakebread accounted for over thirty Germans in the Normandy campaign alone.
Snipers normally used used the standard ammunition pouches and containing all or most of the following:
50 X .303” SAA rounds of ammunition selected by the sniper
5 X tracer bullets
5 X armour piercing bullets
2 X No36 grenades (Mills Bomb)
2 x Smoke Grenades
Other equipment may of included
A pair of No2 MkII binoculars in a carrying case
A compass with carrying case
A watch
A camouflage net
Kid Gloves
The sniper could also have a camouflaged Denison smock as worn by paratroops.
In the mid Seventies the RM Snipers course was the only snipers course held within the British armed forces, the USMC based their sniper training on RM lines, and the British Army realising that they had lost a useful military asset sent soldier on courses and in turn set up their own individual Regimental courses.
'Tommy' Edward Charles Treacher was seriously wounded during operations in Wesel during the Rhine crossing and sent to 6th Gen Hospital Belgium and evacuated to hospital in the UK.
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