Ed & Ray Hersman in WWII - Robert Marks.org

4.4. HUNTING SNIPERS Ed & Ray Hersman in WWIIand then moved another position a half mile or so away and took anothershot. By plotting two intersecting lines on the map, we hoped to determinehis position. We were in a hedgerow and I was trying to plot the positionwhen a German fired in between us. He was so close we felt the muzzle blastfrom his gun. The brush was so thick we couldn’t see him and most likelyhe was shooting at our voices. We quickly left that hedgerow, but I threw agrenade where he was.4.3.3 The Sound of BulletsWe called for artillery fire on the tank position we plotted and we were close.We heard the tank start up and move away but we didn’t get any hits. sniperswere everywhere in Normandy. The German sniper in general was a lousyshot. Bullets have about four distinctive sounds depending how close theyare. A high pitched speeding bee sound means it is not very close, a highpitched bumble bee sound means it is pretty close, a sound like a loud bangor crack means it is within a very few inches, if near your head your earswill ring, and of course the that hits you, you don’t hear. The bullet noisesare generally followed by a loud crack which is the sonic boom of the bullet.Scouting between the line companies I was constantly shot at by snipers andlearned the bullet noises. I generally ignored the high pitch bee sound butwould use concealment and cover for the bumble bee sound. I only heart theloud ear ringing crack once or twice and I moved fast when I did.4.4 Hunting SnipersI hunted snipers. The sniper is afraid and generally to get him to stopshooting, I would put my binoculars to my eyes and scan the place I thoughthe was hiding. Sometimes I would point my rifle at where I thought he was.Sometimes I would actually shoot up the tree or hedgerow I thought he wasin. Nearly always he would stop shooting.47