Fake sniper photo?

[Peter H]

From the AWM website.

Two Anzac soldiers stand on either side of a captured Turkish sniper. Turkish snipers sometimes concealed themselves in bushes for camouflage. This scene could depict the capture of a Turkich sniper described in a letter from from 1763 Private Arthur Greenwood, 8 Battalion, R[oyal] V[ictoria] Hospital, Netley, [Hampshire], to his family, dated 16 February 1916. Greenwood's letter was written in response to his parents having seen a photograph of himself and another Anzac,identified by Greenwood as "G. Clifton NSW" (possibly 1930 George Clifton, 8th Battalion, later 5th Pioneer Battalion), escorting a camouflaged Turkish sniper. Greenwood wrote: "That Black you see in the picture was concealed in the scrub decorated as you see him you could not see him in daytime he being exactly like a bush..." The sniper had been hiding in scrub for some time -- "He was getting a lot of our men all the time" -- before Greenwood and Clifton disabled him at dusk. Greenwood noted that at least two photographs exist of the scene. However, the authenticity of this photograph remains uncertain. Charles Bean often drew attention to its uncertain origins. He wrote of it as "a complete fake. It was taken at Imbros. The Australians are from the Field Battery, and the Turk is a prisoner from the camp there."

[Bill Woerlee]

Peter

G'day mate

Interesting comments regarding that pic.

This representation of the Turkish sniper is in line with the report detailed in the London Times of 16 July 1915, at page 4 we read of this description of Turkish snipers:

Marksmen in Green.

Some most remarkable devices seem to have been adopted by tho Turkish marksmen. Thus one man had his face painted green so that it would be indistinguishable among the leaves of the tree in which he hid. He was dressed in green clothes. Another sharpshooter, who worked from a trench, had erected a bush in front of him; his presence was betrayed by the disappearance of the bush into the trench during a period of inactivity. While night attacks were in progress, a fresh batch of sharpshooters invariably tried to pass behind our trenches and conceal themselves in trees or behind shrubs, and thus there was danger from the rear as well as from, in front.

This article was an introduction to a fantasy story of the female sniper at Gallipoli but the detail presented here seems to have required pictorial evidence. So we now see the notion of the Turkish sniper described by the Times now becoming personified with a pic which proves the information.

Over time, it looks like the pic gained a great deal of mythology attached to it that was never originally attributed to the pic. I have posted below the original pic as it appeared in the Sydney Mail, 22 September 1915, page 10. I have left the caption on the pic. The thing to notice is that it deals with the ingenuity of disguise rather than attributing time and place of capture. While the caption may infer that it was taken at Anzac, a careful reading reveals that this is what the sniper looked like on being captured by a British Patrol. This is probably the most important qualifier. Bean's comments about the authenticity only came after wild claims were made. His conclusions fit in with the caption. Through the use of vague language, the caption makes no claim as to the person in the pic represented as a sniper was the actual sniper captured. So Bean's comment that the troops took this pic on Imbros fit in with the caption.

Cheers

Bill

[Tosun Saral]

Mates It is an honour for us to introduce always new war tactics. To day the famous commandos paint their faces, have camouflage uniforms.
Let me tell you something It was the Turkish army first dig in againts enemy artillary fire. The one man foxholes was firstly introduced by Turks during Turco-Russian war 1877-78 at the Plevne Front on the Danube by Turkish commander in chief Fieldmarchall Ghazi Osman Pasha.


President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk inspecting Turkish manevreus at Tracien/Eupean part of Turkey on August 20th 1937. Turkey waited an attack of Nazi from Balkans
http://images.google.com.tr/imgres?imgu ... r%26sa%3DN

[Peter H]

Bill,

Thanks for the detailed info on the sniper photo.

Regards
Peter