A sniper is not just a good shot. While marksmanship is crucial, it is
not this alone that defines the sniper. Snipers must also be superb
bushmen, possess limitless patience, iron discipline, rat cunning,
extraordinary stamina and attract more than their share of luck. The
well-trained sniper will stalk his enemy or lie in wait for his target
to appear. He will eliminate his target with just one shot and escape to
repeat his mission time and again. The history of the Australian Army is
replete with untold tales of brave men who built reputations as daring
and skilful snipers. From the training grounds of the Boer War and First
World War, Australian snipers honed their deadly skills and earned a
fearsome reputation. In the Second World War they duelled with their
German counterparts in the Western Desert and the hardy Japanese snipers
of the Pacific War. The valuable lessons of two major wars had to be
relearned for the Korean War where 'naïve young men who knew nothing of
combat sniping' learned quickly or didn't survive.
The snipers of today's Australian Army have learned the lessons of
history and are held in the same high regard by friend and foe as their
Gallipoli forebears. Snipers have become an essential force multiplier
and have deployed on every operation since Somalia. One Shot Kills is
the story of the sniper's journey from the South African veldt to the
recent battlegrounds of Iraq and Afghanistan. It is also the story of
the development of the modern sniper's combat weapon system in which
technology has been harnessed to produce extraordinary results on the
battlefield. Australian Army snipers are justifiably regarded as among
the best in the world.
