I am delighted to be publishing a Weapon-series volume on the sniping weapons used during World War II in Asia and the Pacific. The author, John Walter, is an authority on military firearms and has written widely on sniping and sniping weaponry. He not only explains the origins, development, strengths and limitations of the various rifles and their accessories used by both sides, but also explains how the challenging and varied settings in which snipers were required to operate affected the rifles’ use in combat. It’s a great opportunity to broaden out our artwork coverage, too, with no fewer than four weapon cutaways drawn by Alan Gilliland as well as two of the series’ customary superb battlescene illustrations, in this case prepared by Johnny Shumate.

 

Sniping Rifles in the War Against Japan 1941–45

By John Walter

Fully illustrated, this absorbing study explores the evolving sniping technology and tactics employed by both sides in Asia and the Pacific during 1941–45.

During World War II, both the Japanese and their Allied opponents made widespread use of snipers armed with a variety of rifles, scopes and accessories and prepared by widely differing levels of training and tactical doctrine. The challenges of fighting in a variety of harsh environments, from the Pacific islands to the vast expanses of China, prompted improvisation and innovation on both sides in the ongoing war between snipers and their adversaries. Often operating at relatively close ranges in restrictive terrain, snipers made particularly ingenious use of camouflage and deception as the fighting spread across Asia and the Pacific in the wake of the Pearl Harbor attack, while troops tasked with countering enemy marksmen had to learn the hard way how best to defeat a seemingly invisible enemy.

Small arms expert John Walter considers the strengths and limitations of the rifles, scopes and accessories deployed by Japanese snipers and their Allied counterparts, as well as their different approaches to sniping tactics and training. Specially commissioned artwork and carefully chosen photographs illustrate this enthralling study of the sniping war in Asia and the Pacific during World War II.

Next week we'll be back with the big reveal for our new Fleet series.