David Healey: Ghost Sniper

The sniper’s eyes never stopped moving across the roof tops and the upper windows of the half-ruined houses. Unlike the others, his rifle was held at the ready so that he could put it to his shoulder in an instant. It just so happened that he still carried a Mauser.

They had been operating as a counter sniper unit, fighting mostly on their own, for weeks now. Sniper warfare across the bocage had been vicious, mainly because what they increasingly encountered was a variety of SS sniper that did not move strategically, but who buried himself like a tick. He occupied a sniper nest with a supply of ammunition and rations, and stayed until he was killed—or sometimes captured. Sadly, most of these stubborn German snipers were teenage boys who were so brainwashed about heroism and the glory of defending the Fatherland that they fought to the death. Unfortunately, they took the lives of too many Allied troops first.

Cole often wondered about the Ghost Sniper. Das Gespenst . Had he died in that flooded marsh? That was only weeks ago, but it seemed like years. Cole would have liked to have searched for the body, but the fighting had been too fierce for that. He could only trust that his bullet had struck home.

There had been reports of a sniper who operated in a way much different from the young SS fanatics. Outside Caen, this sniper had pinned down a large American unit, causing many casualties before slipping away. Similar sniper attacks had decimated an entire company on the approach to Cherbourg just a couple of days before.

Das Gespenst? The thought nagged at Cole. If the Ghost Sniper wasn’t dead, it was unfinished business.

Jolie Molyneaux had survived being shot, but she was still recovering in an Allied hospital. If this Von Stenger was still alive, Cole reckoned he owed it to Jolie to kill him. Revenge wasn’t a casual idea to someone like Micajah Cole—the notion of it coursed through his veins like blood.

“How come you never tell Reb to shut up, Lieutenant?” Vaccaro asked. “He never stops talking. You’d think he was trying to talk the goddamn Germans to death.”

“Shut up, Vaccaro,” Cole said.

The snipers moved on through the ruined city. Huge numbers of captured Germans moved in the opposite direction, their hands locked behind their heads, weary GIs marching beside them with weapons at the ready. Though the victors marched alongside the defeated, it was hard to say which side looked more exhausted.

“Where to next, Lieutenant?” Vaccaro asked. It just wasn’t in his nature to shut up.

The lieutenant stopped and looked around at the streets, now filled with American troops and German prisoners. A few French civilians had ventured out, looking with dismay and wonder at the piles of bricks and the broken streets. Beyond the town they could see the harbor, filled with American Navy ships. Someone had raised an American and a French flag in the city square. They snapped side by side in the breeze off the sea.

“I’d say we’re done here,” the lieutenant announced. He smiled. “So what’s next? Germany. I’d say we’re on our way to Germany.”

Despite the defeat and surrender of Cherbourg, not all the German troops on the Cotentin Peninsula had been captured. It was too big a place and there were too many woods and fields in which to elude the enemy.

Those who were left were now joining the retreat across the Seine into Belgium, dodging Allied aircraft and patrols.

A truck carrying battle-hardened Wehrmacht troops rolled down a dirt road through the countryside. Up ahead, a lone figure in a German uniform emerged from the woods and stood in the road, forcing the truck to stop.

Puzzled, the driver leaned out the window. He was surprised to see that the soldier carried a sniper’s rifle with a telescopic sight and that he wore a captain’s uniform. In the Wehrmacht, there were a few legendary soldiers, known for their bravery or prowess. With a start, the driver realized this must be the Ghost Sniper he had heard about.

“Are you on your way to fight or surrender?” the lone sniper asked.

“We are going to fight,” the driver said. His face was grim and determined. “The Amis have not won yet.”

“Do you have room for one more?”

“Of course, Herr Hauptmann. Do you wish to ride up front, sir? We can make room.”

“Thank you, but the back is fine.”

The sniper walked around and climbed in, taking care with the rifle and its telescopic sight, which he had been lucky to find on the battlefield after losing his prized Mosin-Nagant in the marshes around Bienville. He nodded at the grizzled German troops sitting there on benches. Then the truck lurched into gear and drove off toward Belgium.

Back in the 1990s I had the opportunity to spend some time interviewing D-Day veterans for a series of newspaper articles. Many of these men went ashore at Omaha Beach with the 29th Division, but a few of the men I interviewed were paratroopers, Coast Guardsmen who crewed landing craft, and even a clerk or two armed with typewriters. While I’ve read several books to gain a better understanding of D-Day operations, it’s really these first-hand accounts of men who were there in 1944 that have helped in creating the details of the Normandy campaign. Several of the incidents and descriptions of events come from their narratives. Experts on the Normandy campaign will see that I have taken some liberties in combining the events and geography of Carentan and Angoville au Plain in the final encounter between the Germans, Americans and British, at the fictional town of Bienville.

David Healey lives in Maryland where he worked as a journalist for more than 20 years. Visit him online at www.davidhealey.netor www.facebook.com/david.healey.books

Sharpshooter

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Winter Sniper

Time Reich

The House That Went Down With The Ship

The Sea Lord Chronicles

Beach Bodies

1812: Rediscovering Chesapeake Bay’s Forgotten War

Delmarva Legends and Lore

Great Storms of the Chesapeake

“ Sharpshooter has the feel of a techno-thriller, the kind offered by Tom Clancy or Dean Koontz… Sharpshooter moves quickly and is filled with all manner of intrigue.”

“Healey’s got a gift for recreating history, complete with compelling characters and the ring of authenticity in every scene.”

“ Sharpshooter pours out a thrilling and fast-moving story of fictional intrigue… guaranteed to hold your attention.”

“Honestly, the story was fascinating, and the point of views being used brought humanity into the storyline.”

“His research is one of a kind, and makes the story plausible.”

“Ghost Sniper is fast paced and will keep the reader’s attention throughout the novel.”