Daily Mail: Lieutenant Neville Methven, Britain's Top Sniper of World War I

The Daily Mail reports on Lieutenant Neville Methven who "led a crack sniper unit of 24 men who operated on the Western Front." According to the article, Methven killed more than 100 men, and his unit together killed more than 3,000 enemy troops in just two years. The article states that he was awarded the Military Cross for his exploits leading the Bailey's South African Sharpshooters. He was also awarded the British War Medal, the Victory Medal and the King George VI Coronation Medal. He was one of only four members of the unit that survived the war. 

    The article relates:

    Lieutenant Methven, the son of a linen manufacturer, was born in 1884 in Stirling, Scotland, but moved to Mozambique with his family as a child.

    He was initially hired as a private marksman for diamond and gold tycoon Sir Abe Bailey.

    In 1916, the British War Ministry approached South Africa to try and recruit skilled marksmen to bolster their ranks on the Western Front.

    At the time, the German snipers had been getting the upper hand on the battlefield, killing scores of British troops.

    Lieutenant Methven, owing to his exceptional marksmanship, was chosen to lead the S.A Sharpshooters who were deployed with the British 1st Division.

    He was in the thick of the action at the Battle of the Somme and in Passchendaele, where he received the Military Cross for 'distinguished service in the field'.

    Lieutenant Methven later recalled: 'One of their processes of operating was to go out, after reconnaissance, into no-man's land in the early hours of the morning, under an arranged and heavy bombardment.

    'At dawn we would be in position, invariably in old shell holes, overlooking the German trenches, our presence being unknown.

    'Again, by arrangement, a further heavy gun barrage would be laid across the German positions and, while the infernal din was going on, we would pick off the enemy in their trenches.

    'Their hats usually fell off or shot up in the air when hit'.

    Lieutenant Methven's skill was praised in a 1919 letter from General Peter Strickland, who told him: 'I have appreciated and valued the excellent services you and your men have rendered to the division.

    'I have known you all personally, and know of the grave hardships and dangers amid which you have served.

    'In the heavy fighting on the Somme your work was very marked, and you took a very heavy toll of the enemy in Belgium.

    'I call to mind the most distressing condition in the winters, and all this was borne by you all with the greatest determination and devotion.

    'Your duties called for great self-discipline, gallantry and coolness, qualities shown by you all in marked degrees.' 

The article goes on to state that, after the war, Methven worked as a game warden and trophy hunter, including killing 8 man-eating lions in the 1930s.