During World War One the first true snipers were used in wartime, as opposed to the sharpshooters in the civil war, who were men with long muskets and fought out of formation. The term sniper was coined in the British occupied India, when hunters in search of an illusive bird called the snipe, would lie low and wait for it were referred to as snipers. The Germans were the first to use snipers in World War One, and became very skillfully at it. The Allies then turned the tables on the Germans by setting up the first sniper schools and becoming as good if not better than the Germans. The sniper also evolved in the war with the use of ghillie suits, which are camouflage coats with ground covering on the back, and other forms of hiding. The sniper was used a lot in this war, but it wasn't until later during World War Two that they were used extensively.
