A heavily worn German soldier's identity book, a 'soldbuch' issued to 'Schartschutzen' ('sharpshooter') Josef Roach on March 30, 1915. His personal information and service history is present on the first few pages but his photograph is absent. Roach was trained in Wurttemberg and served in the 53rd Westphalian infantry, a part of the VII German Army Corps, and saw action at the battles of First Marne and First Ypres. Accompanied by two associated medals, a black wound badge, and an Iron Cross, First Class. Soldbuch is heavily worn with loose pages, chipping, and toning. Although sharpshooters existed on both sides, the Germans specially equipped some of their soldiers with scoped rifles that could pick off enemies who showed their heads out of the trenches. At first the French and British believed such killings to be coincidental, until the German sniper rifles were discovered. During World War I, the German army gained a reputation for the deadliness and efficiency of its snipers, partly because of the high-quality lenses that German industry manufactured, but also the rigorous training their sharpshooters underwent.