The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1917-10-20


wrist watch and saw that there re-
mained but five minutes more Of the
time which had been allotted for our
stay In the trench, SO blew my whis-
tie and started back. had seen Pri-
vate Green (NO III ,250) knocked down
by bomb in the next section, and
picked him up and carried him out
over the wrecked parapet. took shell
ter with him In the first shell hole, but
! found that he was dead and left him
there. A few yards farther back to-
ward our line l found Lance Corporal
Glass in shell hole with part Of his
hip shot away. He said he thought he
could get back II l helped him, and
started with him. Private Hunter,
who had been IN neighboring shell
hole, came to our assistance, and be-
tween us Hunter and l got Glass to
our front trench.
We found them lining up the surviy.
Ors Of our party for roll call. That
showed so many missing that Major
Lewis, formerly of the Montreal Star,
called for volunteers to so out in No
Mans Land and try to find some of
our men. Corporal Charleson, Private
Saunders and went out. We brought
in two wounded, and we saw a number
Of dead, but on account Of their black
ened faces were unable to recognize
them. The scouts later brought In sew
eral bodies.
OF the sixty odd men who had start
ed in our party fOrty-three were found
to be asualties-killed, wounded or
missing. The missing list was the
longest. The names OF those men were
marked I'm. b. K" missing; believed
killed. on our rolls. I have learned
since that some few Of them have been
reported through Switzerland as pris-
Oners of war in Germany, but most of
them are now officially listed as dead.
All of the survivors Of the raiding
party were sent twenty miles to the
rear at o'clock, and the noncOmmis-
stoned officers were ordered to make
reports in writing concerning the en-
tire raid. 1 never slept more than an
hour at a time for several days and
nights. would dOze of from sheer
exhaustion and then suddenly find my
self sitting straight up, scared half to
death all over again.
There may be soldiers who won't
get scared when they know they are
in danger or even when people are be-
ing killed right around them, but I'm
not one Of them. And I've never met
nP
Won the military cross in the battle Of
the SOmme, and / saw him on his
knees before his platoon commander,
shamelessly crying be was coward
and begging to be left behind, just
when the order to advance was given.
In this war in every offensive, big
or small, the man who has been train
ed to throw a bomb thirty yards Is
buster and more important than the
fellow with the modern rifle, which
will shoot mile and half and make
hole through a house. In a good
many surprising ways this war has
carried us back to first principles. l
remember crusaders mace which I
once saw in the British museum that
would make bang up knob kerrie,
much better than the kind with which
they arm our No. men In a raiding
section. 1t had round iron head,
with spikes all over 1t. l wonder that
they haven't started factory to turn
them out.
Tricks of Bombing.
When the Canadians first introduced
bombing the bombs were improvised
out OF mess tins, the fuses were cut
according to the taste and judgment
OF the individual bomber, and just
when the bomb would explode was
more or less problematical. Frequent
ly the Germans have tossed our bombs
back into our trenches before they
went off. That was dangerous and ir-
ritating They can't do that with
Mills grenade or any of the improved
factory made bombs, because the men
know just how they are timed and are
trained to know just how to throw
them. Then the Germans used to
work little bomb trick Of their own.
They learned that our scouts and raid
ers were all anxious to get German
helmet as a souvenir. They'd put hel.
NETS on the ground In No Mans Land
or in an advanced trench with bombs
under them. In several cases men
looking for souvenirs suddenly became
mere memories themselves.
In several raids when bombing was
new the Canadians worked a trick on
the Germans with extensively fatal eff.
feet. They tossed bombs into the
German trenches with six inch fuses
attached. TO the Germans they looked
just like the other bombs we had been
using. and, in fact, they were-all but
the fuses. Instead Of having failed
to continue burning, as the Germans
thought, those fuses had never been
lighted. They were instantaneous fuses.
The ignition spark will travel through
an instantaneous fuse ut the rate of