The Glenwood post., 1918-04-27

lighting as in many others. At bomb,
Ing school an old sergeant Of the Gren-
adler guards, whom I had the good
fortune to meet, told me Of the discour-
agements this branch Of the service
suffered before they could meet the
Germans on an equal footing. CPaci-
fists and small army people In the
U. 8. please read with carey The nrsts
English expeditionary forces had NO
bombs at all, but had clicked lot o1
casualties from those thrown by tho
Boches. One bright morning someone
higher up had an idea and issued an.
order detailing two men from each
learn the duties of a bomber and how
to manufacture bombs. Noncommis-
stoned Officers were generally selected
for this course. After about two
weeks at school they returned to their
units in rest billets or In the dre
trench, as the case might be, and GET
busy teaching their platoons how to
mako "jam tins"
Previously an order had been issued
for all ranks to save empty Jam tins
for the manufacture Of bombs. A pro-
fessoS Of bombing would sit on ths
fire step In the front trench with the
remainder Of his section crowdine
around to see him work.
On his loft would be pile Of empty
and rusty Jam tins. while beside him
on the nre step would be q miscella-
neous assortment Of material used in
the manufacture Of the "jam tins"
Tommy would stoop down, get IN
empty "Jam tin." take a handful Of.
clayey mud from the parapet, and line;
the inside of the tin with this sub
stance. Then he would reach over.
pick up his detonator and explosive.
and insert them in the tin, fuse pro-
truding. On the fire step would be a
pile Of fragments Of shell, shrapnel
halls, bits Of iron. nails, etc.-anythinR
that wns hard enough to send over to
Fritz; he would scoop up handful Of
this junk and put it In the bomb. Per-
haps one Of the platoon would ask him
what he did this for, and he would
explain that when the bomb exploded
these bits would fly about and kill or
wound any German hit by same; the
questioner would Immediately pull n
button off his tunic and hand it to
the bomb maker with, swell, blame
me, send this over as a souvenir" or
another Tommy would volunteer an
old rusty and broken jackknife; both
would be accepted and inserted.
Then the professor would take an-
other handful of mud and fill the tin,
after which he would punch hole in
the lid Of the tin and put 1t over the
top of the bomb, the fuse sticking cut.
Then perhaps he would tightly wrap
wire around the outside of the tin, and
the bomb was ready to send over to
Fritz with Tommy's compliments.
A piece of wood about four inches
wide had been issued. This was to be
strapped on the left forearm by means
of two leather straps and was like the
side Of match boy: it was called
STRIKER" There was tip like the
head of n match on the fuse of the
bomb. To ignite the fuse, you had to
rub it on the STRIKER" Just the same
as striking match. The fuse was
timed to five seconds or longer. Some
of the fuses issued in those days would
burn down in second or two, while
others would "sizz' for week before
exploding. Back in Blighty the NUM-
tion workers weren't quite up to snuff,
the way they are now. If the fuse took
a notion to burn too quickly they gen.
orally buried the bomb maker next
day. So making bombs could not be
called "cushy" or safe job.
After making several bombs the pro
fessor instructs the platoon in throw
ing them. He taxes tam tin'' from
the IRE step. trembling 4 little, be-
cause It is nervous work, especially
when new at 1t, lights the fuse on his
striker. The fuse begins to 'six1" ana
sputter and a spiral Of smoke, like
that from smoldering fag, rises from
1t. The platoon .p;its in two anc
ducks around the traverse nearest to-
them. They don't like the looks and
sound Of the burning fuse. When that
fuse begins to smoke and "sizz" you
want to say good-by to 1t as soon asl
possible, so Tommy with all his might
chucks 1t over the top. and crouchee
against the parapet, waiting for the
explosion.
Ito be Continued)