Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-03-22

i ndu plaSeu. ne WIS d Sooo 'PN
right, because his bullets were golns
away over our heads. must have Deeh
firing into the air. l commenced 10
feel friendly toward him.
This duet went on for five days.
Fritz was Il good pupil and learned
rapidly. in fact, got better than ms
teacher commenced TO feel jealous.
When he had completely mastered the
tune. he started sweeping the roId
again and we clicked 1t worse than
ever. But he signed his death war
rant by doing so. because my friend
ship turned 10 hate. Every time he
fired he played that tune and We
danced.
The boys in the battalion gave Us
the "Ha! Ha," They weren't in Oh
our little frameup.
The originator Of the ruse and the
other two gunners had Fritz's location
taped to the minute; they mounted
their two guns, and also gave me the
range. The next afternoon was set for
the grand finale.
Our three guns, with different ele-
vations. had their fire so arranged that
opening up together, their bullets
would suddenly drop on Fritz like L
hailstorm.
About three the next day Fritz
started pup p-puping" that tune. blew
IL sharp blast on Il whistle, it was the
signal agreed upon: we turned loose
and Fritz's gun suddenly stopped in
the middle of u bar. We had cooked
his goose, and our ruse had worked.
After firing two belts each. to make
sure of our job, we hurriedly dis
mounted our guns and took cover III
the dugout. We knew what TO expect
soon. We didn't have to wait long,
three s;Ilvus of ''whi.z-bangs" came
over from FrtZ's artillery, Il further
confirmation that we had sent thal
musician gunner on his WeStward-
bound journey.
That gun never bothered us again.
We were the heroes of the battalion.
our captain congratulated us. said II
was Il neat piece Of work, and. consc-
uucntly. we were all pulfed up over
the stunt.
There are several ways Tommy
USES to disguise the location of his
machine gun and get his range. Some
of the most commonly used stunts
are rs follows:
At night when he mounts his gun
over the top of his trench and wants
TO get the range of FritZ's trench he
adopts the method of what he terms
getting the sparks" This consists OF
firing bursts from his gun until the
bullets hit the German barbed wire.
He can tell when they are cutting the
wire, because Il bullet when II hits a
wire throws out blue electric spark.
Machine gun fire is very damaging 10
wire and causes many a wiring party
TO 90 out at night when IL Is quiet to
repair damage.
To disguise the flare Of his gun at
night when firing Tommy uses what Is
called a flare protector. This Is stove
pita. nTnaigentrrt -wnrcn ms over rne
barrel casing Of the gun and screens
the sparks from the right and left, but
not from the front. So Tommy, always
resourceful, adopts this scheme:
About three feet or less in front OF the
gun he drives two stakes into the
ground, about five feet apart Across
these stakes he stretches Il curtain
made out uf empty sandbags ripped
opcn. He soaks this curtain In water
and fires through 1t. The water pre-
vents il catching fire and effectively
screens the flare of the firing gun
from the enemy.
Sound is a valuable asset in locating
n machine gun, but Tommy surmounts
this obstacle by placing two machine
guns about one hundred to one hun
drcd and fifty yards apart. The gun
IN the right to cover with its fire the
sector of the left gun and the gun on
the left to cover that of the right
gun. This makes their fire cross; they
are fired simultaneously.
Ry this method it sounds like one
gun firing and gives the Germans the
impression that the gun Is firing from
IA point midway between the guns
n A. n
which are actually firing. and they ac-
cordingly shell that particular spot
The machine gunners chuckle and say
Fritz is br:liny boy. not ALI ne
amt
But the men in our lines at the spot
being shelled curse Fritz for his igno-
rance and pass few pert remarks
down the line in reference to- the ma
chine gunners being windy ana
afraid to take their medicine.
(To BE Continued.)