The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1918-08-09
CHAPTER XII.
Bombing.


The boys in the section welcomed me
back, but there were many strange
faces. Several of our men had gone
West in that charge, and were lying
somewhere In France" with a little
wooden cross at their heads. We were
in rest billets. The next day our cap
tain asked for volunteers for bombers
school. gave my name and was ac-
.cepted. l had Joined the Suicide club,
and my troubles commenced. Thirty
two men of the battalion, including my
self, were sent to l., where we
went through a course in bombing.
Here we were instructed In the uses,
methods of throwing and manufacture
OF various kinds Of hand grenades,
from the old "jam tin," now obsolete,
to the present Mills bomb, the standard
of the British army.
1t all depends where you are as to
what you are called. In France they
call you "bomber" and give you med
ais, whiG in neutral countries they
call you an anarchist and give you
"life."
From the very start the Germans
were well equipped with effective
bombs and trained bomb throwers, but
the English army was as little pre-
pared in this important department of
fighting as in many others. At bomb
Ing school an old sergeant of the Gren-
adler guards, whom / 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. (Paci-
fists and small army people in the
U. s. please read with care.) The first
English expeditlonary forces had no
bombs at all, but had clicked q lot Of
casualties from those thrown by the
Boches. One bright morning someone
higher up had an idea and issued an
order detailing two men from each
platoon to go to bombing school to
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 blllets or in the fire |
trench, as the case might be, and got |
busy teaching their platoons how to
make "jam tins"
Previously an order had been issued
for all ranks to save empty jam tins
for the manufacture OF bombs. A pro-
fesSOr of bombing would sit on the
fire step In the front trench with the
t.
around to see him work.
On his left would be pile of empty
and rusty jam tins, while beside him
on the fire step would be q miscella-
neous assortment of material used in
the manufacture of the "jam tins"
Tommy would stoop down, get an
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,
md insert them in the tin, fuse pro-
truding. On the fire step would be a
pile of fragments of shell, shrapnel
balls, bits of iron, nails, etc.-anything
that was hard enough to send over to
Fritz; he would scoop up handful of
his junk and put 1t in the bomb. Per
laps one of the platoon would ask him [
what he did this for, and he would S
explain that when the bomb exploded b
hese bits would fly about and kill or Z
wound any German hit by same; the O
luestioner would Immediately pull q s
,utton off his tunic and hand it to 8
he bomb maker with, "Well, blame a
ne, send this over as souvenir" or "
mother Tommy would volunteer an b
Id rusty and broken jackknife; both
would be accepted and inserted. fl
Then the professor would take an q
ther handful Of mud and fill the tin, k
fter which he would punch hole in le
he lid of the tin and put it over the
ID of the bomb, the fuse sticking out lie
hen perhaps he would tightly wrap W
ire around the outside Of the tin, and cl
ne bomb was ready to send over to th
ritz with Tommy's compliments. tn
A piece Of wood about four inches pl
ide had been issued. This was to be re
raped on the left forearm by means
LWO ASOIAVA olAupS anu was Inc -
de Of match box; 1t was called a a
striker" There was a tip like the to
cad Of a match on the fuse of the or
)mb. To ignite the fuse, you had to bo
Id 1t on the STRIKER" just the same so
J striking a match. The fuse was
med to five seconds or longer. Some gr
the fuses issued in those days would is
lrn down in a second or two, while
hers would "sizz" for week before th,
plodiAg. Back in Blighty the muni- sill
IN workers weren't quite up to SNUFF, ex
Q way they are now. If the fuse took DO
notion to burn too quickly they gen. be
ally buried the bomb maker next to
y. So making bombs could not be RIG
He'd "cushy" or safe job. vol
After making several bombs the pro. ov,
ssOr instructs the platoon in throw in
: them. He takes "jam tin" from the