The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1918-05-04
CHAPTER XII.
Bombinq.

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 little
wooden cross at their heads. We were
"a rest billets. The next day our cap
tain asked for volunteers for bombers'
school. l gave my name and was ac-
-eepted. 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 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 tln," 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
uls, while In neutral countries they
call you an anarchist and give you
'~lIfe."
A'ih 'iiN WY 'hN N''H'''s
were well equipped with effective
bombs and trained bomb throwers, but
q 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-
Ndier guards, whom i had the good
fortune to meet, told me of the discour-
asements this branch of the service
suffered before they could meet the
Germans on an equal footing. Pacl-
lists and small army people in the
II. s. please read with care.) The first
English eypeditionary forces had no
bombs at all, but had clicked 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 n 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 fire
trench, as the case might be, and got
busy teaching their patoons how to
make "iam tins"
Previously an order had been issued
Tor. all ranks to save empty jam tins
fDr the manufacture of bombs. A pro-
Trssor of bombing would sit on the
, fire step in the front trench with the
remainder Of his section crowding
around TO see him work
On his left would be pile OF empty
nnd rusty jam tins, while beside him
on the fire step would be n miscella-
aeous assortment Of material used In
The manufacture OF the "jam tins
Tommy would stoop down, get an
,rmpty "Jam tin," take a handful of
iciayey mud from the parapet, and line
Ishe inside OF the tin with this sub
stance. Then he would reach over,
pick up his detonator and explosive.
land insert them in the tin, fuse pro-
iaruding. On the fire step would be
pile Of fragments OF shell, shrapnel
Tails, bits of iron, nails, etc.--anything
shat was hard enough to send over to
,f'ritz: he would scoop up handful OF
ishis junk and put 1t in the bomb. Per-
li,aps 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
A,uestioner would Immediately pull
button of his tunIc and hand 1t to
lshe 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
either handful of mud and I'll the tin,
after which he would punch hole In
The lid of the tin and put II over the
con of the bomb. the fuse sticking out.
Then perhaps he would tightly wrap
wire around the outside of the tin, and
The bomb was ready TO send over to
yritz 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 box; IL was called q
STRIKER" There was tip like the
head Of match on the fuse Of the