Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1918-10-01
CHAPTER XII.
Bombing.

4
The boys In the section welcomed me
hack. but there we're 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
In rest billets. The next day our cap
tain asked for volunteers for bomDers
school. I gave my name and was &C
cepted. / 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. while 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 l 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. (Pacl-
fists and small army people In the
u. S. please read with care.) The first
English expeditionary 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 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 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-
lessor OF bombing would sit on the
fire step In the front trench with the
remainder Of his section crowdlng
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 miscella-
neous assortment of material used In
the manufacture of the Siam tins
Tommy would stoop down, get an
empty liam 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
pile of fragments OF shell, shrapnel
balls, bits of iron, nails. etc.--anything
that was hard enough to send over ia
Fritz; he would scoop up handful OF
this junk and put 1t 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 OF
wound any German hit by same; the
questioner would Immediately pull O
button OF his tunic and hand 1t tc
the bomb maker with. "Well, blame
me. send this over as souvenir" oil
another Tommy would volunteer al
old rusty and broken jackknife; botf
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 II
the lid of the tin and put 1t over th'
top of the bomb, the fuse sticking out
Then perhaps he would tightly wral
wire around the outside of the tin. ant
the bomb was ready to send over t
Fritz with TorvNN's compliments.
A piece of wood about four inche
wide had been issued. This was to b.
strapped on the left forearm by mean
of two leather straps and was like tn
side of O match box; it was called
STRIKER" There was a tip like tn
head Of a match on the fuse Of tn