Cresco plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1913-1945, 1918-06-28
OVID TIT: TOP
~
AN Al1rRlCAN SOLDIER
WHO WENT & 4
ARI11UlGQN Fr[pF<Y
MACHINE GUNNER SERVING N FRANCE
I @Ie7 81
N1huH GUY ef1eEYI

them.
This gun got our nerves on edge,
md Fr1tz seemed to know 1t, because
ne never gave US an hours rest. Our
reputation as machine gunners was at
stake; we tried various ruses to locate
and put this gun out Of action, but
each one proved to be failure, and
Fritz became worse nuisance than
ever. He was getting fresher and more
careless every day, took all kinds Of
liberties with us-thought he was in
vfncible.
Then one of our crew got brilliant
idea and we were all enthusiastic to
put It to the test.
Here was his scheme:
When firing my gun, I was to play
my tune, and Fritz, no doubt, would
fan for 1t, try to initiate me as an
added insult. This gunner and two
others would try, by the sound, to To-
cate Fritz and his gun. After having
got the location, they would mount
two machine guns In trees, in little
clump Of woods to the left Of our Gene
terry, and while Fritz was in the middle
Of his lesson, would open up and trust
to luck. BY our calculations, 1t would
take at least a week to pull of the
stunt.
II Fritz refused to swallow our bait,
It would be impossible to locate his
special gun, and that's the one We were
after, because they all sound alike, a
slow pup-pup-pup.
Our prestige was hanging by a
thread. In the battalion we had to en-
dure all kinds Of insults and fresh re-
marks as to our ability in silencing
Fritz. Even to the battalion that Ger
man gun was sore spot.
Next day, Fritz opened up as usual.
I let him fire away for a while and
then butted in with my ''pup-pup-pup-
pup-pup-pup." I kept this up quite
while, used two belts Of ammunition.
Fritz had stopped firing to listen. Then
he started in; sure enough. he had
fallen for our game, his gun was trying
to initiate mine, but. at first he made,a
horrible mess of that tune. Again I
butted in with O. few bars and stopped"
Then he tried to copy what had
played. He was good sport all right,
because his bullets were going away
over our heads, must have been firing
into the air. I commenced to feel
friendly towardehim.
This duet went on for five days.
Fritz was a good pupil and learned
rapidly, in fact, got better than his
teacher. I commenced to feel Jealous.
When he had completely mastered the
tune, he started sweeping the road
again and we clicked it worse than
ever. But he signed his death warrant
by doing so, because my friendship
turned to hate. Every time he fired he
played that tune and we danced.
The boys in the battalion gave us
the "Ha! Hal! They weren't In on
our little frameup.
The originator Of the ruse and the
other two gunners had Fritz's location
tapped 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 eleva-
tons, had their fire SO arranged, that,
opening up together, their bullets
would suddenly drop on Fritz IKE a
hailstorm.
About three the next day, Fritz start
ed "pup-pupphg" that tune. blew a
sharp blast on whistle, it was the sig
nal agreed upon; we turned loose and
Fritz's gun suddenly stopped in the
middle Of bar. We had cooked his |
goose, and our ruse had worked. After
firing two belts each, to make sure Of
our Job. we, hurriedly dismounted our
guns and took cover in the dugout. We
knew what to expect soon. We didn't |
have to wait long, three salvos of |
"whizz-bangs" came over from Fritz's |
artillery, further confirmation that |
we had sent that musical machine-gun
ner on his Westward-bound journey.
That gun never bothered us again.
We were the heroes Of the battalion,
our captain congratulated u.s., said it |
was a neat piece of work. and, conse-
luently, we were all pulled 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 as fol-
ows:
At night, when he mounts his gun
over the top Of his trench and wants
% get the range Of Fritz's trench he
adopts the method of what he terms
getting the sparks" This consists Of
iring bursts from his gun until the
,ullets hit the German barbed wire.
He can tell when they are cutting the
wire, because a bullet when it hits a
wire throws out blue electric spark.
fire - gerry damaging to
wire and causes many a Wiring party
o go out at night when it Is quiet to
epair the damage.
To disguise the flare of his gun at
light when firing, Tommy uses what Is
allied fare protector. This is a stove
'ipe Arrangement which fits over the