Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1918-06-04

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
q. 8. 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 60 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-
fessor Of bombing would dt 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
and rusty jam tins, while beside him
on the fire step would be 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,
and 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 q 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 q
button of his tunic and hand 1t to
the bomb maker with. "Well, blame
me, send this over as a souvenir" OF
another Tommy would volunteer an
old rusty and broken jackknife; both
would be accepted and inserted.
Then the professor would take an
other handful Of mud and f1ll the tin,
after which he would punch hole In
the lid of the tin and put 1t over the
top 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
Fritz 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 q match box; 1t was called q
STRIKER" There was tip like the
head Of a match on the fuse Of the
bomb. To ignite the fuse, you had to
rub 1t on the STRIKER" just the same
as striking q match. The fuse was
timed to five seconds or longer. Some
of the fuses issued in those days would
burn down In a second or two, while
others would "sizz" for week before
exploding. Back In Blighty the muni'
ton workers weren't quite up to snuf
the way they are now. II the fuse took
q notion to burn too quickly they gen.
orally buried the bomb maker next
day. So making bombs could not be
called "cushy" or safe job.
After making several bombs the pro.
fessor instructs the platoon in throw
ing them. He takes "jam tin" from
the fire step, trembling q little. be
cause 1t Is nervous work, especially
when new at 1t, lights the fuse on hif
striker. The fuse begins to "sixz" and
sputter and a spiral Of smoke, like
that from a smoldering fag. rises from
1t. The platoon splits In two and
ducks around the traverse nearest to
them. They don't like the looks and
sound Of the burning fuse. When that
fuse begins to smoke and "sizs" you
want to say good-by to 1t as soon as
possible, so Tommy with all his might
chucks 1t over the top and crouchet
against the parapet, waiting for tht
explosion.
Lots Of times In bombing the "tan
tin" would be picked up by the Ger
mans, before It exploded, and thrown
back at Tommy with dire results.
After q lot Of men went West In thii
manner an order was issued. reading
something like thiss
ITO all ranks In the British army
After igniting the fuse and before
throwing the jam-tin bomb, coun,
slowly onel twol threel"
This In order to give the fuse time
enough to burn down, so that the bomt
would explode before the German!
could throw It back.
Tommy read the order-he read.
them all, but after he lgnited the FUSE
and 1t began to smoke-orders were
forgotten, and away she went In recort
time and back she came to the further
discomfort Of the thrower.
Then another order was issued t.
count, zone hundred! two hundred
three hundredI" But Tommy didn''
care II the order read to count up tt
a thousand by quarters, he was goint
to get rid Of that "jam tin." because
from experience he had learned not
to trust 1t.
When the powers that be realized
that they could not change Tommy
they decided to change the type OF
bomb and did so-substituting the
chair brush" the "cricket ball" and
later the Mills bomb.
The standard bomb used In the Brit
lsh army is the "AIills." It is about the
shape and size Of a large lemon. Al
though not actually lemon, Fritz In
sists that II is; perhaps he judges It