Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1918-06-21
CHAPTER XXI.
PunIshnents and Maehlne.eun Stunts,

Y
that In the British army discipline is
very strict One has to be very care
full In order to stay on the narrow path |
of government virtue.
There are about seven million ways
of breaking the kings regulations; to
keep one you have to break another.
The worst punishment is death by a
firing squad, or "up against the wall"
as Tommy calls II.
This Is for dcSertlon, cownrdlce, mu-
tiny, giving information to the enemy,
footing. rape, robblng the dead, forcing
n safeguard. striking n superior. etc.
Then comes the punishment of sixty
four days In the front-line trench with
out relief. During this time you have
to engage In all raids. working parties
In No Mans Land and every hazardous
undertaking that comes along. III you
live through the sixty-four days you
are indeed lucky.
This punishment Is awarded where
there Is doubt as to the willful quit
of n man who has committed an Of
fence punishable by death.
Then comes the famous field pun
ishment No. 1. Tommy has nlcknamed
Il "crucifixion." II means that a man
Is spread-eagled on a Timber wheel,
/ two hours day for twenty-one days.
! During this time he only gets water,
/ bully beef and biscuits for his chow.
You get "crucitied" for repeated minor
offenses.
Next in order is field punishment
No. 2.
This is confinement In the "clink,"
without blankets, getting water, bully
beef and biscuits for rations and doing
all the dirty work that can be found.
This may be for twenty-four hours or
twenty days, according to the gravity
of the offense.
Then comes "pack drill" or default
ers' parade. This consists of drilling,
mostly mt the double, for two hours
with full equipment. Tommy hates
this, because il Is hard work. Some
times he fills his pack with straw to
tighten II, and sometimes he gets
caught If he gets caught, he grouses
at everything in general for twenty
timber wheel.
Next comes &C. b." meaning "con-
fined to barracks" This consists of
staying in blllets or barracks for TWEEN
ty-four hours to seven days. You also
get an occasional defnulters' parade
and dirty Jobs around the quarters.
The sergeant major keeps what Il
oh. .
man commits an offense, he i
"crimed" that Is. his name. numbe
and offense is entered on the Grim
Is sheet Next day at n. IN. he goes 4
the "orderly room" before the captain
Il who either Furnishes him with &c. II.
\ or sends him before the O. G. (oflice
y commanding battalon). The captai
of the company can only award sc. II.
Tommy many a time has thnnke
7 the king for making that provision Il
4 his regulations.
To gain the title of "smart soldier,
Tommy has to keep clear of the Grim
sheet, and you have to be darned smar
, to do II.
have been on 1t few times, mos
) ly for yankee impudence."
During our stay of two weeks |
I rest blllets our captain put us throug
course of machinegun drills, tryin
out new stunts and theories.
II After parades were over, our gun
y crews got together and also tried OF
: some theories of their own in referenC
to handling guns. These courses In
10 ,,sish AZ do 4.
$ the war. consisted mostly of causln
u tricky jnms in the gun. and then tn
l. rest of the crew would endeavor to Il
l. cate as quickly as possible the caus
% of the stoppage. This amused thel
II for II few days and then things came
standStill.
One of the boys on my gun elaine
n gun was actually firing, and demon
t. strated this fact one day on the targ'
y. range. We were very enthusiastic an
e. decided to become musicians.
W After constant practice l BEGAN
~ quite expert in the tune entitled "a
Conductors Have Big Feet"
s. When ] had mastered this tune OF
~ TWO weeks resi- came 10 an emu, al
ID once again we went up the line an
took over the sector In front of c.
TO wood.
e. At this point the German trench'
" ran around the base Of a hill, on n
top Of which was e dense wood. Th
IL wood was infested with machine gun
r which used 10 traverse our lines
81 will, and sweep the streets of lit
II. village, where we were billeted viii
I'll I'm reserve.
T. There was one gun In particul
le which used TO get our goats, II had Il
ne exact range Of our elephant" dugo
ne entrance, and every morning, about Il
Of time ratiOns were being brought up,
We bullets would knock up the dust on Il
n road; more than one Tommy we
I West or 20 Blighty by running In
them.
This gun got our nerves on edl
d. and Fritz seemed to know It, becau
to
he never gave us nm hours rest o
go reputation as machine gunners was