Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1918-04-17

agements this branch Or 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 60 to bombing school to
learn the duties q 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, AZ 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. 4 pro
lessor Of bombing would cit on the
IRE step In the front trench with the
remainder Of his section crowding
around to see him work.
On his left would be Z pile Of empty
and rusty jam tins, while beside him
on the IRE step would be a miscells-
neous assortment of material used In
the manufacture Of the "jam tins"
Tommy would stoop down, get an
empty Siam tin," take 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 handful Of
this junk and put it 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 or
wound any German hit by same; the
questioner would Immediately pull
button off his tunic and hand it to
the bomb maker with, "Well, blame
me, send this over as souvenir" or
another Tommy would volunteer an
old rusty and broken jackknife; both
would be accepted and inserted,
Then the professor would take ans
other handful of mud and ill the TN,
after which he would punch hole In
the lid Of the tin and put it 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 match box; it was called
striker" There was q 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 a match. The fuse was
timed to five seconds or longer. Some
Of the fuses issued in those days would
burn down in q second or two, while
others would "sizz" for week before
exploding. Back in Blighty the NUM-
ton workers weren't quite up to snuff,
the way they are now, II the fuse took
a notion to burn too quickly they gen
orally buried the bomb maker next
day. So making bombs could not be
called "cusny" or safe Job.
After making several bombs the pro-
lessor instructs the platoon in throw
ing them. He takes "jam tin" from
the fire step, trembling little, be-
cause it is nervous work, especially |
when new at 1t, lights the fuse on his
striker. The fuse begins to "sizz" and
sputter and spiral Of smoke, like
that from a smoldering flag, rises from
it. 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 "sizz'' you
want to say good-by to 1t as soon as
possible, so Tommy with all his might.
chucks 1t over the top and crouches
against the parapet, waiting for the
explosion.
Lots of times in bombing the "jam
lin would be picked up by the Ger
mans, before 1t exploded, and thrown
back at Tommy with dire results.
After lot of men went, West in this
manner an order was issued, reading
like this:
ITO all ranks in the British army:
After igniting the fuse and before
the jam-tin bomb, count
slowly one! two! three!''
This in order to give the fuse time
enough to burn down, so that the bomb
would explode before the Germans
could throw 1t back.
Tommy read the order-he reads
them all. but after he ignited the fuse
and it began to sm0ke-orders were
forgotten, and away she went in record
time and back she came to the further
discomfort of the thrower.
Then another order was issued to
count, zone hundred! two hundred
three hundred!" But Tommy didn't
care if the order read to count up to