Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-03-08
CHAPTER MI.
Bombing.

The bows in the section welcomed
me back, hut there were many strange
faces. Several of our men had gone
West in that charge, and were lying
somewhere in France" with Il little
wooden cross at their heads. We w"r"
IN rest billctS The next day our CAP
tain asked for volunteers for hninhcrS
school. ! gave my name and waS hc-
crptvd | had joined the Suicide club.
and my troubles commenced. lhlrtE-
two men of the battalion, including
myself. were sent To IL. where ""
went through a course in bombing.
Here We were instructed in the uses.
methods of throwing and manufacture"
uf various kinds of hand SrcnadcS,
from the old jam tin," now obsolete.
tu the present Mills bomb the stand
ard of the British army.
IL all depends where you are as IL
what YOU are called. In France they
call YOU Il bomber and give you
medals. while in neutral countries they
call Won an anarchist and give you
life
From the very start the GcrnanS
were we'll equipped with cHeclN'
bombs and trained bomb throwcrS, hut
the English army w;iS as little pre-
uarcd in this important department of
inr school IN old sergeant of the
,;rcnadicr guards. whom ! had the
good fortune to meet. told me of the
acknowledgements this branch OF the
service suffered before they could meet
the Germans on an equal footing.
tpaciflsts and small army people III
the L. =. please read with c;irel. The
first English cNpeditionary forces hau
no bombs At all, but had clicked lot
of casualties from those thrown by the
RuchcS. one bright morning someone
higher up had an idea and issued an
order detailing two men from each
platoon Ia 20 to bombing school 10
learn the duties of Il bomber and how
,o manufacture bombs. NoncummiS-
stoned officers were generally selected
for this course. After about two
weeks at school they returned to their
units in rest billctS or in the iIrr
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 y pro-
frsSor Of bombing would sit on the
lire step in the front trench with the
remainder of his section crowdlns
around Ia see him work.
un his left would be 4 pile "f empty
and rusty jam tins. while beside nun
on the fire step would he Il miscella-
nruus assortment Of material used IN
the manufacture of the jam tins.
Tommy would stoop down. get an
rmpty lam tin take Il handful OF
clay or mud from the parapet and line
the inside OF the tin with this sub
stance. Then he would reach over
pick up his dctonator and explosive.
and insert them in the tin, fuse pro-
truding. on the fire step would De Il
pile of fragments of shell. shrapnei
balls bits Of iron. nails. etc.-anythins
| that WAS hard enough to send over to
Fritz: he would scoop up Il handful OF
this junk and put it in the bomb: Per
hapS one of the platoon would ASK MIN
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
questiuner would Immediately pull Il
| button off his tunic and hand II TO
| the bomb maker with. We'll, 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 an
other handful OF mud and fill the tin.
| after which ne 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.
\ 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; II was called q
| striker" There was q tip Ike the