The Washington herald., 1918-03-03
CHAPTER xxi.
Punishments and Machine Gun
Hfuufs

Soon after my arrival IN France,
in fact from my enlistment. ] had
found that in the British army disci-
pline II very strict. One has to be
very careful in order TO stay on the
narrow path of government virtue.
There are about 100000 ways OF
breaking the Kings Regulations; 20
keep one you have TO break another.
The worst punishment is death by
firing squad, or up against the
WALL as Tommy calls Il.
This IL for desertion, cowardice.
mutiny. giving information to the en-
emy, destroying or willfully wasting
ammunition, looting, rape. robbing the
dead. forcing a safeguard, striking a
EuDsriaF 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. II you live through the sixty
four days you are indeed lucky.
This punishment is awarded
where there is a doubt as to the
wiiIful guilt OF q man who has COM
mitted an offense punishable by
death.
Then comes the famous Field
Punishment No. /. Tommy has
nicknamed IL ''crucifxion." II means
that a man iB spread-eagled on a
timber wheel, two hours a day for
twenty-one days. During this time he
only gets water. bully beef. and bis
cults for his chow. You get "cruciied"
for repeated minor offenses.
Next in order is Field Punish
ment No. 2.
This is confinement in the "CIink," {"
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 offehse.
| Then comes Pack Drill' or De-
faulters' Parade. This consists of
! drilling. mostly at the double, for two
hours with full equipment Tommy
hates this, because II is hard work.
Sometimes he fills his pack with
straw to tighten IL, and sometimes
he gets caught. II he gets caught
he grouses at everything in gen
eral for twenty-one days, from the
vantage point of a timber wheel
! Next comes &C. B." meaning
Confined to Barracks" This con-
sists Of staying in billets or bar
racks for twenty-four hours to seven
days. You also get an occasional De-
faulters' Parade and dirty jobs around
the quarters.
The sergeant major keeps what is
known as the Crime Sheet When
a man commits an offense. he is
"crimed." that is. his name. num-
ber and offense is entered on the
Crime Sheet. Next day at 9 a. m.
he goes to the Orderly Room" be-
fore the captain. who either pun
ishes him with &C. B." or sends him
before the o. C. (officer command
ing battalion). The captain OF the
campany can only award &C. B."
Tommy many a time has thanked
the King for making that provision
in his regulations.
To gain the title Of a smart SOL
der" Tommy has to keep clear OF
the Crime Sheet. and you have tc
be dArned smart to do it.
have been on 1t q few times
mostly for Yankee impudence."
During our stay OF two weeks ir
rest billets our captain put u:
through a course OF machine CUR
drills, trying out new stunts ant
theories.
After psrades were over, the guns
crews got together and also triec
out some theories of their own IL
reference TO handling guns. Thes,
courses had nothing to do with th'
advancement of the war. consistinl
mostly of causing tricky jams il
the gun, and then the rest of tn,
crew would endeavor to locate al
! quickly as possible the cause OF th'
stoppage. This amused them for 4
few days and then things came t.
standstiIL
One of the boys on my gun claim
ed that he could play a tune Will,
the gun was actually firing, anC
demonstrated this fact one day OF
the target range. We were very
enthusiastic and decided to becom,
musicians.
, After constant practice I becam,
quite expert in the tune entitled
"An Conductors Have Big Feet"
When l had mastered this tune
our two weeks rest came to an end
and once again We went up the lin,
and took over the sector in from
OF G. Wood.
At this point the German trenches
ran around the base of a hill. on th'
top OF which was a dense wood
This wood was infested with ma
chine guns. which used to travers'
our lines at will and sweep thu
streets of a little village. where W,
were billeted while in reserve.
: There was one gun in particular
which used to get our goats, IL haC
the exact range OF our elephant
dugout entrance, and every even
: ing, about the time rations were be
ing brought up. its bullets woult
knock up the dust on the road: NOR,
than one Tommy went west or 4
Blighty by running into them.
This gun got our nerves on edge
and Fritz seemed TO know it, be,
cause he never gave US an hour
rest. Our reputation as machin,
gunners was at stake; we tried va
rious ruses TO locate and put this gur
out of action, but each one proved
to be a failure, and. Fritz becamt
a worse nuisance than ever. H,
was getting fresher and more care
less every day. took all kinds o.
liberties with us-thought he wa,
invincible.
Then one of our crew got a bril-
liant idea and we were all enthus
iastic to put II to the test
Here was his scheme:
When firing my gun, 1 was q
play my tune, and Fritz, no doubt
would fall for ii. try to initiate m,
as an added insult This gunner
and two others would try. by tn,
sound, to locate Fritz and his gun
After having got the location. they
! would mount two machine guns il
trees in a little clump of woods. e