The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1918-08-08
CHAPTER XXI.
Punfshments and Machine. Gun Stunts

Iul III OTueT u stay oi inc hhiioH pohi
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 q
firing squad, or "up against the wall,
as Tommy calls 1t.
This Is for desertion, cowardice, n1u.
tiny, giving information to the enemy
lootlng, rape, robbing the dead, forcing
safeguard. striking a 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. If you
live through the sixty-four days you
are indeed lucky.
This punishment is awarded where
there is doubt as to the wulful guilt
of man who has committed an Of
fence punishable by death.
Then comes the famous field pun.
ishment No. l. Tommy has nlcknamed
IL "crucifixion." 1t means that man
Is spread-eagled on timber wheel
two hours a day for twenty-one days
During this time he only gets water
bully beef and biscuits for his chow
You get "crucifed' for repeated mino,
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 at the double, for two hours
with full equipment. Tommy hates
this, because it Is hard work. Some
times he fills his pack with straw to
tighten 1t, and sometimes he gets
caught. If he gets caught, he grouses
at everything in general for twenty
one days, from the vantage point of q
timber wheel.
Next comes &c. B." meaning ICON
fined to barracks" This consists OF
staying In billets or barracks for TWEEN
ty-four hours to seven days. You also
get an occasional defaulters' parade
and dirty Jobs around the quarters.
The sergeant major keeps what Is
known as the crime sheet. When O
man commits an offense, he Is
"crimed," that Is, his name, number
and offense Is entered on the crime
sheet. Next day at 8 a. IN. he goes tc
the orderly room" before the captain
who either Furnishes him with "a b
or sends him before the o. G. (officel
commanding battalion). The captair
of the company can only award &c. B.
Tommy many time has thanked
the king for making that provision II
his regulations.
To gain the title Of smart soldier
Tommy has to keep clear of the crime
sheet, and you have to be darned smart
to do 1t.
have been on it a few times, most
ly for yankee impudence."
During our stay Of two weeks II
rest billets our captain put us through
a course of machine-gun drills, trying
out new stunts and theories.
After parades were over, our guns
crews got together and also tried Out
some theories of their own in reference
to handling guns These courses had
nothing to do with the advancement OF
the war, consisted mostly of causing
tricky jams in the gun, and then the
rest of the crew would endeavor to To-
cate as quickly as possible the cause
of the stoppage. This amused them
for few days and then things came to
q standstill.
One of the boys on my gun claimed
that he could play tCne while the
gun was actually firing, and Cemon-
strated this fact one day on the target
range. We were very enthusiastic and
decided to become musicians.
After constant practice l became
quite expert In the tune entitled "All
Conductors Have Big Feet"
When | had mastered this tune, our
two weeks rest came to an end, and
once again we went up the line and
took over the sector In front of c.
wood.
At this point the German trenches
ran around the base Of hill, on the
top of which was dense wood. This
wood was infested with machine guns
which used TO traverse our lines at
will, and sweep the streets of little
village, where we were billeted while
In reserve.
There was one gun In particular
which used to get our goats, 1t had the
exact range of our elephant" dugout
entrance, and every morning, about the
TIM rations We're being brought up, Its
bullets would knock up the dust on the
road; more than one Tommy went
West or 70 BIlghty by running into
them.
This gun got our nerves on edge
and Fritz seemed to know it, because
ne never give US m hours rest. Our
reputation rs machine gunners was at
stake; we tried various ruses to locate
and put this gun out of action, but
each one proved TO be failure, and
Fritz became worse nuisance than
ever. He was getting fresher and more
careless every day, took all kinds of
liberties with us-thought he was In
vlnclble.
tfhen one of our crew got n brilliant