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

| head Of "a match on the fuse Of the
! bomb. To ignite the fuse. you had Il
| rub II on the striker" just the same
as striking :, match. The fuse was
timed 10 i've seconds or longer. Some
| Oi tn" fuses issued in those days would
| burn down IN Il second OF two. while
| others would ''SlZZ'' for Il week befur.
exploding. Back IN EliehtE the muni-
| ton workers weren't quite up To snuff
the way they are nov. II the fuse took
Il notion To- hurn too quickly Y they gen
| orally buried the bomb maker next
| day. =" making bombs could not b.
| called Il "CuShy" or SAFE. job.
After making several bombs the pro-
fcsSOr inStructs the platoon in throw
| ing them. He takes Il jan tin" from
| the first step. trembling :. little, be-
! cause IL is nervous work. especially
| when new at IL. lights the fuse on ms
striker. The fuse begins L" 'siZZ" and
SiJUtt"r and Il spiral Of smoke, like
| that from Il SmUuldcring faS. rises
| from II. The platoon splits IN two and
| ducks around the traverse nearest "a
| them. They don't like the looks and
sound Of the burning fuse. When that
fuse begins TO smok" and sin You
want to say goud-by to it. as soon as
| possible. 50 Tommy with all his might
| chuCkS II over the top and crOuchcs
| against the pararct, waiting FOR the
| explosion.
| Lots of times in bombing the jam
| TIN would he picked up by the Ger
| mans. before il exploded, and thrown
| back at Tommy with dire results.
After II lot "f men went Vest in this
manner an order was iSslcd, reading
| something like this:
TO all ranks in the British army:
| Aftcr iSniting the fuse and before
| thrOwin" the jam-tin bomb, count
| slowly one two. three
This in order I" give the fuse time
| enough to burn down, 80 that the
bomb would explode before the Ger
mans could throw ii back.
Tommy read the ordcr--hc reads
| them all. bat after hc Ignitcd the fuse
| and il began 10 Smok,-- orders were
forgotten. and away she went in
| record time and back she came To the
further discomfort uf the thrUwcr.
Then another order waS issued I"
count. "ou" hundred two hundred.
three hundred" But Tommy didn't
care if tn" orders read To count up to
Il thousand by quarters. EC WAS going
| to get rid OF that Jain tim. bccaus'
from experience hC had learned not
Ia trust II.
When the powers that be realized
that they could not change Tommy
they decided to change the type Of
bomb and did Su--suhSlituting the
hair brush" the cricket ball, and
later the Mills bomb.
The standard bomb used III the Brit
iSh army is the Mills" 1t is about the
shape amd SIZE of Il large lemon. Al
though not actually Il lemon, Fritz in
SIStS that II is: perhaps he Judges II
by the havoc caused 10y its explosion.
The Mills bomb is made uf steel. the
outside of which IS corrug Itcd into IS
small SQUARES. which, upon the cXplu-
sion Of the bomb. scatter in Il wide
area. wOundinG or killing any Fritz
who is unfortunate enough TO be hit
10y one of the dying fragments.
Although Il very dcstru tive and cf-
licicnt bomb the Mills" has the con-
iidcncc of the throwcr. in that he
knows it will not explode until re-
leased from his grip.
Ii is Il mechanical dcTicc, with a
lever. fitted into a slot 1T the top.
which extends half way around the
circumference and is held in place III
the bottom 10y Il fixing pin. In tins pin
there is Il small metal ring, for tn"
W
ready TO throw.
You do not throw Il bomb the way Il
baseball is thrown. because. when in
IL narrow trench, your hand TX liable
to strike against the parados, traverse
or parapet, and then down goes the
sSllle. IND. m = s5apie ,li O.
so, up goes Tommy.
In throwing. the bomb lnd lever arc
graSped i'm the right h;.ad, the left
foot is advanced, knee St,n. about one
and Il half its length 1" the front,
while the right leg, knee hcnt. H. car
rird slightly To the right. TIL" left arm
iS extended 1T an angle IL IL drrrc'S.
pointinS in the direction the bomb IL
To bc thrown. This post on iS similar
To that of shot putting, rnly that I'll"
ri. Int arm iS extended downward. Then
you hurl the bomb from you with an
overhead bowling motion. the same as
in cricket. throwing II fairly high in
the air. this in order Ia give the fuse
Il chance To burn down 81 that when
the bomb Lands. il Immediately cN-
pludrS and gives the GCrmanS no time
To Sclmprr out uf its range ur tu re-
turn ii.
AS the bomb leaves your hand. the
lever. by means Of 4 spring, iS project
ell into the air and falls harlnvSsly To
the ground Il few feet H. front of the
bomber.
When the lever flies off it releases
Il strong Sprlng. which forces the firing
pin into Il percussion cap. This irnitcS
the fuse. which burns down and sets
off the dutunatur, charged with iulmi-
nate OF mercury. which "Nplodcs the
main charge of amnunal.
The average British soldier is not an
L., ~
To him, therefore the Canadians and
Americans. who have played baseball
from the kindergarten up, take n;ttu-
rally to bomb throwing and excel in
this act \ SiX-foot English bomber
will stand in awcd silence when he
secs a little iivc-fuot nothing Canadian
uutdiStanrc his throw 10y several yards.
| have read Il few war stories OF bomb
inr. where baseball pitchers curved
their bombs when throwing them, hut
Il pitcher who can do this would make
'r'hriSty" MatthCwSon look like u
piker and is losing valuable time
playing in the European war bush
league. when he would hc able To set
the big league" on fire.
We had Il cushy time while AT this
school. In fact, Ia Us il wstS regular
vacation, and We were very sorry
when one morning the adjutant or
dercd us To report At headquarters FOR
transportation and rItionS Ia return
to our units up the line.
Arriving ut our section. the boys
once again rendered us the glad mitt,
hut looked askance at US out OF the
corners OF their eyes. They could not
conceive. as they expressed It, how
man could be such blinking idiot as
to join the suicide club. ! was begin
ming To feel sorry that / had become
a member of said club, and my life to
me appeared doubly precious.
Now that was Il Surc-enouGh
bomber WAS praying for peace and
hoping that my services as such would
not hr required.