Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1918-04-24
CHAPTER XII.
Bombing.

Bombing.
Tho bovs in the section welcomed me
s,ob Int there were many strange
zoos Several of our men had gone
Most in that charge, and were lying
somewhere in France" with little
roodon CROSS at their heads. We were
- rost hiIIets, The next day our cap
,o,n asked for volunteers for bombers'
scbooI gave my name and was &C
conted I had joined the Suicide club,
and NV troubles commenced. Thirty
+vvo men of the battalion, including my
saIf we're sent to L, where we
went through a course in bombing.
Here we were instructed in the uses,
methods Of throwing and manufacture
Of various kinds of hand grenades,
from the old jam tin" now obsolete,
to the present Mills bomb, the standard
Of the British army.
II all depends where you are as to
what you are called. In France they
call you a bomber" and give you med
ais while in neutral countries they
call you an anarchist and give you
"life."
From the very staTt the Germans
we're well equipped with effective
bombs and trained bomb throwers, but
the English army was as little pre-
pared in this important department of
fighting as in many others. At bomb
ing school an old sergeant of the Gren-
adler guards, whom 1 had the good
fortune to meet, told me of the discour-
agements this branch of the service
Suffered before they could meet the
Germans on an equal footing. (Paci-
fists and small army people in the
Il Q. S. please read with care.) The first
English eIpeditionary forces had no
bombs at all, but had clicked q 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 go to bombing school to
learn the duties of a bomber and how
to manufacture bombs. Noncommis-
stoned officers were generally selected
TOT this course. After about two
weeks at school they returned to their
units in rest billets or in the fire
trench, as the case might be, and got
GuSy teaching their platoons how to
make liam tins"
Previously an order had been issued
lof all ranks to save empty jam tins
lof the manufacture of bombs. A pro-
lessor of bombing would sit on the
IRE step in the front trench with the
remainder of his section crowding
around to see him work.
IN his left would be a pile of empty
all rusty jam tins, while beside him
81 VI lhe fire step would be a miscella-
oeouS assortment of material used in
Ue manufacture of the liam tins"
tommy would stoop down, get an
empty liam tin" take a handful of
oayey mud from the parapet, and line
ue inside Of the tin with this sub
S1hce Then he would reach over,
p'cA up his detOnator and explosive,
aIu insert them in the tin, fuse pro-
Seulng' On the fire step would be
sIe OF fragments of shell, shrapnel
ans DTS Of iron, nails, etc.-anything
a' was hard enough to send over to
~ ruz he would scoop up handful of
~S JUNK and put it in the bomb. Per-
cps one Of the platoon would ask him
~Ia' ne did this for, and he would
At'alh that when the bomb exploded
eSe OTIS would fly about and kill or
aVuuu any German hit by same; the
-1>"Oher would Immediately pull a
-''ou on his tunic and hand it to
oOmb maker with, "Well, blame
- send this over as a souvenir" or
~ -O'nef Tommy would volunteer an
eo' ,uS'y and broken jackknife both
Su'u De accepted and inserted.
linen the professor would take an
s. .eI handful Of mud and fill the tin,
a. r., "nich he would punch hole in
- ~ OF the tin and put it over the
~ VI the bomb, the fuse sticking out.
v +.u perhaps he would tightly wrap
bo around the outside of the tin, and
r. YOLuo was ready to send over to
WIN Iommy's compliments.
"a. piece Of wood about four inches
s, Nc uaa been issued. This was to be
Q, t1 ppeu On the left forearm by means
sdo w leather straps and was like the
MI, " a match box; it was called
had =. There was a tip like the
" match on the fuse of the