Show I T i lA iii I Ill i I lf 4 0 J Kl hJ c i Alf Ni N A All ll r r J Who 11 rt I WENT 1 R 4 V T 11 ff MACHINE ERMIN lH FRANCE DY EMPEY JOINS THE SUICIDE CLUB AS THE BOMBING SQUAD IS CALLED i Synopsis Fired Fired by the sinking of the with the loss of y American lives Arthur Guy Empey an American living In Jersey City IS goes to England and enlists as a private In the British army After a short experience as a recruiting officer In London he Is sent to trainIng training train train- r ing quarters In France where he first hears t the e sound of big guns and ad makes the acquaintance of cooties After a brief period of training 5 5 Empey's company Is sent Into the line front trenches where he takes t s his first turn on the fire step while the bullets whiz overhead Empey learns as comrade falls that death lurks always in the trenches r- r Empey goes over the top for the first time and has a desperate fight S Sr c K CHAPTER XII 8 Bombing The boys In the section welcomed me back but there were many strange stranger r faces Several of our men had gone West In that charge and were vere ere lying t v somewhere In France with a a. little wooden cross at their heads We were a In rest in-rest rest billets The next day our captain captain cap cap- d can S tain tats asked for volunteers for bombers' bombers i school I gave my name and was acc ac ac- ac- ac I had the the Suicide club c I- I joined and my troubles commenced Thirty Thirty- two men of the battalion Including myself myself my my- self were sent to L L L- where we r went through a course In bombing Here we were instructed In the uses m methods of throwing and manufacture of various kinds of hand grenades from the old ld yam jam tin now obsolete to o the present Mills bomb the standard of the British army It all nil depends depend s where you yon are as as t to o what you are called In France they call you a bomber and give you medals medals med med- als while In neutral countries they call yoU you an anarchist and give give you life e From the very ery start the Germans t were well equipped with effectiveS effective S bombs and trained bomb throwers but the English army was as little prepared prepared prepared pre pre- pared in this important department of fighting as in many others At bombIng bombIng bomb- bomb Ing Yng school chool an old sergeant of the Gren Gren- Gr Grenadier D- D adier after guards whom I had bad the good goodw w fortune to meet told me of the discouragements discouragements this branch of the service suffered before they could meet meet the Germans on an equal footing PacIfists Pacifists Paci Pad fists and small small- army people in the U. U S. S please read with care The first English expeditionary forces had no bombs at all but h had d c clicked a lot of casualties from those thrown by the Boches Bodies One bright morning someone higher up had an idea and Issued an au order detailing two men from seem each platoon to go to bombing school t to learn the duties of a b bomber and how to to manufacture bombs Noncommissioned stoned officers were generally selected for lor or this course After about two weeks at school they returned to their SS units In rest billets or In the fire I trench trendy as the case might be and got busy teaching their platoons how to tomake tomake make jam tins Previously an order had been Issued for all ranks to save empty jam tins for the manufacture of bombs A professor pro professor professor pro pro- fessor of bombing would sit on the fire step In the front trench with the remainder of his section crowding r around to see him work On his left would be a pile of empty S- S S and rusty jam tins while beside him himon himon t on the fire step would be a assortment of material used In Inthe the manufacture of the jam tins r Tommy would stoop down get an handful of 2 empty jam tin take a clayey mud from the parapet and line Une the inside of the tin with this sub sub- S. S stance sronce Then he would reach over pick up his detonator and explosive and Insert them In the tin fuse protruding pro pro- On the fire step would be a pile of fragments of shell shrapnel balls b bits of Iron nails etc anything anything that was hard bard enough to send over to toi i Fritz iritz he would scoop up a handful of this junk and put It in the bomb Perhaps Perhaps Pert Per Per- t haps one of the platoon would ask him 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 questioner would Immediately pull a button button- off tr his tunic and hand band it to the bomb maker with Well blame me send this over as a souvenir or another Tommy would volunteer an anold anold old rusty and broken jackknife both botha a would be accepted and Inserted Then the professor would take another another another an- an other handful of mud and fill the tin after which he be would punch a hole bole In n F the lid Ud of the tin Un and put it over the S top of the bomb the fuse sticking out S 'S Then perhaps h he would tightly wrap S wire around the outside of ot the tin and the bomb was ready to send end send over over to Fritz with Tommys Tommy's compliments A piece of wood about four inc inches es wide had had been issued This was to be strapped on the left forearm by means mean of two leather straps and was like the sided Bid id of a a match box it was called a striker r. r There was was a tip like the d of f r. r n s ipat match p on the fuse o of th the bomb To To- ignite the fuse you had JO to rub it on the striker r just the same as striking a match The fuse was timed to five seconds or longer Some of the fuses issued in those thos days would burn down In a second or two while others would for a week before exploding Back in Blighty the muni muni- tion workers weren't quite up to snuff the way they ar are now If the fuse took tooka a notion t to burn too quickly they generally generally generally gen gen- buried burled the bomb maker next day S So making b bombs could not be called a cushy or safe job After making several bombs the professor professor professor pro pro- fessor instructs the platoon IU iii throwIng throwIng throwIng throw- throw Ing them He takes a jam tin from the fire step trembling a little because because because be be- cause cause It is nervous work especially when new at it lights lights' the fuse on his striker The fuse begins to and sputter and a spiral of smoke like Uke that from a smoldering fag rises from it The platoon splits In two and ducks around the traverse nearest to them They dont don't like Uke the looks and sound of the burning g fuse When that fuse begins to smoke and you want to say good-by good to it as soon as as' as possible so Tommy with all nil his might chucks it over the top and crouches against the parapet waiting f for r the explosion Lots of times In bombing the jam tin would be picked up by the Germans Germans Germans Ger Ger- mans before It exploded and thrown back at Tommy with dire results After a lot lof of men we went t West In this manner an o order der was was' issued reading something like Uke this To ITo all ranks In the British army After igniting the fuse and before i 9 y eq s 2 s c. c S 0 Rn q Throwing Hand Grenades throwing the tin jam-tin bomb count count slowly one l two l J three This In order to give the fuse time enough tp burn down so that the bomb would exp explode ode before the Germans c could uld throw it back ack Tommy read the order order order-be he reads them all but after he ignited the fuse and it began to smoke smoke orders orders were forgotten and away she went In record time and back she came to the further discomfort of the thrower Then another order was Issued to count one hundred I two hundred I three hundred I B But Bat t Tommy didn't care if the order read rend to count up to toa a thousand by quarters he was going to get rid of that Jam yam tin because from experience he had learned earned not notto notto notto to trust it When the powers that be bo realized that they could not change Tommy they decided to change the type of bomb and did eo so substituting so-substituting the tho hair brush the cricket ball and later the Mills bomb The standard bomb used in the British British Brit Brit- ish Ih army is the Mills rn 1 s. s It Is about the shape of a large lemon Alt Although Al Al- t though ough not actually a lemon Fritz Insists Insists In In- n- n that it is perhaps oM j Judges dge it by the havoc havo caused by its explosion I The Mills bomb Is made of steel the outside of which is corrugated into 48 small squares squar squares s which upon the explosion explosion sion of the bomb scatter in a wide area wounding or killing any Fritz who is unfortunate enough to to be hit by one one- of th the flying fragments Although a very destructive and efficient efficient efficient ef ef- bomb the Mills has the con con- ii j of the thrower In that h knows it will not explode until released released re ro leased from his grip It Is a mechanical device with a u alever alever lever fitted Into a n slot at the top which extends half hal way around the circumference and is held In in place at atthe atthe atthe the bottom by a fixing pin In this pin there Is a small metal ring for tor the purpose of extracting the pin when ready to throw You do not throw a n bomb the way a baseball Is thrown because when In Ina Ina ina a narrow trench your hand Is liable to strike against the traverse or parapet and then down goes the tho bomb and in a couple of seconds or orso orso orso so up goes Tommy In throwing the bomb and lever are grasped In the right hand the left foot is advanced knee stiff stier about one and anda a a. a half its its' length to the front while the right leg knee bent is carried slightly to the right The left arm Is extended at an angle of 45 degrees pointing in the direction the bomb is to tobe tobe tobe be thrown This position is similar to that of shot putting only that the right arm is extended downward Then you hurl the bomb from you with an overhead bowling motion the same as asIn asin asin in cricket throwing it fairly high Inthe in inthe inthe the air this In order to give the fuse a a chance to burn down so that when the bomb lands it immediately explodes explodes explodes ex ex- ex- ex and gives the Germans no time timeto to scamper out of its range or to return return return re re- turn it As the bomb leaves your hand the lever by means of a spring is projected Into tho the air and falls harmlessly to the ground a few feet in front of the bomber When the lever flies files off it releases a strong spring wl which ich forces the firing pin into a percussion cap This ignites the fuse which burns bums down and sets off the detonator charged with fulminate fulminate nate of mercury which explodes the main charge of ammonal The average B British soldier is not an expert at throwing it is a new game i to him therefore the Canadians and Americans who have played baseball from the kindergarten up take naturally naturally naturally natu natu- rally to bomb throwing and excel In Inthis Inthis inthis this act J A six-foot six English bomber will stand in awed silence when he sees a little nothing foot Canadian outdistance his throw by several yards I have read a few war stories of bombIng bombing bombing bomb bomb- ing where b baseball pitchers curved their bombs when throwing them but buta a pitcher who can do this would make Christy Mathewson look like a piker and Is Is' losing valuable time playing Inthe in inthe inthe the European War bush league when he he w would uld be able t to set the big league on fire We had a cushy time while at this school In fact to us it was a regular va vacation atlon and we we were very sorry when when- I one morning the adjutant ordered us to report at headquarters for transportation transportation trans trans- and rations to return to our I units up the line I Arriving at our section the boys once again tendered us the glad mitt but looked askance at nt us out of the corners of f their eyes They could not conceive conceIve- as they expressed It how a B aman aman man man could be such a blinking idiot as asto asto asto to join the the Suicide club I was beginning beginning begin begin- nl ning g. g to feel sorry that I had become a member of said club and my life to tome tome tome me appeared d doubly ubly precious Now that I was a sure enough bomber I was praying for peace and hoping that my services as such would not be required CHAPTER XIII My First Official Bath Right Bight behind our rest billet was a large creek about ten feet deep and twenty feet across and It was a habit of the company company to avail them themselves of an opportunity to take a swim and at atthe atthe atthe the same time thoroughly wash themselves themselves them them- selves and their underwear when on their ow own We were were having a spell of hot weather and these baths to us were a luxury The Tommies would splash around In the water water nd then come com out and sit In the sun and have what they termed a shirt hunt At first we tried to drown the cooties but they also seemed to enjoy the bath One Sunday morning the whole section section section sec sec- tion was in the creek and we were havIng having hav hay ing lug a gay time when the sergeant major major ma ma- jor appeared on the scene He came cameto to the edge of the creek and ordered Come out of it Get your equipment on drill order and fall In for bath parade Look lively my hearties You have only got fifteen minutes A howl of f indignation Indignation from fram m the creek greeted this order but out we came DIscipline Discipline Discipline pline is discipline We lined up in front of our billet with rifles and bayonets bayonets bayonets bay bay- why you need rifles and bayonets bayonets bayonets bayo bayo- nets to take a bath g gets ts me a full ull quota of ammunition and our tin hats Each man bad had a piece of soap and a IJ towel to After an kilo eight march along alonga a dusty lusty road with an occasional shell whistling overhead we arrived at a little squat frame building upon the bank of a it creek Nailed J over the door of this building was a large sign which read Divisional DI Baths In Ina a wooden shed In the rear we could hear a a wheezy old engine pumping water The Joys of the bath are depIcted depicted depicted de de- de- de by Empey in the next In- In r o TO BE E CONTINUED |