VARIETIES IN SHELLS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2376, 4 February 1915, Page 3

VARIETIES IN SHELLS

An officer in the Royal Engineers writes; — ' The "Allemand" seems to be a game enough fellow in the bulk, and one wonders what they couldn't have done with him if he hadn't been_ wasted in the way he has been.' We have several varitios of German shells, though every one is rather different minded about them. First in order of eize there is "Black Maria," who is almost a joke on soft ground, as she only makes a hole 12ft. broad. 1 have never met her alive nearer than about 300 yards. Then there is "Jack John-' eon," or the "coal-bos," who is a smaller edition of "Black Maria," who again on soft ground is almost as equally harmless as "Black Maria." Then there is a howitzer heavy shrapnel and the field gun. shrapnel, both, I believe, nameless. The latter is very harmless if there is any cover; the former, I have heard, bursts so high that the bullets juat tap you on the shoulder in a friendly way. Then there is, last, and very much not least, "Little Willie," who is a thoroughly spiteful little varmint. He is a high explosive 3in. shell, sometimes timed, or sometimes set for percussion. In either case he makes a vicious row, sounds much nearer than he is, and his 'snap is always followed by the drone of his very businesslike looking bits. I have met him when I was choosing trenches by myself, and he was trying to find a battery wnich had departed the day before. I couldn't for the life of me remember where the battery had been, but strongly hoped tKat it wasn't very near the hole in the ground which I found so intensely interesting at the time. Plenty of messages flew over my head, but the successive editions of L. W. got no nearer than 100 yards. No, give me L.W. at a distance, when his fleecy white puff of smoke, with a bright flash in the middle, looks quite pretty against a blue sky, but on closer acquaintance, and that of course was not very close, he seemed to me to bo thoroughly bad-tempered. My old gee had the time of his life when on the occasion of my civilians bolting from a shell he got a Jack Johnston within ten yards of him, which covered him with earth. Ho went home at onco, as, luckily, I hadn't tied him up when 1 left him to go and pay my civilians.