A TALL STORY ABOUT AN AUSTRALIAN'

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2656, 30 December 1915, Page 9

A TALL STORY ABOUT AN AUSTRALIAN'

_—,—0 It is to be regretted that some of the London journalists do not put a little curb -on their imagination when relating alleged incidents of the Australians. in Galiipoli for the benefit of English readers. The English people have l&vrnt to : respect the Australians as daredevil fighters, and a few London journalists are trying to heighten the effect by weird stories, which have very little foundation in. fiict. The following will serve as • a sample of the kind of story referred to. No Australian is as callous as the. "hero" of this journalistic story, and it is regrettable that some English editors should find a place for such "incidents" in their columns:— A bombing attack ' usually elicits • a vigorous reply from the enemy, who start bombing in return. Many of the bombs do not explode immediately they reach the trenches, but if thrown quickly the fuse has still a second or so to burn before it roaches the explosive, and sometimes the fuse goes out altogether, in" which caw it is relighted and thrown back to tins enemy's trenches.. If Che fuse is still fizzing the bomb"; thrower either smothers th° explosion with a blanket, or, if he considers lie has time, he throws it back again. This, requires judgment, as any delay means the loss of a hand or arm, lis happened to the man above mentioned.. There are two kinds of fuses—safety and instantaneous. The safety fuse, which is the kind used in these bombs, burns at . the rate of about one yard a minute, while the other burns at the rate of 30 yards in a second, or, for., all intents and purposes, instantaneously. Bearing in mind that both sides were in the habit of relighting and returning extinguished bombs, somebody conceived the idea of tutting off lengths of "an instantaneous fuse, charring the ends, and substituting these for the safety fuses, and then throwin;! a proportion of them over as bait. XVith 'iavin? the ends charred, they looked just as if the fuse had gone out, but, of course, as soon as it was lighted it would go off at once. The Turks soon saw through this ruse. Mid started playing the same game, and , the man with one arm .was explaining to « tlio other occupant of tlio dressing station | the effect it had on the bomb thrower g M'lio had been next to him in tlio trench: | "He picked it up and lighted it at his j cigarette, when the thing wont off 1 nii(l blow his head off. Lord, how I I did laugh r 9