BOMB AND BAYONET

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 253, 13 July 1918, Page 8

BOMB AND BAYONET

j 7 —° : — : ' ■ THE DECLINE OF THE BOMB. ; A cabled account of .one,'of the. recent ' Canadian raids on the West front men- • tiops that "the. Canadians say they pre- ; fer the bayonet to the bomb, becauso it makes 'a cleaner job.'" A returned JNe.w Zealand orn'cor, -referring to this ■ point, said that' tho Canadians were not alone in their preference. Aβ a matter '■ of fact the bomb was no longer regarded with tho speoial favour bestowed upon it in the days of rigid trenoh warfare. : "The bomb lost its place when tho Germans abandoned the old style of trenoh fighting," said the officer. "During 1915 , ami 1916, when th& tirench lines were continuous and well defined, and the • methods of fighting had .become almost '. ■ stereotyped, the bomb was a most im- ;'■' portant weapon* •Bombers• wera trained : in considerable numbers, and were re- ; garded as absolutely essondal members : of any raiding or attaclflng party. Bomb tactics wene developed to a fine point, \ and there waro officers who attached almost more importance to tho bomb than to the riie. "The situation changed when the Ger- ■ mans abandoned the deep, firmly held, continuous trenoh in favour of the 'pill- ; box' system of defence. Tho bomber could not attack a concrete, nmchine-gnn ; Bhelter effectively, under ordinary con- ; ditions, without, oxposing Kimself fully to machine-gun and rifle fire. The 'pillboxes' bad to bo reduced by artillery before the infantry advanced. The com- '.. paratively light' German tronch.es oon- ; nectiiig the strong points would be so far destroyed by this fire that they provided very little' shelter iv: the enemy's ' ilflemen. There was no deep tronoh to throw the bomb into, and consequently the bomb became a danger lo tho troops that were wing it, since it exploded only thirty or forty yards ahead oMhe adYanolog infantry and scattered its fragmente in all direotion». : ' "These and other fnotors have ac- ; counted for the deoline of the bomb. The , number-of men assigned to bomb- ! ingi3 much smaller than it u.sed to be, and omr troops place no great reliance : on the" bomb when they are attacking tranches and other fortified positions. Of ■ course there- will always bo work for ■bombers in clearing out dug-outs end w> <' forth. I should mention that the rine arenade ie used moire freely than ever. ;: There are various types of rifle grenade. I Some of them are effective up to sw ; yaida, and they carry a heavier explo- - kve charge than the ordinary Mills