BAYONET DRILL AND INSTRUCTORS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 193, 21 July 1916, Page 4 (Supplement)

BAYONET DRILL AND INSTRUCTORS.

EACH MAN HIS OWN STYLE

(From the "Scotsman.")

(This article was written by a New Zealand Scot, who at the beginning of the war came i'rom Paris to join the Black Watch, and who has twice returned from the front. He is on lor the third time, on ths occa-ion to a different field of operations.)

Once upiii a time, when this doddering, deerepit old war was still m its glorious infancy, twelve bic &-t by upon their hell.es on the floor o a . brand new hu t at Xigg- Pinned to the ' W iill in front of each man was a white card With a round black blob m the middle of it. In the hands of every man was a gun. Frrni time to time these men raided their gm* took dour and dead y aim at the black blob, and —flipped! They were very enthusiasts men, but their feet wore as cold as ice their hands trembled, and though they kept on snipping brayt\v at the b'ack unimpressionable blob, it began to dawn upon them that tne war was not the highly exciting game it was cracked up to be. Snip snip, sn'.p! Mnp, *n>p, pn'P"Carry on with the snipping. seemed to exhaust the whole stock o Sergeant Floppy's military lore, and the twehe brave men felt they were doomed to d : e of boredom. AN AWKWARD SQUAD. Suddenly the hut door flew open. A man came in. He was snort, broad, square, sol d, and active. He was fierce of face, and bore down upon us a* it lie fully intended to murder the whole twelve'of us where we lay. His bark was truly terrific, tar be the day when we should simple his Inte. In a moment he had us on our feet, pointin" parrying, parrying, pointing, incidentiHv he spoke m blighting tones of the awkward squad he had lust put through in the next hut. "£ae Mp me G iiid, it wis somethm awfu . Wo were moved to the depths. \\ o instantly felt we should die to the last man rath." than wring anot.icr such hoart-crv from the breast of any mortal. He could see we were doing our poor best and spared us. Like a whirlwind lie departed by the other door, leaving us, as a good bayonet drill instructor should, with the firm conviction we could kill anything or anybody.

"Lot 'cm ail conic!" wa* our sentiment as jve wont on exterminating shall iws right and left. This galvanic litt'e man was Sergeant Hammy—a holy terror and a ,io> for ever. After some months, when 1 had "described the circle" that brings you back to Nigg again, I was enchanted to find Sergeant Hammy still to the fore. At that time our morning evolutions were ess-.'nt'al'y of a less warlike character. It wa.? the hipslinn - heels - raiso-knees-bond-stretch-l:cels-lower-to-the-\ .M.C'.A.-go stunt we were on under Hammy, but every order was given with a hearty violence of intention that lifted us off our feet like magic. BACK FDR THK THIRD TIME. And now, having once more described the dangerous circle, 1 find myself at Nigg again, with Strgeant Hanimv leading us forth for bayonet drill. Which brings me to the point. l?avonet drill is a fearful and won<'.K»rfill thing, and bayonet drill inrtnuti r- are fearful imd wonderful people. Their methods are individualand anarchistic to the last degree Everyone is a law unto himself, and the'r inspiration is so spasmodic and c-o discriminat ng in its variety that what; they teach you at one lesvon had better be forgotten before the next, as they are certain to have ail entirely ivw way of doing things, and will I-.ok fjiiite shocked and offended if you venture to reproduce anything so out of date as the way they showed veil the day before.

The class forms up. There aro ditelim m front a 11.1 ditches in the roar. Prostrate a'ong tht «;:• ditches lit- mournfulkioking bags of straw. Tlioro are long lints of gibbets about nine feet high, and suspended from every liiiihct arc two bags of straw —at least it is said to lie straw. The drill instructor suddcn'y <'t ios. il Round me move—double!" .Sometimes less than three yards separate u-. from tlie instructor, hut in order to < lire great deference due t > h:s person we are expected !o (•over tlie o three yards a:> if his vo ce were the last trump. He seize-; the nearest rifle and bavoiiet. "This ;s what I want done." he explains, and proceeds to show us. He brings the rifle 011 guard, his face ferocious, his eye darkening with terrible menace, and approaches the gibbet, p'unge-j the bayonet into the vitals of the already cruelly-disembowelled bag, and withdraws it with the sated l-tis-tied air of one who has just offered « b autiful warm red oblation to the god of war. TWO DIFFERENT THINGS. ''Now to your places—double." Vie make a terrible sprint of two or three yards, tlien face the enemy. We are supposed by now to know what is requirt d of us, I>i 11 wo don't. We are doubtful whether we -hould do it as the instructor t'.dd us it ought to be done or whether we shou'd do it iust a< he has thine it himself. These are two vastly different things. For m-i-tane-' he certainly told us to bring forward t'ie right foot to deliver the f> int. but certainly m delivering it himself : t wa< the left foot that got the precedence. " Put forward the i :'_ r iir hand to withdraw," he preached, but in practice he used his own leit,

an 1 though isc certainly urged u.-i to |).>r»4 nil the left s:t|«' 01 'lie sacks he 11i111« '.f in 11'o heat <• i' battle pis-ed air'ly .hi tin 1 l i^rlit. An;l mi on. Wli.it iUV we to (I'i'' Shall wo In' gualed liv J>ri «•< 111 or |)i ;ktic ? In tlie end most of ii:- adopt ;i compromise ht-'-woen the tv.o. All of windi i- remote from hill islaetorv.

Hut ill bayonet did' ill!' chief obslable to 11.• overcome is our sense of humour. How can Scotsmen with their infiill'liK' p reeptlon < f the grotn-quo (ha: go realistically at tho-e helpless i!;inJiliii'- sick-? Kv.-ii when tlie gravest 11111:111.1: them makes a perfect po'nt lie sp ils the effect l»y smirking shamefacedly and sidling oif like a crayfish.

STANDARD KI'LKS RKQUIRKD. !);' <-oiirs ■. if we ivc 'c to charge over ti c ditches, and :-t.ib the hags a 1 the vi le-:-:ty the instructor pretend- to <■:<• p . t. v>e -hoiild <-«■ rt;i-lily a! : l»e ca-ua'-t:«s without tin* l rouble oi voyaging 1 ) c'tiier l-'ran: e or .Me-epatamia, but fortunately our in-tinct 0/ l.'-preser-\a'ioii is c\cr >o iniich "tronger than our fear of any instructor, and s.> tl:e hour pe-cs after having yichi-d liuhing more :-i . ions than |>. a broken bayonet, a fair amount of exercise, an i a lai'L'c mo;:su e of fun. SI ill if we are to learn to carve our (ioniums with scientific nicely it would p rl'aps be a-; we'd to honour the art with a few and mvariab:e rule-.

Save pav or tight —.Air. W. Brace, 31. P. '