Brewster 'A Glimpse of War through a Private's Eyes', a retrospective account of experiences in World War I, 1915-1917 / John James Brewster - Page 111
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[Page 111]
look out.
As an indication of the different effect the same thing has upon men – In one "bay" one private although as keen & as willing to "knock over" as many Huns as any one, succeeded during his "turns" during the night, after keeping a very strict watch, in firing eight shots, while another man in the very next "bay" fired 75 shots in the same time. In fact the firing "next door" was so constant and so rapid, that, as it was known that the next bay on the right was a Machine Gun position, a messenger was sent round in the morning, to ascertain if the bay on the left was also a Machine gun post, when the truth was discovered.
In consequence of this, an order was issued that the firing all along the line was to be restricted to 10 rounds (10 shots) an hour by any one man & the only when a good "target" offered. It was pointed out that the war was likely to last more than a month and that our Company had not the whole of the British Army Ammunition Transports at our back.
A machine gun position is naturally looked upon as a "hot shop" for a continual effort is made to spot these & not only concentrate direct, & if possible oblique & enfilading Machine Gun fire on them but also to make it "pretty lively" with all kinds of shell fire.
To have such a position on the right was bad enough but to imagine one on the left also was "making believe" a little too much. Of course later on, one can never fail to detect the rat-tat-tat of a machine gun but it must be recollected this was our very first experience in the line when things appeared a little confusing.
The first night passed without a casualty & morning dawned with every man eager to have a crack at the enemy in broad daylight. We kept up a steady fire all day long &