Lewis war diary, August 1917-March 1919 / James Ray Lewis - Page 53
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[Page 53]
to something wrong somewhere, especially in a time like the present; true a large amount consists of chalk hills of little value, but there is spare land that to all appearances has never been tilled. A very good innovation since the war started, is the lending of a piece of ground by somone on which townspeople keep plots of vegetables, for their own use, which they cultivate in their spare time, thus helping to conserve the food stuffs of the country.
We had throw live grenades during one part of our training, the Mills 23 grenade being the one used.
We are supplied with tin hats and about 20 of us in a waiting bay and 3 in a throwing bay. A bay is a parapet of earth and enclosed on 3 sides: As the throwing commences we sit hard and tight in our bays, but later, and after we have thrown our own bombs, we become confident and look over the parapet till they smoke which is the signal to duck.
A few clutch their bombs like grim death but one soon gains confidence. One also has practice firing the Mills, and Hales from a rifle by aligning the sight bayonet on the target, and getting the elevation, one can go within a few