KILLED BY-A BOMB.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15130, 26 January 1917, Page 5

KILLED BY-A BOMB.

ACCIDENT AT TBAINING CAMP- .. ■ \ An inquest was held in Sydney re- , cently regarding the death, on Decern- • her 22nd, of Alfred Lyons,' from in- ■ juries to the jaw and back of the mouth received through the explosion of a bomb at Liverpool camp the same day. The deceased was a single man. Joseph Thomas Turner stated that h© and the deceased were gunners in ■ the Medium Trench Mortar Battery , stationed at Liverpool, On December 1 22"\they were practising bomb-throw-ing, and were landing behind a para- . pet on which,were bombs ready to ~ throw. Witness made two unsuccess- ' ful attempts to ignite , the fuse of his bomb, but the third match ignited it, and the bomb exploded in a second. Bombs did not as a rule explode so quickly, and he did not think it jpossible that the second match ignited it. It did not hurt anybody, but / burnt witness and- he fell back with fright. Ho then heard, someone shout “Look- - out I” and he ran away about ten ... yards; he then heard another explosion, and on turning saw the deceased , lying on the ground! - t Arthur Albert Rankin, a "gunner in the same bombing class as the deceased, stated that it was only a smoke bomb which exploded in Turner’s hand, but a spark from it lit a high- “ explosive bomb, which became ignited- r Someone shouted a warning, and all " present tried to get out, but just as v they got to the too of the parapet the . bomb went off. The deceased and the t? sergeant-major, who was still in the hospital, were both hurt, and witness received a slight injury. Lieutenant Tindals stated that there would be no*difficulty in telling when a fuse ignited, as it would spark and spit. If the fuse was not ignited till Turner struck his third match, and it - then went off at once, witness could ' not give any reason for it. A verdict of accidental death was , returned. .