JC was a gold prospector. (Besides being a carpenter, general handyman and plumber) He chewed tabaccie and swore like a longshoreman. In short he was a cool guy. I don't think he owned a machine gun, but I am sure he would have known what to do with one. I think he manned a Bren with the Seaforth Highlanders at Neuve Chapelle. seaforth-highlanders.ca
That bit about walking on water was very exaggerated. He just knew where the rocks were.
They had to have divine support here -->
The Seaforths were engaged in the bloody battle of Ypres, the Somme, and Vimy Ridge. During the final battle for Vimy Ridge, Lieutenant D.O. Vicars and Private McWhinney (later Lieut. McWhinney, DCM) with Corporal "Hat" Matthews took, unaided, 400 yards of the German Support Line, nearly the entire Battalion front! Later in the battle, the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel J.C. Clark, DSO, with one junior officer, two runners and a Lewis gun crew, pushed up a mile in advance of the battalion where they met Brigadier McBrien and two senior officers armed only with revolvers, and promptly attacked a party of 50 enemy soldiers, driving them off. During the attack on Elev Spur, the retreating enemy were in such disarray the Sgt. W. Brown, MM, Stepped into a poker game, which he broke up with his rifle. It is a special tribute that the German Communiqué referred to the Seaforths as "specially picked assault troops."
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