NonCredibleDefense

3583 readers

219 users here now

Rules:

Posts must abide by lemmy.world terms and conditions
No spam or soliciting for money.
No racism or other bigotry allowed.
Obviously nothing illegal.

If you see these please report them.

Related communities:

[email protected]

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

104

NCD is actually a successor department to Allied Intelligence in WW2 (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

9 comments fedilink hide all child comments

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explosive_rat

The CIA overdosed us on LSD in the 50s and 60s, though, so now we're an unpaid think-tank.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 month ago (1 children)

and were to be distributed near German boiler rooms where it was expected they would be disposed of by burning, with the subsequent explosion having a chance of causing a boiler explosion

Wouldn't it have been easier and more effective to just make them coal shaped?

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 month ago

The explosive often wasn't enough to damage a full steam engine. What it could do was terrorise the crew and guards. The ones I heard about didn't have a detonator. The guards had a habit of burning dead rats to get rid of them. Often in the fireplace of the guard shack. The goal was to throw fire and hot metal into the guards gathered around to stay warm.

The other advantage of a rat is that most guards wouldn't look too closely at it. Someone with lumps of coal might have them looked at, if they are caught. They are stealing coal, after all. Someone hunting rats, for food, the other hand? Poor and disgusting, get out of here and take the damn rats! You have an excuse to be there (other than sabotage) and nothing they will want back.