Hpt. Lisse Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 'We had taken the city of St. Côme-du-Mont and all the high ground surrounding it. We re-formed our units and dug in on a static line of defense on the high ground overlooking the river. Two troopers had one of the 88s that had been firing on us and along with two German prisoners turned it around and pointed it toward Carentan across the river. It was a large field type with oversized casings that had to be loaded after the projectile. While digging my foxhole I casually watched the troopers. It didn't dawn on me what they were doing, but they took a shell casing, filled it with small powder bags and tried to fit the projectile in the end of it. The casing was so full that they pulled some of the powder bags out and finally got the whole works in the breech of the big gun. Whether the German prisoners knew what was going to happen or not I don't know, but they gave no sign of it. Suddenly, one of the troopers yelled, "Now, Hitler, count your children," and pulled the lanyard. There was a hell of an explosion and when the smoke cleared a portion of the blacktop road was torn up and the whole rear of the gun was destroyed. The barrel lay on the ground and the four men had disappeared, except for one German leg with boot still on it. They never knew what hit them.' "Curahee!" by Donald R. Burgett. Page 138 of the paperback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnersman Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 Ok, Im lost here. So its not really an 88? But probably a 105mm or 150mm? They just say "88" to describe all big guns shooting at them? 88s do not have seperate loading ammunition like some bigger bore guns do. Thats what this "large field type" gun sounds like it had; seperate loading ammunition. I guess the "88" was on the side of the road? And it was packed full of propellant, more than should be? And the German soldiers were sitting next to it, or close nearby? And I guess the lanyard had about 1000' of rope tied to it (give or take a few hundred feet)? Am I even close? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoat Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 Watch what you believe when you read Burgett. Some okay combat narrative, some inaccuracies in there as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hpt. Lisse Posted August 25, 2006 Author Share Posted August 25, 2006 I think it's quite possible/probable that it's not an 88... just trying illustrate the inherent problems of non-arty types grabbing hold of whatever captured field piece happens to be around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnersman Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 Aaaah the troopers blew themselves up too. Got it. Thats the part I was not getting. It didnt occur to me that someone might not understand that you can overfill the breech. Or that an explosion goes in all directions (unless of course its a shaped charge). [ August 24, 2006, 08:35 PM: Message edited by: gunnersman ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denwad Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 gunnersman even a shaped charge blows up in all directions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnersman Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 Yes, you are right. The force is not distributed equally. That is what I should have said the first time. So solly. Prease excuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Dorosh Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 You can also boobytrap guns in real life, to prevent such use by tyros... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarquelne Posted August 26, 2006 Share Posted August 26, 2006 Originally posted by Denwad: gunnersman even a shaped charge blows up in all directions Denwad, "up" is only one direction. Even a shaped charge explodes in all directions. Just watched a "Yes, Prime Minister" episode and had to express my "Inner Wooley". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tools4fools Posted August 26, 2006 Share Posted August 26, 2006 That Burger guy spoke fluent German then? **** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted August 27, 2006 Share Posted August 27, 2006 Not necessarily, but all Germans, being Ueber, spoke fluent English, French, Russian, and Kisuaheli. All the best Andreas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elmar Bijlsma Posted August 27, 2006 Share Posted August 27, 2006 Originally posted by Andreas: Not necessarily, but all Germans, being Ueber, spoke fluent English, French, Russian, and Kisuaheli. All the best Andreas But not Yiddish. Thus the Allies cunningly wrote the instructions for every cannon and tank in Yiddish. Unable to use enemy equipment, the Germans lost the war. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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