Why This 'Harmless' American Baseball Terrified German Officers In Italy скачать в хорошем качестве

Why This 'Harmless' American Baseball Terrified German Officers In Italy

To German officers in Italy, it looked like the most harmless thing imaginable—a simple American baseball. But in 1944, that familiar shape hid one of the most unnerving weapons the U.S. ever fielded: the T-13 “Beano” grenade. Designed to feel exactly like a regulation baseball, it let American troops throw it with perfect accuracy and far greater range than traditional grenades. German patrols quickly learned to fear the sight of U.S. soldiers winding up like ballplayers—because the next moment, that harmless-looking object would bounce at their feet and detonate with lethal force. In the close villages and mountain passes of Italy, where seconds mattered, the Beano turned American infantry into deadly pitchers. A baseball in the hand— a battlefield nightmare for the enemy.