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Today In History
3 years 11 months ago #541
by Maki
Replied by Maki on topic Today In History
Project Eldest Son
The Top Secret U.S. Scheme to Sabotage the Enemy’s Own Rifles in Vietnam
It was a 45-year-old SOG colonel named John Singlaub who first suggested the ploy. The former OSS operative supposedly borrowed the idea from the British army, which had secretly distributed its own exploding .303 Lee Enfield rifle rounds to enemy rebels in Waziristan during the 1930s and even tribal insurgents in Zimbabwe as early as the 1890s.
The American plan, dubbed Project Eldest Son, called for technicians to pry apart thousands of captured AK-47 and 12.7 mm machine gun rounds, as well as 82 mm mortar shells and fill the casings with a potent explosive that was virtually indistinguishable from conventional gunpowder. The booby trapped munitions were then reassembled and mixed into crates of perfectly good ammo bound for enemy supply depots. Eventually, the SOG manufactured more than 12,000 trick rifle bullets and machine gun rounds along with nearly 2,000 killer mortar shells.
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Over a two-year period, U.S. special ops teams fanned out across South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia covertly depositing ammo crates containing the corrupted rounds into enemy supply caches. Another tactic was to leave full magazines loaded with a single tainted bullet onto battlefields in hopes the ammunition would be recovered and used by North Vietnamese forces or communist guerrillas.
At the same time, the SOG spread rumours of Chinese armaments factories producing faulty munitions. According to some of these planted stories, deficient ammo was knowingly being transferred to communist troops in Vietnam by careless and indifferent government officials in Beijing. It was hoped that the narrative might lead to a rift between the two communist powers. The U.S. Armed Forces Radio Network, which was routinely monitored by enemy intelligence, added to the disinformation by advising GIs to avoid using captured weapons because of the risk posed by defective Chinese bullets.
The SOG even went so far as to forge official looking VC and NVA communiqués reporting the hazardous ammunition. The bogus documents were dropped in the field for enemy units to recover and pass along to their superiors.
Little data exists as to the success of the operation. Eventually, Eldest Son had to be abandoned in 1969 when details of it were leaked to the American media. The story didn’t end there however.
It’s been reported recently that the Syrian state military has launched a similar operation its long-running civil war against various rebel groups. According to the New York Times, pro-Assad forces have been secretly passing booby-trapped rounds to enemy fighters via illegal arms bazaars across the region. The paper reports that Damascus appropriated the idea from the U.S. military, which had reportedly been booby trapping insurgent bullets in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Top Secret U.S. Scheme to Sabotage the Enemy’s Own Rifles in Vietnam
It was a 45-year-old SOG colonel named John Singlaub who first suggested the ploy. The former OSS operative supposedly borrowed the idea from the British army, which had secretly distributed its own exploding .303 Lee Enfield rifle rounds to enemy rebels in Waziristan during the 1930s and even tribal insurgents in Zimbabwe as early as the 1890s.
The American plan, dubbed Project Eldest Son, called for technicians to pry apart thousands of captured AK-47 and 12.7 mm machine gun rounds, as well as 82 mm mortar shells and fill the casings with a potent explosive that was virtually indistinguishable from conventional gunpowder. The booby trapped munitions were then reassembled and mixed into crates of perfectly good ammo bound for enemy supply depots. Eventually, the SOG manufactured more than 12,000 trick rifle bullets and machine gun rounds along with nearly 2,000 killer mortar shells.
Over a two-year period, U.S. special ops teams fanned out across South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia covertly depositing ammo crates containing the corrupted rounds into enemy supply caches. Another tactic was to leave full magazines loaded with a single tainted bullet onto battlefields in hopes the ammunition would be recovered and used by North Vietnamese forces or communist guerrillas.
At the same time, the SOG spread rumours of Chinese armaments factories producing faulty munitions. According to some of these planted stories, deficient ammo was knowingly being transferred to communist troops in Vietnam by careless and indifferent government officials in Beijing. It was hoped that the narrative might lead to a rift between the two communist powers. The U.S. Armed Forces Radio Network, which was routinely monitored by enemy intelligence, added to the disinformation by advising GIs to avoid using captured weapons because of the risk posed by defective Chinese bullets.
The SOG even went so far as to forge official looking VC and NVA communiqués reporting the hazardous ammunition. The bogus documents were dropped in the field for enemy units to recover and pass along to their superiors.
Little data exists as to the success of the operation. Eventually, Eldest Son had to be abandoned in 1969 when details of it were leaked to the American media. The story didn’t end there however.
It’s been reported recently that the Syrian state military has launched a similar operation its long-running civil war against various rebel groups. According to the New York Times, pro-Assad forces have been secretly passing booby-trapped rounds to enemy fighters via illegal arms bazaars across the region. The paper reports that Damascus appropriated the idea from the U.S. military, which had reportedly been booby trapping insurgent bullets in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
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3 years 11 months ago - 3 years 11 months ago #542
by Nikita
Replied by Nikita on topic Today In History
April 24, 1967
After a series of technical incidents on his Soyuz 1 spacecraft, such as faulty solar panels causing a loss of electrical power and failure of the orientation detectors resulting in a loss of maneuverability of the ship and a loss of radio link with the ground control, the space mission is shortened and the Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Mikhailovich Komarov makes an early return. During re-entry, the main parachute refuses to open and the reserve parachute also fails. Soyuz 1 hits the ground at a speed of 140 km/h.
Komarov is the first man to die during a spatial flight. His name appears on the plaque of the Fallen Astronaut monument, deposited on the surface of the Moon in 1971 by the American mission Apollo 15, honoring men who died for space exploration.
After a series of technical incidents on his Soyuz 1 spacecraft, such as faulty solar panels causing a loss of electrical power and failure of the orientation detectors resulting in a loss of maneuverability of the ship and a loss of radio link with the ground control, the space mission is shortened and the Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Mikhailovich Komarov makes an early return. During re-entry, the main parachute refuses to open and the reserve parachute also fails. Soyuz 1 hits the ground at a speed of 140 km/h.
Komarov is the first man to die during a spatial flight. His name appears on the plaque of the Fallen Astronaut monument, deposited on the surface of the Moon in 1971 by the American mission Apollo 15, honoring men who died for space exploration.
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3 years 11 months ago - 3 years 11 months ago #543
by Nikita
Well guys, just a friendly remark. Originally, when i created the "Today in History" topic, it was intended as an ephemeris, talking about events that happened at a precise date, on a precise day. For historical subjects that are not linked to a specific day, perhaps it will be better to chose another forum in the Miscellanous/History section, or to create one there if the post you want to make doesn't fit with any already existing.
No offence of course, from my point of view it's just a question of trying to organize the historical stuff here the best way we can.
Replied by Nikita on topic Today In History
Well guys, just a friendly remark. Originally, when i created the "Today in History" topic, it was intended as an ephemeris, talking about events that happened at a precise date, on a precise day. For historical subjects that are not linked to a specific day, perhaps it will be better to chose another forum in the Miscellanous/History section, or to create one there if the post you want to make doesn't fit with any already existing.
No offence of course, from my point of view it's just a question of trying to organize the historical stuff here the best way we can.
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3 years 11 months ago - 3 years 11 months ago #544
by Nikita
April 26, 1933
By a decree merging the different Prussian police forces into one single organization, Hermann Göring creates the Geheime Staatspolizei, aka Gestapo , which becomes the official secret police of the nazi regime.
Replied by Nikita on topic Today In History
April 26, 1933
By a decree merging the different Prussian police forces into one single organization, Hermann Göring creates the Geheime Staatspolizei, aka Gestapo , which becomes the official secret police of the nazi regime.
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3 years 11 months ago #545
by Nikita
Replied by Nikita on topic Today In History
April 30, 1943
At 4:30 am, the submarine HMS Seraph, under command of Lieutenant Bill Jewell, surfaces off Huelva, on the Spanish West coast. Some crew members drop to the sea the body of a man wearing a life jacket and carrying a briefcase. The Seraph takes dive and Jewell sends a radio message to his command : " Mincemeat completed". One of the biggest deception operations of WW2, planned and developed since several months by the Double-Cross System of the British MI5, is now entrusted to the ocean.
At 4:30 am, the submarine HMS Seraph, under command of Lieutenant Bill Jewell, surfaces off Huelva, on the Spanish West coast. Some crew members drop to the sea the body of a man wearing a life jacket and carrying a briefcase. The Seraph takes dive and Jewell sends a radio message to his command : " Mincemeat completed". One of the biggest deception operations of WW2, planned and developed since several months by the Double-Cross System of the British MI5, is now entrusted to the ocean.
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3 years 11 months ago #546
by Nikita
Replied by Nikita on topic Today In History
May 3, 1975
Lead ship of its class, marking the final choice by the United States for nuclear propulsion after the hesitations between the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) and its eight reactors and the USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-67) with conventional propulsion, the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) is commissioned. "Uncle Chester" is now the oldest U.S. aircraft carrier in service.
Lead ship of its class, marking the final choice by the United States for nuclear propulsion after the hesitations between the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) and its eight reactors and the USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-67) with conventional propulsion, the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) is commissioned. "Uncle Chester" is now the oldest U.S. aircraft carrier in service.
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