Hi. Been reading a book I got from the Military Book Club called 'Fortress Third Reich', by J.E. Haufmann, H.W. Kaufmann, and R.M. Jurga. It's put out by the Perseus Books Group. Thought I would share this, as it's a most unusual way to find one of the casualties within a fortification:

This is from ---Appendix 4: Evaluation of Bomb and Heavy Naval Guns on Fortifications:

3.Gun casemate with a bomb, estimated as 250 kg, exploding in front of the embrasure. The bomb detonated in the air about 2 meters from the open embrasure. "The heavy, armored, double door in the rear wall of the big casemate was closed." Heavy damage was done including to the gun mount, although the barrel was not damaged. The 11-man gun crew "...had thrown themselves flat on the ground, were dead--burst lungs." One man believed not to be on the ground was thrown upward and was hanging under the roof by his uniform. It is believed the blast had lifted the roof for a split second and came back down as the instant he was thrown up and caught his clothing. The armored door ws blown out althought the embrasure was fully serviceable and ready for action. Schmetzer concluded if the armored door had remained open the crew might have survived.

Thought I would just pass this along for what's it's worth, as bodies can find their way into some of the strangest places and forms in any violent action, esp. combat.

Take care, sgirty

That darn armored door. I know what they mean, it has gotten me into trouble numerous times!

If you wanted to put the time and effort into it, a guy could make a large dio of the little story.

~Chip

Nice read!

:-)

slighty off topic heres one for you,
and this is true I'll give you a newspaper to contact if you
dont belive me!
In the town were I come from Stevenston,Ayrshire a butcher from the next town went missing some years before I think 14 years any way the park next to the school
Iwent to had some woods and stuff on it and right at the start of the woods was a massive boulder. well we used to play on it and things and run round it.
Whilst on leave from the army I noticed a big police tent round/next to it so we wondered what it was ithe local paper
found out that the man who had going missing had been found next to the bolder his remains showed he'd died of a heart attack and had been there all this time it was a dog who found his bones wasnt very deep either funny to think I was jumping all over a stiff so many times!

Mike, I dont know wether to laugh or go 'Ewwwww!" LOL!

Mike holy balls, that is F-d Up! Wow, I bet that was a hell of a feeling!

~Chip

have you ever seen some of the civil war dead pictures. I know a lot were staged by Brady's photographers (especially at Gettysburg) but check out some of the Sharpsburg pictures and reading about the bodies in the cornfield all in a line now that's eerie.