What was stopping them from just hucking grenades over to the Germans to begin with? You don’t typically have to exploit trust of the enemy on the battlefield to throw a grenade.
It’s much more effective if they are grouped together waiting to catch the grenade. It also reveals the position of the soldiers in the trench.
Grenades aren’t very effective in trenches, unless the victim is close by. The narrow shape and curves of the trench can shield a person from a nearby blast.
If you’re in a trench in wartime and fist sized object comes flying in from the direction of the enemy forces you’re going to dive away from it and take cover. But then the thrown object turns out to be a can of food, not an explosive.
So how do you respond to the next thrown item? Do you still dive for cover?
The rational answer is “yes.” The starving soldier desperate for a break from the fighting answer was not.
Plus trenches have dugouts and the like. You can imagine that after the first round of corned beef, people were probably waking their mates up, yelling at everyone to get out here and see what’s happening.
Trenches are ideally built with shelters, curves, zig-zags, etc. to reduce the effects of direct hits from explosives. Plus you may only hit one guy, while playing games with them can get you several more
What was stopping them from just hucking grenades over to the Germans to begin with? You don’t typically have to exploit trust of the enemy on the battlefield to throw a grenade.
It’s much more effective if they are grouped together waiting to catch the grenade. It also reveals the position of the soldiers in the trench.
Grenades aren’t very effective in trenches, unless the victim is close by. The narrow shape and curves of the trench can shield a person from a nearby blast.
If you’re in a trench in wartime and fist sized object comes flying in from the direction of the enemy forces you’re going to dive away from it and take cover. But then the thrown object turns out to be a can of food, not an explosive.
So how do you respond to the next thrown item? Do you still dive for cover?
The rational answer is “yes.” The starving soldier desperate for a break from the fighting answer was not.
Plus trenches have dugouts and the like. You can imagine that after the first round of corned beef, people were probably waking their mates up, yelling at everyone to get out here and see what’s happening.
It’s ingenious, in a horrifyingly cruel way.
It’s funnier this way
Style points?
Trenches are ideally built with shelters, curves, zig-zags, etc. to reduce the effects of direct hits from explosives. Plus you may only hit one guy, while playing games with them can get you several more