Right. This thread was inspired by this thread on thunderflashes. So I would like any humorous stories that have occurred through the un-approved use of ordnance or pyrotechnics.
Three come to mind for me, all by Kiwi troops IIRC (2 in Vietnam, 1 in training).
One was bloke in Vietnam who knew a particular officer was on a longdrop style latrine and decide to flip a smoke grenade into the hole to dye the officer's rear end. Apparently he looked like a Baboon for a while.
The second was a guy sitting on watch. He decided to practice twirling the gun round his finger. With a loaded weapon (Safety on, of course). A loaded M-79 "Blooper" to be exact. Well apparently the safety wasn't reliable on these weapons, so, yep, you guessed it, Negligent Discharge. Luckily it had just passed the vertical, and there was no one in front of the Kiwi lines. All the guy did was open the weapon, push the spent shell into the ground, reload, reapply the safety and, once again, you guessed it, resumed twirling as if nothing had happened. (The way it's written in the book is far better, I'll see if I can find it)
The third was by Willy Apiata on a training ex. He had modified a para flare launcher by removing the flare part and inserting a thunder flash to wake the recruits he was training. He was in tent, aimed it out entrance and pulled the string. It fired, launching the TF into a tree, and with the help of Newton's 3rd Law it rebounding straight back into the tent. From memory he said he thought "This is gonna hurt." Rang his ears for a bit but didn't wake one recruit.
Right there's mine. Your turn now.
And, while I feel that I'm preaching to the choir with you guys, I've been asked to put this message in:
Cheers
Nick
Three come to mind for me, all by Kiwi troops IIRC (2 in Vietnam, 1 in training).
One was bloke in Vietnam who knew a particular officer was on a longdrop style latrine and decide to flip a smoke grenade into the hole to dye the officer's rear end. Apparently he looked like a Baboon for a while.
The second was a guy sitting on watch. He decided to practice twirling the gun round his finger. With a loaded weapon (Safety on, of course). A loaded M-79 "Blooper" to be exact. Well apparently the safety wasn't reliable on these weapons, so, yep, you guessed it, Negligent Discharge. Luckily it had just passed the vertical, and there was no one in front of the Kiwi lines. All the guy did was open the weapon, push the spent shell into the ground, reload, reapply the safety and, once again, you guessed it, resumed twirling as if nothing had happened. (The way it's written in the book is far better, I'll see if I can find it)
The third was by Willy Apiata on a training ex. He had modified a para flare launcher by removing the flare part and inserting a thunder flash to wake the recruits he was training. He was in tent, aimed it out entrance and pulled the string. It fired, launching the TF into a tree, and with the help of Newton's 3rd Law it rebounding straight back into the tent. From memory he said he thought "This is gonna hurt." Rang his ears for a bit but didn't wake one recruit.
Right there's mine. Your turn now.
And, while I feel that I'm preaching to the choir with you guys, I've been asked to put this message in:
Messing with ordnance, even if it's "just" pyrotechnics is not safe.
Cheers
Nick
Last edited: