Tuesday 12 November 2013

Mistakes in the dark

I was once told of a military training excercise that went wrong - in a funny way (if you have my sense of humour). No-one but my friend's ego and pride was injured.

A good friend of mine was an army reservist, having served his country as a regular in various theatres around the world. As a (perceived) expert in all things explosive, he was tasked with providing a nighttime (dark o'clock) excercise to show some young recruits what they might face from a non military enemy - in the form of the good old fashioned Molotov cocktail, or petrol bomb as it was more commonly known. 
Now the old fashioned cocktail (for those of you unaware of these things) comprised a bottle of petrol stuffed with a fuel soaked rag which was then lit and thrown. Naturally, the impact would smash the bottle, releasing the fuel an causing it to be ignited by the burning rag. The danger to the user however included the prospect of burning fuel pouring down your arm as you tried to throw the bottle, and the enemy seeing the burning bottle mid flight and thus gauging your position.
Modern versions, and the one our intrepid "expert" would utilise would eliminate these pitfalls by using a sealed glass bottle of fuel and a bag of chemicals taped to it. The general idea being that when the bottle beaks, it also bursts the bag and the reaction of the two parts mixing together would ignite the fuel. Sounds like simple chemistry. And it is......
Being a safety conscious sort if guy, my pal (who will remain anonymous) arrived at the training base with the bottles of fuel stored in crates within the boot of the car; whilst the bags of chemical powder were safely inside the car to avoid ignition in the event of accidental contact between the two. 
Having gathered the troops together and made their way to the allocated training zone, he explained the origins of the Molotov cocktail and the dangers as detailed above. 
With swift dexterity, he taped a bag to a bottle and in the darkness, launched it at the nearby target building. Woosh. A huge fireball erupted, much to the glee of the troops who were all in awe and all wanted to have a go. Each was duly given a bottle, a bag and some electrical tap to attach them with. Carefully they all followed their instructions to the letter and one after the other, threw the combination at the target building with great enthusiasm. All, to a man, hit the target and two dozen explosive fireballs later, the exercise was complete. After a bit if fire extinguishment my friend explained that since the base would be used for other training excercises, they had all better sweep up the broken glass and make the area safe. 
However, during the clea-up, it quickly became apparent that there had been a mix up in the dark and that they had targeted the wrong building, completely melting a field telephone exchange. 
Apparently it took quite a bit if explaining and a severe talking to by the senior officer before my pal was allowed away with his new recruits.
Ooops!!!

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