Dirty tricks in WWII?

MD

MD

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
13   0   0
Not a firearms query, but still, I've often wondered where are the special training and knowledge came from in WWII for training commandos and undercover agents aiding the resistance in Europe.

A guy I met from Quebec told me his father had been dropped into occupied France to work with the resistance there and described some horrifying disabling techniques he had learned.

True or not (this could have all been BS) there is no doubt a lot of effective hand-to-hand disabling and lethal techniques were taught, learned and sometimes even utilized by operatives.

Where did all this specialized knowledge come from?

I kind of wonder where it was learned when for the most part, most countries were peaceful and the numbers of people who knew how to break an opponent's neck, dislocate a shoulder, pop an eyeball out or kill with a Judo chop to the throat were hiding.
 
Last edited:
There has been plenty about it written, but most of the books that go into depth on the subject, you need to scratch the surface as most WWII history centres on the overt portions of the war.

search and go down the rabbit hole on the following three topic should get you started:
Fairbairn and Sykes (and of course Applegate)
SOE
OSS
 
Last edited:
Read the White Rabbit. It details the courage and exploits of Wing Commander FFE Yeo-Thomas. He was dropped into France during WWII and worked with the Resistance. He was eventually betrayed and arrested by the Gestapo. During one of his interrogations, when an interrogator had a moment of inattention, he grabbed a bottle, broke it and slashed the throat of the Gestapo agent. He then jumped from a 3 storey window to try and escape. He broke his legs and was immediately recaptured. The book is an incredible testament to the man and his training.
 
For Canadian contributions to this element of The Second World War, look into Camp X. There are some fantastic Canadian books on the topic as well written by Lynn Philip Hodgson.
 
You might want to look up 'Defendo' which is a stepped down version of 'Combato' devised by Bill Underwood. The system taught at Camp X was Combato- Underwood developed the techniques, Applegate, Sykes and Fairbairn developed the applications and attitude that was required to make it work. Very similar in its focus to Krav Maga, virtually every technique in Combato would result in grievous injury or death, if applied properly. Very few people today have any real knowledge of Combato, since it was actually designed as a purely maiming or killing art. Canada's contribution to the martial arts.
 
no video is going to train you
sign up for the french foreign legion basic training and you're ahead of the game
you may like it too
 
William E. Fairbairn was a Royal Marine and in the interwar years was a senior officer in the Shanghai Police. He was a master of unarmed combat, the deadly use of knives and close quarters use of a pistol on the streets. Much of his learned knowledge was passed on through the commando schools in Scotland WW2.
Guaranteed the British SOE adopted many of his techniques as well.
He had much input into the Sykes-Fairbairn dagger that bears his name.
 
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-34396939

I recall hearing of Germans having crooked pictures connected to bombs. The idea was that British officers couldn't resist fixing them if they occupied a building.

I also remember reading a book on Stalingrad talking about the Germans putting fishing line screens on windows so the Soviets couldn't toss in grenades. When the Soviets got wise, they tied fish hooks to the grenades so they would stick to the screens. Lots of examples of little tricks.
 
Alex_Zues said:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-34396939

I recall hearing of Germans having crooked pictures connected to bombs. The idea was that British officers couldn't resist fixing them if they occupied a building.

I also remember reading a book on Stalingrad talking about the Germans putting fishing line screens on windows so the Soviets couldn't toss in grenades. When the Soviets got wise, they tied fish hooks to the grenades so they would stick to the screens. Lots of examples of little tricks.
Click to expand...

Lots of those things were used. Germans liked to chance color coded caps on grenades. One they usually used for throwing had blue caps - 4.5 sec. delay. They also had red - 1 second. Switch red for blue and "forget" a box of two of those in a trench before pulling back from position. They also removed time delay fuses from stick grenades and left those lying around.
 
Goggle the book; the manual of ungentlemenly conduct. It was the training manual for the SOE, if you have a prisoner the first thing you should do is kill him, if this is inconvenient you do the following. The manual was created by talking to a multitude of gentlemen who partook in activities that were of questionable legality
 
I remember reading that the Russians used timers on bombs placed in buildings when they were retreating and the Germans were advancing
The Germans would use these buildings as bases and the bombs would go off afterwards sometimes weeks later
It apparently bothered hitler a great deal
 
I will strongly suggest folks read the book Fighting in Hell-The German Ordeal on the Eastern Front which is a edited version of the the reports written by the Germans in the immediate post war years of their observations and experiences fighting in Russia. This edited book was one in a series of reports written under the auspice of the US Army and was done by Germans so it is unfiltered. Lots of interesting Battle Craft (dirty tricks) conducted by both sides in the east.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom