Ridiculous Weapons

The prize propbably goes to the british for a pike issued to the Home Guard.They actually paraded with them!
It was a lee Enfield spike type bayonet welded onto a six foot section of pipe.
The Home Guard also had a "cannon" they were rather proud of.It fired an ampule of acid supposedly against an enemy tank,if in such a case they had landed.

The Americans had a heavy horsehide glove which had a .38 barrel on it.Supposedly,you rammed your fist at the enemy and the plunger would ignite the .38 round.

There was also the .22 Zip Gun.It looked like a ball point pen.Few were issued.it ended up used more in crimes back home.A single shot device.

There was also the "Sticky Bomb" for which the Limeys will correct me upon.
It was an explosive device clad in a super adhesive. You stuck it onto the enemy.

[edit on 16-8-2004 by John bull 1]

Shhh! Some say the British actually have these pikes still stocked just in case of a military emergency!

The other powers astounded you with their ingenuity. The Russians making the PPsh 42 at Lenningrad.
The Germans making the Volkstrum weapons in the final weeks of the war.Some made of plywood.

[edit on 10-8-2004 by stgeorge]

Rceme which I was a part of thought of some things. Like the German halftracks,simply weld some metal plates to the sides of these Bren Carriers,and you will save some heads.It was called the kangaroo.Just do it! Do not wait for an official order.

The Ram tank was another.Make the Sherman tank tougher.No......

You see the Russians and Americans had bodies to spare.The British and Canadians did not. The Germans outnumbered us in some theatres actually. Oh yes,they had a lot of people.Therefore Hitler's insistence on expansion.

Alright...I'm not even going to pretend I have a clue what your talking about, and I'm not sure this thread should even stay around...
But in keeping with the theme, maybe if Hitler had these, they would not have lost the war.



More silly weapons...
The Amazing Catapult Watch!
www.backyardartillery.com...

The Southern American Conferderacy had some really moronic weapons. Chief among them was probably the double-barreled cannon. It was an interesting concept, but completely doomed to failure. The molds were incorrect, they actually aimed the barrels crosswise, destroying any accuracy. Then there was the problem of the actual concept: fire one while loading the other.

Umm did the designers ever even see a cannon before they designed this?

Peace
~Astral

The French chouchat(sp) the worst and most idiotic idea of a rifle. On other ridiculous weapon is the Japanese weather balloon bombs.

If we're talking about absolutely stupid ideas try these from WWII :

• Bat bomb - The US evaluated using bats with small 1-2 ounce phosphor bombs. The idea being they were to be dropped on Japan and the bats would lodge themselves in the roofs of houses. A crude timng device would detonate the charge setting fire to the wood and paper structure.
  
• Cat bomb - This involved using cats in an anti-shipping role. The cats were to be dropped from the plane with a bomb attached to them. The theory being that a cat would always seek dry land to land on, thus guiding themselves and the bomb to the target ship. $50 000 was actually spent on this, before they realised the high altitude would render the cats unconcious.
  

Perhaps Canada will perchase those extra pikes . Ah forget it the Brits will most likely sell defective Pikes to us .