The Explosive Rats of the Second World War

This one originates from World War II, courtesy of the Special Operations Executive of the United Kingdom (SOE). The fundamental idea was simple: take some dead rats, tear them up, stuff them with explosives, and stitch them back together. The explosive rodents were then to be handed to spies and resistance fighters in occupied France who could infiltrate German-run factories and other places and simply leave them on the floor.

Workers or troops who came across the dead rats were supposed to dispose of them by dumping them into the furnace, causing an explosion. The "rat bombs" were never deployed, however, because the Germans intercepted the initial shipment and discovered the scheme. Nonetheless, the SOE was pleased with the outcome since it led the Germans to spend a significant amount of time and effort checking other dead rats to determine if they had been booby-trapped. "The trouble we caused them was a lot larger success for us than if the rats had actually been employed," the SOE determined.

Date: 1941