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Avalanches as weapons
Avalanches were used as highly effective weapons during World War 1. This disastrous weapon started when lots of snow fell in the Alps during the December of 1916. People could tell that the avalanche risk was high. A big avalanche killed 250 soldiers while tumbling down on the barracks. Some unknown person got the idea that avalanches could make a highly effective weapon. The avalanche war had begun. Avalanches could be started and even directed by just bombing a mountain. History has not yet calculated the exact number of deaths. Deaths have been estimated as high as 40,000 on each fighting side. Humans are responsible for these death causing, disastrous avalanche killer.
Other web sites bear out similar versions of this story, although often the number of deaths is cited at 60,000.
I was put on to this anecdote from Bill Streever's very good new book Cold: Adventures in the World's Frozen Places. Single-topic popular science books may feel like an exhausted genre, but we're still seeing good ones come along.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on August 12, 2009 at 01:26 PM in History | Permalink
Comments
Fans of Hogan's Heroes will remember the episode "Look at the Pretty Snowflakes" where Col. Hogan (Bob Crane) plays a drum solo (Crane, who was a drummer, plays a real drum solo) in hopes of starting an avalanche to stop a Panzer division. Hogan was unsuccessful, but in the end, Col Klink starts the avalanche with a sneeze.
Posted by: Craig at Aug 12, 2009 1:39:13 PM
This is also how the bad guys are defeated in the brilliant Disney movie "Mulan".
Posted by: Melpomene at Aug 12, 2009 2:52:33 PM
Do the Indian and Pakistani armies up near the Siachen glacier know about this?
Posted by: Anthony at Aug 12, 2009 5:39:50 PM
avalanche --> tidal wave
"Between nine and 12 hours after the island collapses, waves between 20 and 50 metres high will have crossed 4,000 miles of ocean to crash into the Caribbean islands and the eastern seaboard of the US and Canada."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2004/aug/10/science.spain
Posted by: Canary Wave at Aug 12, 2009 8:38:09 PM
If it was so effective, why wasn't it tried in Kuwait? Or Iraq?
Posted by: john at Aug 12, 2009 9:34:31 PM
bizarre comment about iraq & kuwait... is this a joke about the lack of snow? or is it a reference to the (unsubstantiated, afaik) rumors that large earth moving machines were used to bury pinned down enemy troops in the gulf war?
Posted by: paul at Aug 12, 2009 9:41:14 PM
Paul. Kuwait is/was paying big bucks studying the feasiblity of hauling icebergs in for potable water. Maybe not avalanches, but how about calving?
Posted by: john at Aug 13, 2009 2:59:30 PM
In 1938, the Chinese government opened a dike on the Yellow River to slow the advance of Japanese forces, killing hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians. It may have played a part in bringing things to a stalemate by 1940.
I have read it conjectured that the famous failure of Nazi forces to capture British forces at Dunkirk was due to a fear that the Allies would flood the avenues of approach miring the mechanized forces that could be pushing westward instead.
Posted by: Rimfax at Aug 13, 2009 6:40:19 PM
The Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalanche says that the avalanches were a side effect.
Posted by: Ole Palnatoke at Aug 16, 2009 1:10:47 PM
