Floperoo

Even the big business of pulverizing Aachen could not keep American whittling-fingers from gadgeteering. When Army engineers on the ridge outside the town found seven trolley cars of post-Tooner-ville design, they couldn't resist making their own V-weapon. A car was hauled to the tracks that led down to the city, packed like a Christmas stocking with captured shells, bullets, rockets, dynamite, TNT, hand grenades and ack-ack. On its sides G.I.s daubed a picture of Hitler, "Heil Heel," "Aachen Express," "V-13."

A bulldozer shove started the old streetcar down the hill toward Aachen. The engineers, watching from the bleachers of the ridge, saw the squeeze play fail: the rocking trolley blew up before it reached the town. Maybe it shook up a few Nazi machine gunners. Well, they had another. The second improved model exploded prematurely, destroying the launching ramp.

The engineers, gravely fingering their hairy American ears, announced: "Thus far [its accuracy] is very poor, with a possible error of up to 50% in range--a complete floperoo."

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