Guns Frozen Solid at -23°F — An Iowa Farmer's Belt Saved 1,900 at Bastogne

Описание: Bastogne, December 1944. The Battle of the Bulge. 18,000 Americans surrounded by 45,000 Germans.
Minus 23 degrees Fahrenheit. The coldest winter in fifty years. And the machine guns stopped firing. Lubricating oil froze solid. Weapons became useless steel. German infantry advancing. Eight minutes until the defensive line collapsed.
An Iowa farmer named Harvey Thomas gripped his leather belt and recognized the problem. He'd solved it for fifteen years on frozen tractors back home. Oil needs heat to stay fluid.
His solution: wrap the belt around the barrel. Saw it back and forth. Friction generates heat. Heat thaws the oil.
Cost: zero. The belt was standard Army issue.
780 machine guns kept firing through the siege. 1,900 American soldiers survived. Bastogne held. The German offensive failed.
📺 Watch the full story:    • How a Farmer's FREE Belt Saved 1,900 Soldi...  
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