WW2 non-airplane suicide attacks

Hello all,

I am putting this under the "General" thread because I am not sure exactly where else it fits.

My grandfather told me that when they liberated a place that local children would come up to them, he said they knew the Americans got chocolate in their rations and they were hoping to get some of that, or just to get help in general, I guess. But he said that because (he and his cohort believed) that the children were potential suicide bombers they would give them little pieces of phosphorus, which the kids thought were candy, but it would burst into a small flame when put into the mouth. I was around 12 when I heard this story and I remember asking if the kids were hurt, and him telling me that they might have been hurt a little, but not seriously, and that they all stayed away after that first contact with the GIs.

I know it's well documented that German children were serving on the front lines, especially at the end of the war, and I can find plenty of info on phosphorus in general (munitions, fire bombing), and on suicide bombers (in airplanes), but nothing along these lines.

Was that a tactic used at the end of the war, or would these have been people who supported the Nazis, or was my Grandad operating under false assumptions? I have no reason to disbelieve his story, it doesn't make him out to be a hero, just a guy scared for his life. My grandfather didn't talk a whole lot in the time I knew him, but I never knew him to lie about anything. He was considered an honest and forthright, if somewhat taciturn, man by his contemporaries as far as I can tell.

I appreciate any light that anyone can shed on this story, especially if you can point me to a source that talks about it.

 

Austin,
There are many great researchers on this site.If you have your Gdads discharge papers or any info on units he served in,it would help narrow down the search.My father told many stories also.They are hard to pin down and some times impossible. Varacity of a story can go from solid to bunk.

 

..it might have happened a few times, but definitely not a lot
..the circumstances would matter...I would think the troops would have good sense to know if ''children'' could be trusted or not ...7 years old is a lot different than 16/etc

 

Sounds like a bit of a tall tale to me. Not saying it could not have ever happened, but it seems unlikely. For one thing, if the kids were deemed a threat, why let them get close enough to hand them tainted candy? Second, I think they would have been seriously hurt by putting white phosphorous in their mouths. WP is pretty nasty stuff.

 

That's impossible, they was no threat from suicide children or even suicide Germans.
The German civilians surrendered meekly and obediently.
Even the Soviets were surprised by their obedience and frequently even servile behavior.