Скачать или смотреть How a U.S. Sniper’s “Potato Ruse” Eliminated 43 German Troops in 48 Hours

In December 1944, deep inside Germany’s Hürtgen Forest, one American soldier turned patience, psychology, and a single ordinary object into one of the most unsettling small-unit actions of World War II.

This documentary tells the true story of Corporal William E. Jones of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division—an experienced rifleman fighting in one of the deadliest and most brutal battles of the European Theater. The Hürtgen Forest was a frozen maze of shattered trees, hidden bunkers, and constant artillery fire. Visibility was limited, morale was strained, and death often came without warning.

Over forty-eight hours, Jones exploited routine, curiosity, and human behavior. Using nothing more than his rifle, his patience, and a discarded potato taken from a German supply depot, he lured enemy soldiers into the open—one by one. Each movement was calculated. Each shot deliberate. By the time the action ended, forty-three German soldiers were confirmed dead, not through mass assault, but through methodical psychological warfare.

This film is not a tale of glory or heroism. It is a stark examination of how war transforms ordinary men and ordinary objects into instruments of death. It explores the moral ambiguity of sniper warfare, the mental toll of isolation, and the cold efficiency required to survive static combat in the forests of late-war Germany.

Using historically accurate black-and-white visuals, authentic wartime detail, and a restrained documentary tone, this video reconstructs the events as they unfolded—without exaggeration, without mythmaking, and without spectacle.

The potato became a symbol.
The forest became a trap.
And patience became a weapon.

This is the story of how forty-three men died—not in a charge, not in a battle line—but because they stopped to investigate something that didn’t belong.