German police shoot German soldier during NATO drill — you couldn’t make it up

German police in the Bavarian town of Erding have wounded a German soldier in a friendly fire incident — that the writers of Dad’s Army would have rejected as too ridiculous — because they hadn’t noticed that NATO was conducting a “large-scale” anti-Russian exercise in their town and across Bavaria.

As German station Deutsche Welle (DW) explained:

A soldier was shot by police during a large-scale exercise of the Bundeswehr, Germany’s armed forces, in the southern Bavarian city of Erding, officials said on Wednesday.

A spokesperson for the Bundeswehr’s Operational Command told German media that a misunderstanding had led to a shot being fired between troops taking part in the exercise and police who had been called by local residents.

The exercises simulate “an attack on a NATO member state”, certainly meant to be by Russia as NATO nations whip up fear and antipathy toward Russia to prop up mass funding and increasing arms supplies to Ukraine. But it seems that the various authorities didn’t bother to, well, warn each other that there would be mock-armed men running about — hence the ‘misunderstanding’ when German troops thought the police were part of the exercise and the police thought they were under attack:

DW’s report goes on:

the military police fired practice ammunition at the arriving police officers, believing this was part of the military exercise.

The police officers then reportedly fired back with live ammunition, hitting one of the soldiers.

“Due to a misinterpretation at the scene, shots were fired,” the Bavarian police said in a statement.

Erding is home to Erdinger Weißbräu, one of Germany’s best-known beers. German authorities gave no indication that its consumption played any role in the shooting.

German police have shown a huge aptitude — and enthusiasm — for beating up peaceful anti-genocide protesters or local citizens holding a vigil for the victim of a(n intentional fascist) shooting. For things like actual policing or even basic communication, apparently, not so much.

The Russians must be quaking in their boots.

Featured image via the Canary