to be Axel von dem Bussche, who volunteered to carry a landmine in the knapsack of the uniform, and detonate it when the three Nazi leaders were gathered around him. Nonetheless, the freight car containing the new uniforms was destroyed in an Allied air raid the night before the scheduled demonstration. The viewing was rescheduled, but again delayed by schedule conflicts among the "Big Three" Nazis until February. Meanwhile, von dem Bussche had to return to front-line duty, and was badly wounded, losing part of one leg, so he could no longer serve as model. Captain Ewald von Kleist volunteered to replace von dem Bussche, and attempt a similar suicide bombing at a viewing scheduled for 11 February 1944; yet this event was repeatedly postponed and eventually cancelled. Shooting attack Captain Eberhard von Breitenbuch was on the staff of Field Marshal Ernst Busch, now commanding Army Group Centre. In early 1944, Busch and his staff were summoned to brief Hitler. Breitenbuch volunteered to carry a 7.65mm Browning pistol concealed in his trouser pocket into the briefing (which took place on 11 March), and shoot Hitler. But on the day of the briefing, Hitler issued a Führer directive excluding junior officers from Führer briefings. Water tower bomb Two army conspirators smuggled a bomb into the Wolf's Lair and lowered it into a water tower. But the bomb mysteriously exploded a few weeks later, jolting the SS guards. SS Chief Himmler immediately launched an inquiry into the incident which was deliberately blocked by Lieutenant Colonel Werner Schrader–the investigative officer in charge and, as it turned out, a fellow conspirator. References Further reading Moorhouse, Roger. Killing Hitler (2006), Jonathan Cape, Dulles, Allen W. Germany's Underground (1947), Da Capo Press, Galante, Pierre; Silianoff, Eugène (trans. Mark Howson and Cary Ryan). Operation Valkyrie: The German Generals' Plot against Hitler (2002) Cooper Square Press, Dunn, Walter S., Jr. Heroes or Traitors: The German Replacement Army, the July Plot, and Adolf Hitler (2003) Praeger Publishers, Conflicts in 1940 Conflicts in 1943 Conflicts in 1944 Attempted coups in Germany Failed assassination attempts in Europe Politics of World War II 1940 in Germany Adolf Hitler