World War II Database

1.  Bill says:
21 Jan 2015 08:29:22 PM

To learn more about German hand grenades, click to above photograph.

ACHTUNG MINEN!

Next to the hand grenades, the land mine was used by both Allied and Axis troops to deny the enemy freedom of movement. Did you know during WWII the
Germans employed forty different types of land mines. This study will cover a few of the more known types.

Tellermine M35: was an anti-tank mine triggered by the pressure of a tank or other vehicle however a soldier could walk over it without going off the M35 needed about 180kgs/400lbs to activate the weapon driving over it, and 80kgs or 200lbs on the edge to set off the mine.

Tellermine M43: was manufactured as a simpler version of the Tellermine M42 and activated the same way, by pressure millions were manufactured during the war. Tellermine M29 was a smaller weapon, and saw limited service in WWII about 61,000 were built between 1929 to 1945 it was replaced by the M35 remaining stocks of the M29 were used for training.

"S" Mine: or known as the bouncing betty by GI's this was a nasty weapon designed for use against personnel. It was activated by a soldier walking over it the mine would jump between three to six feet into the air and explode killing anyone in the blast radius.
Schu-Mine: made of wood six inches by six-inches
and difficult to detect that held the explosive charge, it was a fragmentation mine. Another mine
was called the Topfmine (pot mine) Topf-Mi4531 like the Schu-Mine it was undetectable by Allied mine sweepers made from sawdust and tar.

POST-WAR:

After WWII many countries copied wartime German designs both NATO and the Warsaw Bloc employed millions of mines along its borders, they are improved, smaller and more efficient and harder to detect. During WWII Allied and Axis forces made maps of their minefields, marked them, and cleared them afterward...not so fast! millions of mines were scattered all over Europe during the battles and retreats.
After the war, many of these maps and documents were destroyed, lost or missing many of the soldiers on both sides had been killed during the war that buried these mines, or made the maps. The search for these deadly weapons became difficult to located, even today NATO Ordnance teams are still locating leftover explosives.

HOME IMPROVEMENT:

Today in Germany and other locations in Europe anyone who files a building permit needs to show documents that the land has been search and cleared by EOD disposal teams and found clear of WWII ordnance.

FEUER IM LOCH: FIRE IN THE HOLE

After the reunification of West and East Germany
military disposal teams of the Bundeswehr and the Nationale Volksarmee (NVA) worked together to clear or blow up the mines along both of their one time borders.


DANGERIOUS PLACES:

Did you know decades after the war in Europe ended wartime mines are still being discovered along with other types of ordnance. Mines are still buried in the western deserts of Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and other locations. These weapons have killed civilians and live stock years after the guns stopped firing.

A GI REMEMBERS:

During my two-tours in Vietnam I took part in the setting up of Claymore mines, it was dangerous and you had to know what you were doing.
I always made sure that everyman on this detail had the hand held clicker (detonator) with him at all times and made maps of the location of each mine, only then, would we connect the detonating wires to the mines located within the barbwire around our perimeter.
If anyone has more information post it here at ww2db

THANK YOU TO THE EDITOR/WW2DB FOR ALLOWING ME TO LEAVE MY COMMENTS.

2.  Bill says:
23 Jan 2015 08:09:39 AM

M18 CLAYMORE MINE:

What is the Claymore mine this weapon is used for anti-personnel, ambush, against vehicles and defensive positions or any other target. The M18
was curved with the words (front toward enemy) it had a small sight and was positioned with four mental legs to adjust the angle of the blast.

The explosive charge held C-4 with 700 steel bearings, the mine was detonated by the (clicker) firing device, two blasting caps and lead wire to the mine. The weapon could be daisy chained together, so one soldier could set off several mines, inert training mines were blue in color.
Did you know before wars end, the Germans were in the process of developing a mine like the M18 Claymore, but WWII ended before it could reach the troops. After WWII many countries copied the Claymore mine and are now part of their military
arsenal.

DON'T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT THEM: A GI REMEMBERS

In Vietnam on operations or convoys, I carried M18 Claymore mines, M26 frag grenades and lots of ammo for my M16A1. We also had the crew served fifty caliber and M60 machine guns, M79 grenade launcher and the (LAW) Light Anti-Tank Weapon. This comment is for general information only. I'm not an expert or historian and do the best I can to add data to ww2db.