If anyone is interested? They can come along with me, as a small team of Sappers prepare to lift "S" Mines. Sapper
If anyone is interested? They can come along with me, as a small team of Sappers prepare to lift "S" Mines. Sapper Sorry, S'ar Major, got a dentist appointment, can't be blown off. Do keep in touch, however.
Brian, I look forward to your next thrilling installment. Here is a U-Tube video of the S-Mine for those who are not familiar with this lethal weapon. YouTube - German S-mine Schrapnellmine AKA Bouncing Betty Anti-Personnel Land Mine Regards Tom
Anti personal mines and booby traps. Let me take you on a anti-personal and mine clearing session. The mines we are about to tackle are S Mines. They sit in steel container with a Y shaped detonator. They can be set off by push or pull, or it was reported by “Tremblers” or by “Proximity detonation” When it is triggered, a small charge blows the mine up vertically. It jumps up to roughly about 4 feet six inches, whereupon it explodes. Inside that inner canister, are row upon row of steel balls. The blast fires them in all directions… The result is devastating. Certain death if you don’t get it right first time. Men have been killed, and we have to remove the danger. We are going to be a small team. One man to “Sweep” Another man will mark the “safe” areas with white tape. The third man will make the mine safe by removing the detonator. Three men squad. The anti-personal mine clearance site is under mortar and shell fire. It is often the practice used by the enemy mine layers, to protect the S and teller mines with Shu mines laid in strategic places. Schu mines are made of wood and cannot be detected. They are set like a mouse trap. The resulting blast will remove one. Maybe two of your feet, If the blast occurs while your legs are “Open” in mid stride, then it is to expected that :you will never father children. Or that you will not have a future sex life. In many cases: the blast kills. In this case it is “prod-sweep-lift” The stiletto bayonet makes a good prodder. You attempt to prod from the SIDE. Not the top as that will set it off. When found, the Schu mine has to be lifted very gingerly, as they can explode very easily. The three men start prodding a selected area that is marked, The prod produced no schu mines. OK let us sweep for S Mines. During this time the mortar fire is cracking off all around you. BUGGER! Concentrate on what you are doing! or all is lost. I am to sweep, Jim is to lift the mines, and Wass, is to white tape the cleared area. Around us the mortars and the shells are far too close for comfort, While I sweep: Wass and Jim are kneeling down. Immediately the mine detector note changed. A Mine! After locating it I stood back while Jim moved. on his knees to make it safe. It was an S mine: painted green in the long green grass. While Jim was doing his bit, I kneeled down behind him. Left knee up, Right knee down. All of a sudden a fierce blast. I am on my back thinking “what bloody happened there?” I got up, and Jim was flopped out face down. I called out are you ok Jim? A bloody silly question to a man that had an S mine explode under his chest. He replied NO. Then I realised that a steel ball had gone into my skull, after passing through Jim. Blood was running down my face. I also felt blood coursing down my legs. Another steel ball had gone through Jim, and had gone through my left thigh. On the way through, cutting a groove in some very tender, and personal male body equipment. That made the blood spurted everywhere. Waas was standing, clutching his elbow where a steel ball had hit him. When I stood up the blast had made me bleed from my eyes, my ears, and I was coughing up blood. The groin injuries were filling my boots with blood. I was soaked in my own blood. I felt something down in my trousers and found the steel ball had not enough power to penetrate the cloth, So I pulled it out and kept it. Jim died shortly after. I was sent back to a field dressing station. On my way Walking! An American saw this blood soaked apparition and said “Gee You’ve had a hard day“…And gave me his ”Bowie Knife” as a keepsake. The kindness of men, even in those trying circumstances. Later that day: this white faced young fellow, still coughing up blood, was back on the hill lifting mines again, I still have the steel ball in my head. It does not seem to do any harm, so there it stays. In passing, in Holland, around the Overloon area, the Sappers lifted 250,000 mines. Anyone for Tea Vicar? Another Cucumber sandwich? Sapper PS this is a real story. I still have the steel ball in my head a left over fron65 years ago.Sapper
I have some post detonation pictures on a disc somewhere of the effect these mines and other various types have on personnel and vehicles. Sadly they are mainly civilians including children. The pictures are part of a Mine Awareness presentation give pre-deployment to the Balkans. Needless to say I won't post them on here but if ever there was case for banning mines this presentation puts up a good arguement.
I ran into a lot of go-bangs from '70-'72, and I always respected the guys who would willing deal with them more than once. Sapper, you have one coming from me if we ever meet in a pub.
Brian, It is only by reading or hearing first hand accounts of incidents like this that bring home the dangers that you faced daily. I think it also takes courage to relive the event so that we all know the risks that were taken, by you and others like you, for our liberty today. Many, many thanks Brian. Regards Tom
Along way away. But one never knows, one day I might just have a drink with you. Look out Tom... you are spoling me ! 'Cheers sapper
Later that day: this white faced young fellow, still coughing up blood, was back on the hill lifting mines again, I still have the steel ball in my head. sapper, I think you have two more balls of steel to go back and carry on mine clearing!! Respect!!
Brian I love being educated by yourself and reading your first hand accounts. I found a good description of these mines on wiki S-mine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Thanks again Brian and thank you Cheers Kieron
Specs on the S-mine HyperWar: Handbook on German Military Forces (Chapter 8) (Search for "S-mine" or scroll down about 1/2 way.
Sapper Thank you very much for letting share your experiences, I now know why my father never talked about his war time experiences. Oldman
AN ANTI-TRIPWIRE DEVICE FOR BRITISH ARMY MOTOR CYCLISTS [Allocated Title] IWM A70 183-3 Object description 11th Armoured Division's CMP provost company demonstrates near divisional HQ in Deurne a method of rendering harmless a trip-wire trap of a kind employed by German front-line patrols to incapacitate Allied motorcyclists and jeep driver. The CMP Sergeant in charge of the demonstration rides up to the cameraman on a motorcycle fitted with a vertical steel rod on its handle bars. He explains to a CMP corporal the manner in which the rod deflects a steel wire strung across a road at motorcycle rider or jeep driver's height safely over his head; the corporal then strings a wire across the road for his sergeant to test this thesis which the latter does successfully by riding through the wire twice.
I wrote this after researching the use of augmenting charges with Teller Mines, modified to explode under tanks but letting light vehicles pass. Was I correct? Is that feasible? Do we have mine clearance specialists on the forum still? "A week later the Recce Jeep went down the same very narrow lane towards the valley below, to check a possible location for the guns. The Survey Jeep was following behind them when it detonated a cluster of Teller Anti Tank Mines laid by the German 4th Parachute Regt. They had been buried deep and modified with a strengthened pressure mechanism so as not to explode under lightweight vehicles but had enough explosive to blow over a Sherman Tank and kill the crew, rather than just break the tracks. The mines must have been driven over many times by Jeeps, trucks and carriers {but the torsion bar on the trigger eventually snapped due to metal fatigue} when the Survey Jeep went over it. The Jeep was blown over a 2 metre high wall. All four occupants were killed".
I once worked with an old furnaceman. On the night shift we got to chatting about the war. His face was pock marked so I asked if he had chicken pox as a lad. He showed me more all over his body and legs. There was a scar on his forehead. He told me how he was in the 8th Army Royal Engineers mine clearing with a bayonet the marks were from ball bearings in S Mines. The Scar was from the ship he arrived on at Alexandria. As they were climbing out of the hold it struck a mine. He slid down the vertical ladder his head running down the sides. Most of the men had war stories that came out on the night shift in the early 70's.
HOW TO TACKLE AN AFV BATTLE CASUALTY - BOOBY TRAPS AND THE CARE OF AMMUNITION [Main Title] Object description How to approach and make safe a knocked out Churchill tank on a roadside. Full description Two soldiers incautiously investigate a truck on the roadside and are blown up by a booby trap. The film then goes on to detail the correct approach to such a situation using a damaged Churchill tank as the example. The surrounding area is cleared of mines, and various precautions taken to identify and make safe booby traps. Safety measures for handling the tank's own ammunition are then shown.
