You want some excitement?

Discussion in 'General' started by sapper, Mar 21, 2007.

  1. sapper

    sapper WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Come with me lads and lasses...We are going to disarm some S mines.
    We found them in the long grass, the two prongs the same colour as the grass they are buried in.

    When set off, the inner barrel fires into the air about 4 and half feet, then explodes with steel ball bearings.
    Devastating! It has push or pull mechanisms to fire it. some have tremblers. there is a little hole on each prong, get a pin in and SAFE !
    Touch it, goodnight nurse, a steady hand is essential. Difficult when you are being mortared and shelled. Has to be done.......firm steady hand.

    Unfortunately my mates hand was not steady, it came up and hit him in the chest and exploded. The bits that went through him, I collected.
    Luckily his body slowed the steel balls a bit, so the one that is buried in my skull never reached my brain.

    That steel ball is still buried in my skull, near my right eye. Its been there since August the eighth 1944.....I will not tell you where the other bits went to.....
    Anyone for a bit of excitement? have a look at S Mines !
    Sapper
     
  2. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Brian,
    Until I joined this Forum I was rather dismissive of the sappers, I knew they had a hard job but never fully took in how much they did.
    Always took it that the PBI & tankies had the hard time, how wrong was I?
    Thank you (and plant pilot who's a modern day one) for opening my eyes

    A good article on the s mine on wiki here.S-mine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
     
  3. sapper

    sapper WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Odd that Owen. On D Day as an example, the landing timing was DD tanks first, then the Sappers. Sappers first to Pegasus, Sappers over the Canal removing Rommels asparagus, The anti glider landing tree trunks dug in....so that the Airborne could land. They were swimming in amongst the beach defences removing the explosive charges Etc.......many drowned.
    Sappers often out in front of everyone.
    By tradition. only the how and why is ever discussed it seems to me.
    Sapper flame thrower and Demolition teams...To remove enemy defences NOT NICE....
    Sapper
     
  4. Kitty

    Kitty Very Senior Member

    {{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{Sapper}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

    You are the bravest of the brave lad. Thank you.
     
  5. sapper

    sapper WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Not Me Kitty..... Definitely not me....Like many I was always wary....... Seriously. All I am doing is pointing out what really goes on in the Sappers world.

    Some here may find it interesting to know that the Sappers of Third div. had more medals and awards than any other regiment, or Mob! that went to make up the strength of the Third British Infantry Division. 43 to be precise. ME ? The only one that was awarded to me.. I never got.
    sapper
     
  6. Kitty

    Kitty Very Senior Member

    you are still brave Lad.
     
  7. kfz

    kfz Very Senior Member

    Not my idea of excitment Sapper...

    Was it not safer to take thme out with a small charge?
     
  8. sapper

    sapper WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    They leap up out the ground! and you are in the middle of a battle zone, with a lot going on.
    Sapper
     
  9. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Brian,
    I suppose what I was getting at was I read that the "Blankshires" charged the positon at the point of the bayonet. Or the "Xth RAC Regt" attacked into the masses of 88mm.
    Tend not to read much about the "XXXth Field Coy" spent several hours on their bellies up to their necks in sh!te disarming booby traps etc etc.
    Obviously I knew it went on , plus the brave lads who built bridges under fire so the others could cross.
    Just , as I said, I didn't give your lot enough credit.
    Only time I've come into contact with sappers was when a nice one with a JCB dung out my SF trench in Denmark, too bloody deep (about 8 feet deep, we had to back fill it ) and the bridging unit that put a floating walk-way over the Kiel Canal for us in 1986, in the middle of the night.
     
  10. sapper

    sapper WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    The RE has so many different branches from postal to docks railways bridging.But the Field Compant (As was) was at the sharp end. So it not surprising that theye are not well known
    Sapper
     
  11. 51highland

    51highland Very Senior Member

    How long were you hospitalised with the Ball bearing Sapper? I'll always have you on my mind when I strip down Bearing blocks etc.
     
  12. sapper

    sapper WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    , I was taken to, and treated at a field dressing station, a hole in my head, two holes in my left thigh and a furrow elsewhere, plus the effect of being in close proximity of a violent explosion, blood seeping out of my ears and eyes, coughing up blood where the explosion had caused some internal damage.
    The medical orderlies put patches and bandages on my wounds and I had to make my own way back to my unit. On the way coughing up blood and the bleeding from my eyes and ears that had badly stained me. I must have looked a dreadful sight, as I made my way back an American stopped me "Gee feller! You've had your fair share" he then gave me his "Bowie Knife" as a keepsake. Now! How about that for kindness? I kept that knife as a reminder of a complete strangers concern for others. Later that day, I was back on top of the hill feeling like death itself and my parents had been notified that I had been wounded.
    Hospital 51st? some chance mate.
    sapper
     
  13. 51highland

    51highland Very Senior Member

    Yeah, sorry about that Sapper, poor use of terminology, meant what did the medics do for you !!! Never ceases to amaze me when vets tell me of their injuries and how they invariably make their own way to a dressing station and/or back to their unit.

    Thanks for the insight Sapper, brilliant.
     

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