The Devil’s Gardens

Even before WWII started in September 1939, many of the belligerent nations were using land mines to augment defences in the event of an attack. Approaches most likely to be used by an attacking force were prepared, with open spaces being turned into ‘minefields’, ringed with barbed wire, and marked with signs to warn of the danger. This was for the benefit of the local population, but such notification would also inform the attacker who would be forced to find an alternative route.

The importance of the land mine

The Germans and the French built defensive lines along their borders, known respectively as the Westwall or Siegfried Line, and the Maginot Line, both of which incorporated extended minefields. Later, during the war, the Germans’ reliance on mines would see them used extensively as part of field defences such as the Gothic and Gustav Lines in Italy. After the fall of France in June 1940 and the evacuation of Dunkirk, the British responded by laying minefields around the coast at points most likely where Germans could land. In all these instances, the types of mines used were anti-tank and anti-personnel, which were often laid as a mix of the two to make clearance more difficult.

Many millions of mines

In every theatre of operations where the Germans fought, they laid minefields, which took a terrible toll on the Allies, who feared these barriers. For example, the defences along the Normandy coastline included some six million mines. When the war spread to North Africa, the Germans laid vast minefields which were given the nickname of the ‘Devil’s Gardens’, such was their deadly reputation. Even in the Channel Islands, the only part of the British Isles to fall under German occupation during the war, Hitler ordered them to be turned into fortresses, which meant hundreds of thousands of mines being laid around the coastlines. After the war, some 3,200 Germans out of a garrison of 27,000 men were kept back to clear the minefields and other ordnance, a task which took many months.

A land mine can be seen as being the ‘patient weapon’, because, once placed in position, it is designed to lay dormant until some unsuspecting soldier or driver of a vehicle passes over it to cause it to detonate. In fact, some from the war are still being found in remote locations even today. By the start of WWII, the design of these devices we know today as a landmine had been developed into anti-personnel and anti-tank types. Both were operated by pressure being directly applied to the detonator, which caused an explosion. In the case of AP mines, this was a weight of about 4 lbs, which meant cows and sheep could detonate them, and for AT the pressure was around 400 lbs.

During the war, all belligerent nations would produce millions of mines and develop some types that were activated in a most unusual manner. For example, the German AP ‘S Mine’ was buried leaving only three fine prongs exposed. When a man trod on one, the mine ejected a device containing steel ball bearings which detonated at waist height, spraying them in all directions. Over 1.9 million of these were produced and the Allies feared them greatly.

Manufacture and different types

All mines required an outer metal casing to hold all the components, but when metal became scarce, Germany and Japan resorted to alternative materials. They improvised by producing mines with bodies made from glass, wood, and even ceramic, which were hard to detect with specialist equipment. With such a diverse range of designs, it is not surprising that these devices have become items of interest to collectors of ammunition. Re-enactment groups depicting WWII often include examples of mines in their displays arranged on trestle tables as exhibits for visitors to see. They are then treated to a detailed explanation of the intricacies, which is fascinating and informative to hear.

Mines may look simple, and most people will have heard about them and have some understanding of how they work, but they are really very complicated devices. Listening to a talk about the types of mines and how they worked debunks anything learned through war films. Using examples in their display, re-enactors can show different types of mines and explain how they worked, especially the S mine, which was called the ‘Bouncing Betty’ by US troops because of its method of operation. Also, the Riegel 43 anti-tank mine, which at 23 lbs was a heavy item, with over three million produced between 1943 and 1945. The wooden Schumine 42 and Glasmine 43 were both anti-personnel and were made from materials which made them hard to detect. To see examples of these unusual items on display in a collection fascinates people.

Teller mines are probably one of the most familiar types of mines, which most people will have seen through war films such as the 1977 classic ‘Cross of Iron’, starring the late James Coburn. In this film, German troops are seen placing mines on the tracks of a Russian tank. Four different versions of the mine were produced in their millions. For example, over 3.6 million Teller 43 mines alone were produced between 1943 and 1945. These mines, like many other types, could be fitted with anti-lifting devices to prevent them from being disarmed and made safe. During their talks, re-enactors will explain these dangers, and how ‘Bouncing Betty’ mines could be connected to several others so that if one was activated, a whole series would be set off.

Mine detection

To overcome these deadly devices and breach the minefields, the Allies devised a series of tactics and a range of specialist equipment. The most basic method of clearing a minefield involved dozens of soldiers holding bayonets and prodding the ground ahead of them as they moved forward. Slow, laborious, and not very efficient, it was better than nothing. Tanks were equipped with heavy rollers mounted on frames attached to the front, which detonated the mines, but the method was not satisfactory. Another method called the ‘Scorpion’, was developed, and involved a rotor fitted with heavy chains mounted on the front of tanks to ‘flail’ the ground as the vehicle moved forward. This was a much better method, which also cleared barbed wire, but the chains were damaged by the detonations of the mines and had to be replaced.

Then in 1941-1942, there was a breakthrough in mine detection for the Allies when work was completed on detector equipment designed by Polish army officer Józef Kosacki, who had been working on his invention in 1939. When Germany invaded Poland, Kosacki escaped to Britain and brought his work with him. Two years after his arrival, the first complete mine detector, known as the Polish Mark 1, was ready to enter service, and 500 sets of his man-portable equipment were sent to North Africa. They were used to clear pathways through the German minefields – the Devil’s Gardens – at the unprecedented rate of over 200 yards in an hour as part of the opening phase of the Battle of El-Alamein in late 1942.

More than 700,000 sets of Kosacki’s mine detectors were produced during the war in four different marks and were used by all Allied armies across Europe and Italy. His invention saved many lives and modern versions of his detector were used until the 1990s. The history of mines and their detection go together as a chapter in the history of WWII and re-enactors tell it so well.