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German Ice Mine

J

juno-44

Well-Known Member
Hi, does anyone knows if they made copies of German ice mine and if so, is there a way to differentiate between an original and a repro one? I know the Finns used them after the war and that they are marked with the letter SA for Suomi Army.

Regards, juno-44 :tinysmile_hmm_t:
 
In fact it originally is a Finnish invention. Finland sold to Germany 770 000 ice mine bottles during 1943-44 and Germans also made their own version of it.
 
Hi Tmine35 and thank you for your quick respond. Would you happen to know if they recently made copies of the German ice mine? Also, would you say that the
Finns ice mines sold to Germany bear the marking SA for Suomi Army?

Regards, juno-44
 
There is a company in Poland that has been making copies of the Germany mines, I heard a story that there was a glass factory that has made 10.000 bottles 2 years ago. When i was in Finland i bought from the Army about 800 bottles some marked SA some not Regards Ben
 
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When I saw the title I thought it was a very late, or very early April fool, but it appears not. Can anyone explain how an ice mine works?
Cheers
Hangarman
 
I was always told the SA marked ones were war time ! The German`s made there own version with a collar for them to be anchored to the ice via a rope and stake ! :)
 
Finland made them only during war. After the war there was so much surplus of everything that there was no need to make any more.
As Ben said most of Finnish bottles bear SA-marking and some not. Possibly the unmarked ones are early production because this mine came into production in 1941 and marking SA in square was adopted in 1942.
German made bottles are different from Finnish made and I think there are 2-3 different German models, if not more?
 
hangarman said:
When I saw the title I thought it was a very late, or very early April fool, but it appears not. Can anyone explain how an ice mine works?
Cheers
Hangarman
Click to expand...
Hallo,
rivers are natural barriers for tanks, so one bank can be defended by a small force. In wintertime the ice becomes thicker and thicker until its strong enough to carry a tank. These iceminebottles were suspended on wires or ropes under the ice through holes in the ice, in rows. The first bottle in a row had normal electric or other ignition, all the others carried the special iceminefuze, a simple blastwave-concussion device. Setting off the first in a row set off the whole chain and the natural barrier was restored for some time. This was a last ditch defence used in an emergency.
Bellifortis.
 
Here is a copy of a Original war time German manual, Mines in winter Issued 20.8.44, There are pages on how ice mines are issued in crates how there armed and used in the field, Distances from mine to mine e.t.c as well as Tellermine, shu-mine, s-mine, ski-mine, Riegel mine, stock mine, Topf-mine, alarm e.t.c the list goes on,
How to use them in deep snow, and how to stop them sinking in the snow under pressure
Its a fantastic manual for a German mine collector :)

http://www.specialistauctions.com/auctiondetails.php?id=1567439
 
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