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German Pencil Mine

P

phoenix

Member
Can any body shed any light on the German Pencil mine, I've just read a book about the Royal Armoured Corps in Northern Europe and they were mentioned as giving trouble to the infantry.They are described as: hollow steel tube containing a half second delay fuse,a steel pencil like bullet, a pressure cap and an explosive charge, thrust in the ground pointing upwards.
thanks Peter.
 
The only reference i can find is the British A/P Switch no8 information from Op1665 attached also a picture of the switch minus the bullet , designed to maim not to kill , it takes 7 people to nurse an injured person back to health and only 1 to bury a body .
 

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hello, Steve
this unfriendly device is as an exception n o t a German invention, I believe.
anyway it's a rare item you show us here, thanks for doing that!
 
Hello Peter
Its a really nasty divice allright , i was lucky in getting this some years ago, i forgot i still had it as the other one i sold .
 
No 8 Switch

The AP Switch was one of MD1's little gadgets. Millions were made and I expect the Germans had captured plenty by the time the Royal Armoured Corps returned to France. There is no half second delay fuze in the device although there maybe a perceptible delay in the time the mechanism takes to fire. Just enough time perhaps to say goodbye to your ... (well it was called the 'debollocker').
 
Thanks for the info,I was aware of the British version, but could not find a version in any of my books on German Mines.They were encountered in the Reichswald area by the Black Watch.Is it possible the Germans manufactured some towards the end of the war? or can we assume they were captured equipment?
 
No 8 Switch

It is certainly possible that the Germans made their own - the Americans certainly did. Perhaps some student of German munitions on this site can tell us.
 
There was a similar device that was made in the UK post war with a rimless and grooveless cartridge case loaded with a pointed steel bullet that fired into the foot of the unfortunate person that stepped on it.

There was also a similar device mady by the Soviet Union that used a standard 7.62 x 25mm Tokarev pistol round.
 
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