Question on Tellermines used with tripwires

[Gunnerop]

Can anyone shed any light on how the Germans might have used Tellermines with trip wires?
I am researching a casualty of 43rd Recce Regiment who was severely wounded (he lost a leg) after activating a tripwire said to have been attached to a Tellemine.
Mines aren't really my thing so I would appreciate some insight into this. I had always assumed that these needed vehicle pressure to trigger them. Were they used with some kind of initiating charge or device when used as booby traps?
The first hand reports of those that dealt with the incident clearly state that a Tellermine was responsible and I assume that they were correct in their assessment.

Any help gratefully received. If someone could post a visual reference on how this might have been done that would be even better. Also what mark of Tellermine was most likely to have been used in this way?

Many thanks

Paul

 

[Big Dave]

All the Tellermine series had 2 threaded pockets[one on the side and one in the bottom plate ,M10 X1 ] which can take most German pull igniters,these igniters were then usually fastened to a wooden picket by a thin wire or in some cases fastened to another igniter in a second Tellermine .If i can remember rightly ,advice to the soldiers at the time was to attach a rope to the handle and pull any suspect mines out of the ground from a safe distance or from behind cover

 

[Big Dave]

Sorry forgot to add thats a Tellermine 43 in the pictures with a zz35 pull igniter ,Allied reports of the time dont usually tell you which Tellers were involved ,Ti35 ,42 or 43.Or the mine could have had a E Z 44 pressure release device underneath which would function as soon as the mine was lifted ,regards Dave

 

[BMG50]

All of the Teller mines had a fuze pocket to fit an igniter that could be attched to a trip wire, it could be any of 5 or 6 types that were used, it all depends on the year this incident happened.

 

[Gunnerop]

Thanks both for the quick response. The incident took place in August 1944 and was the first active service casualty for the unit. Not the first deaths for the unit though as the troopship taking them across to Normandy was split in two by an oyster mine off Sword Beach with the loss of 189 lives, the biggest single loss of life in one incident during the invasion.
The soldier involved in the Tellermine incident was on a foot patrol at the time. Recce men and Officers quickly learned that dismounting from vehicle was not the way to proceed. This incident was specfically described as involving a Tellermine and I wanted a little background for a wider research project.
If it's not too dumb a question, how quickly did the newer types of Tellermine come into use? For instance how common was the 43 in 44 as it were!

Cheers

Paul

 

[EOD]

And it is still today's practice to use AT mines with tripwires and pull fuzes.

 

[sudelmuk]

Interesting question and answers, but I can't agree in all points.

Indeed the two separate fuze sockets were mainly used in various ways to hinder a fast clearance, as shown by these gentlemen for example.



Installing a tripwire above the ground is theoretically possible, but more difficult (considering the pull-direction of a ZZ35).
Particularly the use of teller-mines as ap-mines in the open field seems to me most unlikely, because the tellers were always in short supply and too valuable to waste them against single individuals. For this purpose normally some S.Mi.'s were sown in a teller mine-field.

Ref. a quantity indication of the different teller-types used see this link: http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/threads/72703-My-First-T.Mi.-42

 

[Grenademan2005]

And I must add that a mine used against tanks can cause more than a leg lost.

 

[Gunnerop]

Thanks to all for the latest replies.

I am aware that such mines were usually unlikely to be used in attacks on individuals, and that the destructive power would in any case be over the top for this purpose. I am trying to make sense of a contemporary report and conversation with surviving veterans who dealt with this particular incident. All were aware, and have confirmed this to me, that they were able to recognise the basic German mine types. Several had served in other theatres and had dealt with Tellermines previously and all had been briefed on the mine types they would face in the run up to the invasion. Whilst not discounting the possibility of error or confusion over types, it certainly seems that sudelmuk has made a sensible point regarding the use of S.Mi.'s sown in a teller mine-field.
Aside from the technical points of the probable Tellermine used, I was looking for some insight into usual German practice in August 1944. As the Sergeant in question survived, he was very likely the source of the contemporary information re the tripwire. He died around 15 years ago, but I know that he had confirmed in later years that this was indeed the case.

Thanks again to all those who have taken the time to respond. As I mentioned in an earlier post, this is part of a wider research project. I am keen to avoid the kind of generalisation normally seen in print, and without speculating too much, to be as accurate as possible in a description of this incident.

Being an armoured unit, 43rd Recce Regiment suffered very few casualties from anti personnel ordnance, directly against individuals that is. This is why I am attempting to research this particular incident. In line with their initial training it had been the practice of vehicle commanders to dismount and carry out certain elements of a patrol on foot. After suffering several early casualties in this way this way of operating was obviously quickly reconsidered and changed.

Later in 1945, the final casualties the Regiment suffered involved the use of aerial bombs buried in a road which killed and wounded the crews of two armoured cars, destroying one Daimler armoured car completely.

I look forward to any other comments or insight.

Kind regards

Paul

 

[Big Dave]

Hi Paul ,do you know if the casualty realised he had set the Teller off by a tripwire or was he trying to move the mine ? As Miguel says , you usually lose more than a leg if your close to a AT mine when it detonates .
I have a copy of Mines and Booby Traps ,MTP [Military Trainibg Pamphlet ] No40 , dated 5/43 that mentions Tellermine 35 stahl and Tellermine 42 s with diagrams and also a ammendment dated 11/43 that mentions the Tellermine 43 with a line drawing so these mines must have been recovered before these dates?
In Gordon Rottmans book World War 2 Axis Booby Traps and Sabotage Tactics [Osprey ,2009 ] he quotes from the US FM 5-31 Land Mines and Booby Traps ,that the US Fifth Army in Italy,October 1944 had reported Tellermines been used for antipersonnel effect,the mines been buried upside downwith tripwires attached to zz35 or zz42 igniters

Hope this helps ,regards Dave

 

[Big Dave]

I also asked about improvised mines a while back

http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/threads/77658-Improvised-Mines