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Monuments men Land mine

BMG50

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Watching the film Monuments men the other night and saw the scene where Matt Damian accidentally steps on a land mine but doesn't go off but is told not to step off it as it may explode. So the monuments team take his weight off the mine by placing bricks on the mine to counter his weight. When he steps off the mine it explodes but is not a full charge. Now being clued up in German mines the first question i would ask is why didn't the Germans booby trap the mines, especially when the stolen art couldn't be moved elsewhere and rather fall into allied hands, "if we can have them, nobody can" attitude killing those who attempt to retrieve them. The second bugging thing is that i have never heard of a mine fuze or type of mine where you activate it by standing on a mine where it explodes by removing your weight. In most mechanisms a mine is set off be one action downwards pressure, pull, release or chemical not downwards pressure and then release in a standard land mine. I can understand the delay where he steps off the mine and explodes about a second or two after but that is characteristic of a chemical mine fuze where the two chemicals react and flash to set of a detonator similar to a Buck ignighter as in some cases if not most a slight delay.
Most land mines for vehicles have to have a fair bit of weight to set a mine off to break the shear wire. Most men in service back then were skinny and light not like us lardy lot today and could get away stepping on a land mine, unless he had a heavy pack or was carrying a heavy bit of kit like a PIAT etc.
Or is this as i suspect a bit of usual Hollywood buls***t.
 
Hi @BMG50,
as you rightly suspected, its the usual story-writers-bullsh. There is no minefuze like that in existence in any country. Many films have already used this nonexistent minefuze to dupe their viewers.
Bellifortis.
 
Hi @BMG50,
as you rightly suspected, its the usual story-writers-bullsh. There is no minefuze like that in existence in any country. Many films have already used this nonexistent minefuze to dupe their viewers.
Bellifortis.

IT WAS ON TV, IT HAS TO BE TRUTH!


Ad to this an expert RSP likethe one presented here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPgKGCqFmwY

This should be tought in every EOD course :)

Bob
 
It is called the "Hollywood mine", and does not exist. One can however fill five minutes of a film with it.
 
Revert back to Starshell and his recommendation "Land of mine"
It puts it all into perspective.... a great but shocking film.
 
The Germans actually had mines that were equipped to be booby- trapped. Some of their Tellerminen (anti-tank dish mines) were fitted with fuzepockets for a zugzünder (pull-igniter) in their baseplate. This way, with an additional zugzünder fitted, the Tellerminen were provided with an "anti lifting" capacity, that would set the mine off when being lifted from it's burrow.
With some imagination, German engineers could even "tie" two mines together for "extra effect". Wether or not this was ever done??
 
IT WAS ON TV, IT HAS TO BE TRUTH!


Ad to this an expert RSP likethe one presented here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPgKGCqFmwY

This should be tought in every EOD course :)

Bob


That was painful to watch. I lost a good 10 IQ points before it was over.......

I do a yearly presentation on WW 2 to the 7th grade class of my sons former middle school. This was my 10th year presenting and I get some really good questions from the students (about 65 of them). This year, one asked about mines functioning only after you step off of it.
I was grateful for the opportunity to dispel this Hollywood crap. While I was at it, I cleared the air about The Japanese bomb that has impacted the ground functioning only after the tail fuze propeller has stopped spinning, as seen in the 2001 Pearl Harbor movie.
Another moment of cinematic suffering. Several of the students had seen the movie and thought this was how it worked.
001.jpg003.jpg006.jpg007.jpg008.jpg
 
That was painful to watch. I lost a good 10 IQ points before it was over.......

I do a yearly presentation on WW 2 to the 7th grade class of my sons former middle school. This was my 10th year presenting and I get some really good questions from the students (about 65 of them). This year, one asked about mines functioning only after you step off of it.
I was grateful for the opportunity to dispel this Hollywood crap. While I was at it, I cleared the air about The Japanese bomb that has impacted the ground functioning only after the tail fuze propeller has stopped spinning, as seen in the 2001 Pearl Harbor movie.
Another moment of cinematic suffering. Several of the students had seen the movie and thought this was how it worked.
View attachment 158094View attachment 158095View attachment 158096View attachment 158097View attachment 158098

I am just amazed that you are allowed to do that presentation. As much as we have so many "freedoms" here is the US, I could not imagine any school here allowing you to bring those items on campus. Which of course is a really sad state of affairs.
 
Well, I suppose the local police was informed on forehand, parents were informed on forehand that an exhibition for educational purposes took place with proven inert items.

In the Netherlands this would be unheard of, we have created a mindset here that enshures that people react completely frantic to weapons and ammo. Snowflake parents would flock the school and insist the pincipal of the school is fired because their children have been severely mentally damaged by seeing these fascist items. The police would complain the the handgrenades (a weapon for the law, even when inert in the Neherlands) could have been stolen as the person behind the table could not kept an eye on them all at any given moment.
Even taking a class of school children to a war museum these days will result in protest from parents that will enshure a school skips any musea relating to war subject and /or exhibits weapons or ammo.
 
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I am just amazed that you are allowed to do that presentation. As much as we have so many "freedoms" here is the US, I could not imagine any school here allowing you to bring those items on campus. Which of course is a really sad state of affairs.


There are several important factors that I did not mention. First, it is a private school. This shouldn't matter, but it does. It tends to weed out brainless, panicky faculty members and reactionary parents. The school is trusted by the parents to provide a safe environment for the students. Next, I received the blessing of the Head Master, the Head of the middle school, and the Department head for history.
I also contacted the Sergeant in charge of the local police dept. bomb squad before the first show. We had a 15 - 20 minute discussion over the phone during which he asked quite a number of pertinent questions to determine if I was a serious, knowledgeable collector who was capable of determining whether items were actually inert before bringing them home, or a squirrel who had no knowledge and just collected "cool stuff". I sent him and the Chief of Police, who I know on a professional level through my company, pictures of my collection. Both were satisfied with my absolute guarantee that no item in my collection or being presented at the school had ANY energetic component.
I notify the head of the bomb squad a few days before the presentation will be taking place each year, just in case a panicked call did come in from someone.
Is it a risk? Yes, but a small one in this case.
The incredible interest shown by the students and the opportunity to see actual historical artifacts up close is priceless. They can even hold some of the items (under direct supervision from me). That would never be possible in a museum.
I have never taken any firearms (deactivated) to display as that is simply to controversial a topic, especially in the last few years. It could ruin the whole presentation.
I was very nervous making the initial contact with the bomb squad, but our fellow forum member US SUBS had convinced me that it was the only way to avert a potential disaster and that the VAST majority of EOD and civilian bomb squad members were not headline seekers, but serious professionals.
Pat
 
What a fantastic thing to do Pat. So good you get to take your collection out for the next generation to see for themselves.

When I was 10 we had a talk at school from an old guy who used to be in the Navy. His ship was torpedoed. He brought in a piece of what he said was from the torpedo and handed it around the room for us all to look at. It was only years later I wondered if carrying a big piece of metal is the best thing to do when you're about to abandon ship, but that didn't matter to us all, there we were talking to someone who had been there and done it who had something to hand around for us to look at.

Anyway, we were all fascinated and a few of us developed a keen interest in 20th century history and collecting inert munitions. 44 years later the interest is still very much alive.

Keep up the good work!

Dave.
 
That is great Pat, and you are fortunate to be able to do it. You certainly did things the right way and seem to have all the bases covered. For me, I would still not take the chance in my left-wing state, as I would not want to put myself on the radar.
 
The bottom and side-fuzeholes were standard in all countries for this size (15-20pounds) AT mines. Breaching parties were taught to feel for their wires. But, a small lift-off fuze (standard also with all belligerents) under the center of the mine is nearly impossible to detect. Today electronics inside the mine do anything that the designer wants.
The Germans actually had mines that were equipped to be booby- trapped. Some of their Tellerminen (anti-tank dish mines) were fitted with fuzepockets for a zugzünder (pull-igniter) in their baseplate. This way, with an additional zugzünder fitted, the Tellerminen were provided with an "anti lifting" capacity, that would set the mine off when being lifted from it's burrow.
With some imagination, German engineers could even "tie" two mines together for "extra effect". Wether or not this was ever done??
 
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