Alarmblus M62, Danish trip flare

[pzgr40]

On the latest collectors meeting I bought this interesting “Alarmblus M62”, a Danish trip flare. It has also been used by the German and Dutch armed forces where it is called the “Leuchtkorper, Boden, DM16”, which translates as “groundflare DM16”.
The flare consists of an aluminium bushing with a cartboard bushing inside, containing the pyrotechnic mixture. The top layer of this mixture consists of a few millimeter thick layer of pressed black powder. Below that, a few millimeter thick layer of boosting mixture is placed, consisting of black powder mixed with Barium nitrate, Potassium nitrate, Aluminium powder, Sulfer and Calcium silicate. This mixture generates enough heat to ignite the main charge, which consists of a mixture of Sodium nitrate, Magnesium, PVC and wax.
The light of the flare is yellow and has a luminous intensity of 250.000 Candela. The flare burns appr. 35 seconds.
The Flare is closed by a pressed steel cap to which the pull fuze is screwed. As soon as the fuze is activated, the ignited black powder presses the cap off the flare.
The flare is normally fixated to a pole, a door post or a three by means of a sheet metal saddle and two nails that come with the flare. The trip wire is than attached.
The fuze consists of a spring loaded firing pin with a groove in top. This groove is held in an excentric position in a hole by a brass plate, connected to the trip wire. When the brass plate is pulled away, the firing pin fits the hole and moves down into the firing cap, igniting the flare.

Diameter flare (cap) : 61mm
Length flare (just the body) : 107mm
Lengte flare (with placed fuze and threaded rod to the base) : 169mm

Regards, DJH

 

[Bellifortis]

Hi DJH,
very nice work, like always. About 30 years ago, when I visited a friend in NL, I saw a very nice display of a similar tripflare from CZ. This was an real artistic assembly alltogether with the barbed wire to show how this tripflare was used. I don't know who made this assembly. The CZ modell from the 60s is a copy of the german WW2 tripflare. They all work with the same system of this very simple fuze where a "Klemmstück"(clamp-,pinch-, jam-piece ???) attached to a tripwire is withdrawn. The danish M62 or the german DM16 are direct developments from these nearly 100 years old tripflares. Keep up the good work.
Regards,
Bellifortis.

 

[pzgr40]

"very nice work, like always. About 30 years ago, when I visited a friend in NL, I saw a very nice display of a similar tripflare from CZ. This was an real artistic assembly alltogether with the barbed wire to show how this tripflare was used. I don't know who made this assembly."

Approximately 30 years ago I made a few with barbed wire, they were post ware Czech copies of German WW2 flares. Something like the picture below?