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Help ID 1WW bounding mine
- Thread starter trrrr
- Start date
pointblank0
BOCN Supporter
Same here. I never knew they had bounding mines in WW1. Germans seem to be one step ahead of us Brits all the time.
Really nice item. Will be very interesting to see how this thread unfolds.
![SchrapnellmineA_001[1].jpg](/data/attachments/49/49148-037e3cbbd369b0bec815c61f74e81fec.jpg)
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Bellifortis
Well-Known Member
This mine is the invention of the norwegian engineer N.W. Aasen. It is the original grandfather of all jumping mines. Aasen is more famous for his handgrenades, because nearly all belligerents in the 1.WW purchased them from him. There was a large factory he set up in Denmark in WW 1 that produced an incredible amount of hand grenades for GB, Fr, D , It, Au and probably others. The above shown mine was, as far as I know never introduced in Germany, but I expect that it was experimented with. There is a nice article in "The Scientific American War Book", New York 1916, Munn & Company, Incorporated , that one of my US friends bought as a present for me on a flea market. The mines were supposed to be laid in long lines, 1200 yards and 100 yards wide as a double shell barricade and fired electrically.
Greetings,
Bellifortis.
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Greetings,
Bellifortis.
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I think you wanted add those text and pictures.
Fighting With Dynamite and Electricity
BY DR. ALFRED GRADENWITZ
AGLANCE at the history of recent strategy reveals a tendency noticeable in nearly all branches of human activity, viz., a gradual superseding of the individual by collective labor organized and controlled by a few superior minds. Individual strength and valor, once the greatest factor in warfare, has been reduced to a secondary role.
One of the latest stages in this development is the attempt to eliminate the personal element of the soldier entirely and to substitute for him a machine or automaton.
Something of the sort has actually been attempted by a Norwegian engineer, N. W. Aasen, whose "mine grenades" work practically without the help of soldiers, spreading death and destruction everywhere. His contrivance is shown in the accompanying illustrations, Fig. 1 showing the grenade in position in the field, and Fig. 2 at the moment of explosion, representing the spreading of the projectiles. Fig. 3 shows a double shell barricade 1,200 yards long and 100 yards wide, made up of 50 mine grenades joined up in two sets, and which on exploding, sweep an area of 108,000 square yards.
Each grenade, inclusive of its accessories, weighs about 9 pounds, and contains 400 projectiles and about 12 ounces of an extremely powerful explosive. The grenade consists of an iron cylinder with a conical point, which contains in its interior the projectiles and explosive charge as well as the mechanism causing the grenade to rise from the ground and eventually to explode. This mechanism can be set working only by the action of an electric current supplied to the grenade through a flexible cable.
At the bottom of the cylinder there is a small powder charge which is ignited by the electric current and which projects the shell body vertically through the superincumbent earth layers. The fuse which ignites the shell body is connected with a chain, the opposite end of which is fixed to the cylinder remaining in the ground. Explosion thus occurs at the very moment that the chain is tightened.
The grenade and cable are buried in the ground, so as to be entirely invisible to the enemy. When the grenade is to be fired, an electric current is sent through the cable, whereupon the grenade is projected upward to a predetermined height (generally three feet), where it explodes and simultaneously discharges the four hundred projectiles in a horizontal direction, radially from the center and parallel to the surface of the ground so as to sweep this in its entirety over an area of at least 960 square yards.
At a distance of 40 feet the projectiles will pierce a timber wall at least 4 inches thick, exerting mortal effects up to 96 yards. Hence this grenade partakes of the properties of the underground mine, explosive shell and shrapnel shell.
At the same time, however, it offers a number of conspicuous advantages. Since both the grenade and the cable are buried entirely in the ground, the mine field is hidden so completely as to make detection by the enemy altogether impossible. Moreover, the grenade, thanks to its special design, will always explode exactly at the height most advantageous for the explosive effects. Again, it invariably explodes with its longitudinal axis perpendicular to the ground, its four hundred projectiles being thrown out in all directions, parallel to the ground, so as always to insure maximum shooting effects. Very few projectiles will deviate from a horizontal direction. Finally, the grenade is, by a triple safeguard, fully protected against any premature explosion during transportation and while being handled and installed. It may even be fired on with rifle balls at short range, without being caused to explode.
Aasen grenades are inserted into holes dug in the ground with the spade or pick or with a special drill. In undermining a road the shells may be arranged alongside the wayside, 20 to 25 yards apart. Instead of connecting up all grenades of a given field in series and exploding them simultaneously, they may be arranged in several series, thus allowing a given mine field to be fired in several .sections. The shells may also be provided in duplicate or in triplicate, so that after firing the first .set, the fuses have only to be connected up to the next set of electric cables, in order again to establish the mine field.
Grenades once planted may remain in the ground for years without suffering any damage. If the mine field be tilled ground, it may even be used for agricultural purposes without incurring any danger. The fuse can be removed or inserted at any time.
Fighting With Dynamite and Electricity
BY DR. ALFRED GRADENWITZ
AGLANCE at the history of recent strategy reveals a tendency noticeable in nearly all branches of human activity, viz., a gradual superseding of the individual by collective labor organized and controlled by a few superior minds. Individual strength and valor, once the greatest factor in warfare, has been reduced to a secondary role.
One of the latest stages in this development is the attempt to eliminate the personal element of the soldier entirely and to substitute for him a machine or automaton.
Something of the sort has actually been attempted by a Norwegian engineer, N. W. Aasen, whose "mine grenades" work practically without the help of soldiers, spreading death and destruction everywhere. His contrivance is shown in the accompanying illustrations, Fig. 1 showing the grenade in position in the field, and Fig. 2 at the moment of explosion, representing the spreading of the projectiles. Fig. 3 shows a double shell barricade 1,200 yards long and 100 yards wide, made up of 50 mine grenades joined up in two sets, and which on exploding, sweep an area of 108,000 square yards.
Each grenade, inclusive of its accessories, weighs about 9 pounds, and contains 400 projectiles and about 12 ounces of an extremely powerful explosive. The grenade consists of an iron cylinder with a conical point, which contains in its interior the projectiles and explosive charge as well as the mechanism causing the grenade to rise from the ground and eventually to explode. This mechanism can be set working only by the action of an electric current supplied to the grenade through a flexible cable.
At the bottom of the cylinder there is a small powder charge which is ignited by the electric current and which projects the shell body vertically through the superincumbent earth layers. The fuse which ignites the shell body is connected with a chain, the opposite end of which is fixed to the cylinder remaining in the ground. Explosion thus occurs at the very moment that the chain is tightened.
The grenade and cable are buried in the ground, so as to be entirely invisible to the enemy. When the grenade is to be fired, an electric current is sent through the cable, whereupon the grenade is projected upward to a predetermined height (generally three feet), where it explodes and simultaneously discharges the four hundred projectiles in a horizontal direction, radially from the center and parallel to the surface of the ground so as to sweep this in its entirety over an area of at least 960 square yards.
At a distance of 40 feet the projectiles will pierce a timber wall at least 4 inches thick, exerting mortal effects up to 96 yards. Hence this grenade partakes of the properties of the underground mine, explosive shell and shrapnel shell.
At the same time, however, it offers a number of conspicuous advantages. Since both the grenade and the cable are buried entirely in the ground, the mine field is hidden so completely as to make detection by the enemy altogether impossible. Moreover, the grenade, thanks to its special design, will always explode exactly at the height most advantageous for the explosive effects. Again, it invariably explodes with its longitudinal axis perpendicular to the ground, its four hundred projectiles being thrown out in all directions, parallel to the ground, so as always to insure maximum shooting effects. Very few projectiles will deviate from a horizontal direction. Finally, the grenade is, by a triple safeguard, fully protected against any premature explosion during transportation and while being handled and installed. It may even be fired on with rifle balls at short range, without being caused to explode.
Aasen grenades are inserted into holes dug in the ground with the spade or pick or with a special drill. In undermining a road the shells may be arranged alongside the wayside, 20 to 25 yards apart. Instead of connecting up all grenades of a given field in series and exploding them simultaneously, they may be arranged in several series, thus allowing a given mine field to be fired in several .sections. The shells may also be provided in duplicate or in triplicate, so that after firing the first .set, the fuses have only to be connected up to the next set of electric cables, in order again to establish the mine field.
Grenades once planted may remain in the ground for years without suffering any damage. If the mine field be tilled ground, it may even be used for agricultural purposes without incurring any danger. The fuse can be removed or inserted at any time.