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Relics of El Alamein
- Thread starter Weasel
- Start date
Thats a display not a disposal!
One of my father's cousins was killed by a mine in Libya in 1949, while walking in the desert. He was 19.
I have a friend who was involved in oil exploration in the 1980's in Libya. He was in a convoy of three trucks when the first hit a mine killing the driver. The other man in the cab was injured and jumped down from the cab onto a second mine which killed him. If it was a Teller I can only assume the years had made it more sensitive as normally the weight of a man would not set one off. They could have been Italian or British of course.
Like BMG50 in post three I would have expected the battlefield debris to be in better condition in the desert. The ordnance in the first photo looks like it has been underground in Europe.
John
Like BMG50 in post three I would have expected the battlefield debris to be in better condition in the desert. The ordnance in the first photo looks like it has been underground in Europe.
John
It takes around 500 - 600lb pressure in general to set off a anti - tank mine so you can stand on it, however the kinetic energy of a man jumping on it is something else.
There was an anecdotal ammunition accident around WWII where an instructor did just that and wiped out a classroom of students.
There was an anecdotal ammunition accident around WWII where an instructor did just that and wiped out a classroom of students.
Regarding condition, while deep in the desert steel is often well preserved other than for a surface rusting, it should be borne in mind that the town/railway stop of El Alamein is almost on the coast. Steel items that have experienced salt-laden sea breezes for even a few years will have invariably corroded much more significantly.
Tom.
Yes that's what I thought. I don't know what the effect of a man (of unknown weight) jumping from say 1.5 metres would be on an anti tank mine. However after 40 years the sensitivity could change.
John
Springs can corrode enough to have no strength.
Bob7.62W
Active Member
Must agree with that, when I was in the Lybian desert 40 years ago, steel ordnance was in exceptionally good condition and quite commonplace, even more common than shells was the piles of old boots! These were however not in good condition. It was possible to still see were the British army had stopped during it's travels by the debris.
Hi. El Alamein is by the sea, so plenty of salt air to attack metal parts. Deeper in the desert things are preserved much better. Prior to the latest issues, EOD teams were busy clearing the desert. Often when there are AT mines, there'll also be AP ones protecting them. Cheers
Hi, These are not my photo's, they were taken by a friend of mine in 2009. He was part of the clean-up team working in the Libyan desert at that time. One comment he made was that there is so much well preserved history in the desert, a burial mound could be 10, 50, 100 or 1000 years old.
All live items found were destroyed.
I have a teller mine fuze from that clean-up, which is in OK condition. As I recall, it was recovered from a mine field constructed of German, French and Italian mines, with AP mines protecting AT mines. In the mine field were the remains of British vehicles. It was in an area where the New Zealanders advanced, so is of interest to me. Found in the mine field were boxes of unused fuzes.
Cheers
All live items found were destroyed.
I have a teller mine fuze from that clean-up, which is in OK condition. As I recall, it was recovered from a mine field constructed of German, French and Italian mines, with AP mines protecting AT mines. In the mine field were the remains of British vehicles. It was in an area where the New Zealanders advanced, so is of interest to me. Found in the mine field were boxes of unused fuzes.
Cheers
