Enemy Land Mines and Booby Traps

Enemy Land Mines and Booby Traps
Author: United States. War Department
Publisher:
Total Pages: 172
Release: 1943
Genre: Booby traps
ISBN:

This manual summarizes available information on the design and construction of German, Italian, and Japanese land mines and booby traps from examination of captured mines and booby traps.

Enemy Land Mines and Booby Traps

Enemy Land Mines and Booby Traps
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 167
Release: 1943
Genre:
ISBN:

This manual summarizes available information on the design and construction of German, Italian, and Japanese land mines and booby traps from examination of captured mines and booby traps.

Land Mines and Booby Traps Field Manual: FM 5-31

Land Mines and Booby Traps Field Manual: FM 5-31
Author: War Department
Publisher: Periscope Film LLC
Total Pages: 366
Release: 2013-11
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 9781940453170

Both anti-tank and anti-personnel land mines were used by the Axis and Allied powers during WWII. Designed to immobilize track or wheeled vehicles, anti-tank mines are normally employed in clusters known as mine fields. The typical charge of an anti-tank mine is six to twelve pounds. Usually they are not dangerous to personnel, since the heavy pressure or magnetic action produced by a vehicle is necessary to detonate them. Antipersonnel mines are used primarily to produce casualties to foot soldiers. They may be placed for specific tactical purposes, such as the protection of mine fields or other obstacles, on strategic ground, or in such a way as to provide local security; or they may be placed as nuisances that harass and delay the enemy's advance. With an explosive charge of a quarter pound to four pounds, this type of mine is not effective against armored vehicles. Created in 1943, this field manual covers the employment, types, and characteristics of land mines and booby traps of various nations. It includes methods to locate, disarm, defuse, and remove these obstacles. Originally labeled restricted, this manual was declassified long ago and is here reprinted in book form. Care has been taken to preserve the integrity of the text.

Malice Aforethought

Malice Aforethought
Author: Ian Jones
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 341
Release: 2021-06-02
Genre: History
ISBN: 1922488097

War has always provided a stimulus to technological development, and throughout the twentieth century this new technology was harnessed to produce increasingly deadly and malicious types of explosives in the form of booby traps, mines, delayed-action devices and mobile charges. Designed, constructed or adopted to kill or injure, these lethal mechanisms function when a person disturbs or approaches a seemingly harmless object or performs an apparently safe act. In other instances they are set off by remote control or automatically after a lapse of time. Fully illustrated with diagrams and photographs, Malice Aforethought traces the design, deployment and effectiveness of these deadly devices throughout both world wars to the Vietnam War. Expertly and compellingly written, this unique study is a tribute to the brave men who risked their lives daily to neutralise the booby traps laid in the dimly lit dugouts of the Western Front, on the beaches of Normandy, or in the dark and dangerous tunnels of Chu Chi.

Vietnam War Booby Traps

Vietnam War Booby Traps
Author: Gordon L. Rottman
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 65
Release: 2020-10-29
Genre: History
ISBN: 1472842464

During the Vietnam War, the Viet Cong were frequently unable to hold their own in stand-up fights against US and allied forces who were superior in strength, firepower, mobility, and logistics. They relied instead on traditional guerrilla warfare tactics including small-scale hit- and-run attacks, ambushes, terrorist actions, and precision attacks against bases. These included one of the oldest of guerrilla weapons – the boobytrap. Booby traps could be made in large numbers in village workshops and jungle camps using locally available materials as well as modern munitions. The VC were adept at making booby traps 'invisible' in the varied terrain of Vietnam, often emplacing them in locations and surroundings totally unexpected by their enemies. Booby traps could be incredibly simple or startlingly complex and ingenious, ranging from pointed sticks to command-detonated submerged floating river mines. Besides a wide variety of booby traps, they also used land and water mines, both contact/pressure-detonated and command-detonated. Between January 1965 and June 1970 11 percent of US troop deaths in action and 17 percent of injuries were by caused booby traps and mines. This fascinating title explores not only the wide variety of booby traps employed by the Viet Cong, but also their various uses in halting, stalling, or locating an enemy, and the many evolutions these traps underwent in order to retain the element of surprise. Written by a Vietnam veteran with first-hand experience of such traps, this is an engaging look at one of the most frightening aspects of guerrilla warfare.