Glasmine 43
Script error: No such module "Infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". The Glasmine 43 was an anti-personnel mine with a glass body used by Nazi Germany during World War II.
This mine was an early minimum metal mine, designed to reduce the likelihood of detection by the Polish mine detector then in use by Allied forces. The use of glass instead of metal helped conserve valuable war materials.
Description
The mine consists of a glass bowl, Script error: No such module "convert". in diameter containing an explosive charge and a detonator. The top of the mine was covered by a sheet-glass disk Script error: No such module "convert". thick, under a thick, moulded glass pressure plate. Each mine was supplied with a small quantity of cement putty to seal gaps between the main body and the glass disk cover and make the mine waterproof.[2]
When stepped on, the pressure plate shattered the glass disk and activated the detonator, detonating the mine's main explosive charge. This was a Sprengkörper 28 – a standard demolition charge with Script error: No such module "convert". of explosive.[1][2] Two types of detonators were used. Early versions of the mine used a mechanical detonator, known as a Hebelzünder 44 which used a percussion cap.[3] Later versions fired the main charge using a device known as a Buck igniter.
The Buck igniter was a small can of thin, corrugated aluminium. This contained a glass ampoule of sulfuric acid, surrounded by flash powder that included powdered naphthalene. The can crushed when subjected to a force equivalent to around Script error: No such module "convert"., shattering the ampoule and causing the acid to mix with the powder. The resulting chemical reaction produced a flash that ignited the detonator of the main explosive charge.[5][6]
In 1944 and 1945, 11 million mines were produced; at the end of World War II, 9.7 million were still in stock.[7] Along with other companies, the Template:Ill participated in the production.
Effect and legacy
Glass shrapnel was not easily detectable via X-rays, which rendered medical assistance to victims much harder than conventional mines. Glass made life-threatening injuries more difficult to assess.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
Mines of this type are still buried in the Eifel National Park on the grounds of the Vogelsang Military Training Area, a former "Nazi leadership" training center.[8]
Demining areas with this type of mine is resource intensive, as the fields must be swept either by hand or with mine flails like the Keiler, not forgetting that the latter has a certain margin of error since it was developed with military-tactical deployments in mind (creating pathways through minefields).
In 2004, the Colombian Government claimed that "home-made" glass mines were employed by guerrillas in Colombia.[9]
References
- ↑ a b Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Functioning, Assembly and Pictures of Glasminen (english) Script error: No such module "webarchive".(Retrieved on 11 June 2012)
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ TM-E 30-451 Handbook on German Military Forces (english) (Retrieved on 11 Juni 2012)
- ↑ Dieter Wulf: Am Rande des Nationalparks Eifel, 5. April 2009 in Deutschlandfunk, Retrieved on 8 September 2013
- ↑ Personenminen Retrieved 21 November 2012
External links
- Description and images on LEXPEV
- Catalog of Enemy Ordnance, U.S. Office of Chief of Ordnance, 1945 Script error: No such module "webarchive".
- Another short description on Castle Argghhh!!!