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“Bengt Zillmer” Wehrmacht-Heer Mine Detector Wien 41, Pionier-Batallion 34, Orel Salient, 1943 (Pionier)
The Aachen 40 mine detector (with its special electronics case), Wien 41 mine detector (with electronics assembly attached to the operators web straps), and a Mine Probe Rod 39
German soldier looking for mines using Aachen 40 mine detector. Campaign in the Balkans, 1941.
Pioneers with mine detector “Vienna 41” [Wien 41] on a “Panther G”
WWII saw an explosion in the use of small, portable anti-tank and anti-personnel mines. The Germans were experts in their deployment, but paid the price as other nations caught up. The Russians in particular deployed them particularly effectively. During the battle of Kursk for example, they achieved densities of 1700 anti-personnel mines per square kilometre and 1500 anti-tank mines per square kilometre. In addition, Russian squads would often dig up German mines and re-use them against the Germans. In July 1943, the Commander of sPzAbt.505, Hauptmann Graf Kageneck, reported “III.Panzer Korps reported the loss of 13 Tigers in one Kompanie that had started out with 14 Tigers on the morning of 5th July, 1943. Nine Tigers fell out due to mine damage” Kursk – The vital 24 Hours (Will Fowler) Spellmount.
To be sure, the German Army also had several types of metallic mine detectors: Berlin 40, Tempelhof 41, and Frankfort 40. These electromagnetic mine detectors were not very useful at the Battle of Kursk for two main reasons. In the first place, the Soviets used a large number of mines with wood or cardboard cases which were difficult or impossible for the detectors to locate. In the second place, the soil in the Kursk area is highly magnetic — so magnetic, in fact, that compasses do not work properly. This made magnetic mine detectors even less effective. Thus the common elements in the German breaching were the widespread use of probes and almost no reliance on electronic mine detectors. Beyond these common elements, however, it is interesting that different German divisions on the north face of the salient used several different techniques to breach the minefields.
Description of Mine Detectors
Mine detectors operating on the above principles can be broadly divided into three classes :-
(i) Detectors operating on the Feliei Mutual-inductanee bridge method, e.g., SCR 625, Polish detector Ne, 1 and n0. 2 and No. 3, British Mine Detector No. 5 and German G d n Detector Frankfurt 42.
(ii) Detectors working on the Heterodyne method, eg., the German Mine Detectors: Neptune, Aachen, the Berlin 40.
(iii) Detectors working on the regenerative amplifier principle.
“Minensuchgerät Aachen 40″
The Aachen 40 is a coil on a long rod, familiar to most people who have seen similar US ones in operation, with the operator using an electronics backpack (receiver and batteries) and providing an aural signal via headsets.
“Minensuchgerät Berlin 40″
“Minensuchgerät Wien 41″
The Wien 41 is a detector shaped like a sausage on the end of a sectional pole, with an electronics pack worn by the operator and providing an audible signal via headsets. Manufactured by Radio Horny in Wien,
“Minensuchgerät Frankfurt 42″
The name “Frankfurt 42” is derived – as with the other mine detectors – from the location of the manufacturer, the company Max Braun in Frankfurt am Main and the year of the placing of order.
“Minensuchgerät Tempelhof 41″
“Tempelhof 41” refers to the company C. Lorenz in Berlin and on the year 1941.
“Minensuchgerät Lowedel”
“Minensuchgerät Stuttgart 43″
“Minensuchgerät Neptun”
The German Detector Neptune Principle of Operation
The “Neptune” was one of the several heterodyne detectors developed by the Germans early during the war and used by them in North Africa. Its circuit is built round a single hexagrid valve. A Colpitts oscillator using grids 1 and 2 has the search coil for its inductance. There is another fixed oscillator also of the Colpitts type which is connected between the grid 4 and the anode. The mixed signal is fed through a step up transformer to headphones.
The Heterodyne Detectors
These detectors were used only by the Germans during the last war. Since the Bridge type detectors, and detectors working on the regenerative principle were much more sensitive than those working on the heterodyne principle little effort was made by the Americans and the British to develop them. High frequency detectors cannot be very successful against Ferrous Metals and the reasons for these have already been discussed in the general theory underlying mine detectors. Moreover experience has shown that better stability, sensitivity and reliability can, be achieved by low frequency bridge detectors and almost all operational detectors in England and America are now-a-days of this type.
German Mine Detectors from Chapter 4 of U.S. War Department (1945) Handbook on German Military Forces (Technical Manual, TM-E 30-451)
a. MINE DETECTING ROD, 1939 PATTERN. (1) Description. This detector consists of a length of light alloy tubing, one end of which carries a steel point, while the other carries a bayonet joint permitting a second length of tubing to be added when the operator is standing. The weight of the main tube and point is approximately 10 ounces.
(2) Employment. This detector is used as a probe, the point being dropped vertically into the ground from a height of about 4 inches. It is claimed that the nature of any underground object encountered can be recognized by the characteristic sound coming from the tube.
b. MINE DETECTOR BERLIN 40 TYPE B. (1) Description. This detector consists of a detector unit carried in a pack on the operator’s back, a search coil, sectionalized pole, headphones, and cable connections.
(2) Employment. The variable condenser is adjusted to produce a suitable note in the earphones. Proximity of a metal object to the search coil produces a change of tone.
c. MINE DETECTOR Tempelhof 41. (1) Description. This is a portable detector provided with a loud speaker instead of earphones. The whole instrument can be carried in an infantry pack.
(2) Employment. The tone control is turned to the right until the loudspeaker produces its maximum volume. In presence of a metal object the tone will rise in pitch.
d. MINE DETECTOR Frankfurt 40. (1) Description. This detector is contained in a wooden box which fits into a canvas pack. The pack also has a compartment in which the search coil can be carried when not in use. The box is divided into two compartments, one for the batteries and one for the detector. The wiring is exposed by removal of a sliding panel which is held in position by one screw. The tubes and batteries are accessible after removal of the front panel. The pole is in three sections. The search coil is housed in a bakelite moulding.
(2) Employment. The circuit is adjusted for zero balance. A tone is produced in the earphones by proximity of a metal object.
e. OTHER MINE DETECTORS. Other mine detectors in general use are:
Pentagrid tube type.
M.S.F. 1007.
Frankfurt 42.
Pram Mine Detector.
Wiesbaden Mine Detector.
The Minensuchstab 39
The Minensuchstab (Sucheisen.) 39 or ‘mine-searching rod’ is such an example. Inserted vertically into the ground, the user was expected to tell the nature of the object in contact from its ‘feel’ and the sound emitted by the vibrating tube. The point of the rod would stick in wood and the vibrating rod would emit a barely audible note. However the rod would rebound from metal objects (e.g mines) and emit a high note.
Regarding minefield lane markers: there are a myriad of different sorts. However, Chapter 4 of U.S. War Department (1945) Handbook on German Military Forces (Technical Manual, TM-E 30-451) states that:‘The Germans… methods of marking minefields are not uniform. The front edge of a field often is unmarked and unwired; the rear edge seldom so… Typical examples of markings by the Germansinclude), corner-post marking stakes; double-apron fence on the enemy side and a single trip wire on the friendly side, or the reverse; single knee-high wires; cattle fencing; empty mine crates; and signs. The length of marking stakes varies with the terrain. They are flattened on one side for a length of about 8 inches. The flat surface is painted red, with the letter M (Minen) in black. Such stakes are used only on the friendly edges of minefields.
Signs are painted in red and white on boards or pieces of sheet metal, and fastened to two stakes. The edges of minefields are marked with signs showing horizontal stripes. Edges of lanes through the fields are shown by vertically divided signs with the white portion on the side of the lane, and the red portion on the side of the minefield (danger). The reverse side of the signs (the side toward the enemy) is painted olive drab. If red paint is not available, the Germans substitute black-and-white signs. They are painted with the following words:
Minen—for mines
Gasse or Gassen—for mine lanes
Entimint—for an area cleared of mines’.
Other methods I have seen to mark lanes include most commonly is a black deaths head on a triangular yellow flag, mounted on a red wire peg. Page 55 of De Legarde, J (1995) German Soldiers of World War Two has a picture of same.
In Guy Sajer’s The Forgotten Soldier, there is some telling information about the countdown to Citadel (Kursk 1943), and how forward elements of the Grossdeutchland infantry regiments were trained to move to their forward assembly points via cleared lanes in minefields (both German and Soviet). It was a combination of white or otherwise coloured tape (to direct different units to the correct place) together with small discreet arrowed signs. Very interesting from a point of view of platoon and section level maneuver and combat!
Further Reading
[1] “German Mine Detector – Frankfurt 42″, Tactical and Technical Trends, Nr. 39, 2. Dez. 1943, Seite 16-19.
[2] “Die Minensuchgeräte der deutschen Wehrmacht, Teil 1″, Waffen-Revue Nr. 89, 2. Quartal 1993, Seite 129-154.
[3] “Die Minensuchgeräte der deutschen Wehrmacht, Teil 2″, Waffen-Revue Nr. 90, 3. Quartal 1993, Seite 89-104.
[4] “Minensuchgerät Wien 41, Beschreibung und Bedienungsanleitung”, Druckvorschrift D 587/3, 1. Mai 1943, 8 Seiten.
[5] “Minensuchgerät Tempelhof 41, Beschreibung und Bedienung”, Druckvorschrift D 587/1, 1. Apr. 1943, 8 Seiten.
