Landships II

Tony,

Thanks for the info. 

The thought of clearing shells used as land mines with an electro-magnet seems strange, as the fuse hitting the magnet would more than likely set it off!!!!

Although not part of WWI stuff, the info should be of general interest viv-a-vis the history article.

I was in the Rhodesian Army and also worked for a South African arms manufacturer, so I'm familiar with mine clearing and also the development of vehicles to minimise damage.  As IEDs were not common, ordinary land mines were, and the early vehicles, such as the RL, were not suited to sustain damage but be fixed rapidly.  The RLKs were replaced by Unimogs which were far more resistant to damage; in fact, normally the vehicle would be roadworthy within a couple of hours of the repair work starting.

Mine belting was laid on the floors of the vehicles and the tyres filled with water.  The South African Defence Force started the production of the V-shaped underside which have now become universal.

The one IED in Rhodesia was certainly an improvisation.  We don't know whether the gooks were tired of carrying the heavy landmines or were trying to make sure of a kill, but they dug a hole deep enough to hold five landmines on top of each other.  The locals knew about the activity and avoided the road like the plague, so a Panhard armoured car was sent down to investigate. Unlike the local buses that travelled at maximum speed as they thought they could outrun the explosion if they hit a mine, the AC was travelling very slowly when one of its rear wheels detonated the lot.  It lost a rear wheel with its axle and had the turret cracked right round.  The commander got a bad headache from hitting his head on the edge of his hatch, but no-one else was injured!!!  One can imagine what that boosted explosion would have done to a fast-moving bus.

Cheers,

Tony