Landmines

[trooper]

I have come across in a number of books regarding the Suvla landings reference to men being killed or seriously injured by landmines placed either in the shallow water or on the beach. Was this the first use of landmines as we now know them or were they used by the Turks during the earlier landings at ANZAC and Hellis?

As the mines obviously worked why were they not used on other fronts say to protect the areas between the redoubts on the Western Front in March 1918?

Any suggestions would be helpful.

Trooper

[Robert Dunlop]

I don't know about the earliest use of mines nor about their use on other Gallipoli beaches. However, anti-tank mines were used by the British in 1918. These were shells and ex-'toffee apples' (just the round warhead) that were buried in the ground, with the fuses upright. I don't know how effective they were against the Germans but they knocked out several British tanks supporting the American attack on the Hindenburg Line later that year.

I have never read of anti-personnel mines but there were some examples of booby traps being created by the British during the retreat IIRC.

Robert