![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() In a static situation the Germans regarded minefields as an element of frontline positions, laid out according to an overall mine plan developed in close conjunction with fields of fire. Minefields were used chiefly to cover defensive operations and retreats. German commanders considered the land mine a very effective defensive weapon and so went to great lengths to make extensive use of it. (You can read more about the personal stories behind the statistics of the Second World War inside the pages of WWII History magazine.) Army in Europe recorded that mines were responsible for 2.5 percent of combat fatalities and for 20.7 percent of tank losses. In a single minefield they found 12,000 mines made out of Bakelite or wood, which made them impossible to locate with metal detectors. In one incident toward the end of 1944, American soldiers came across nonmetal mines in Lorraine, France. The Wehrmact employed others, too, to great effect during the Second World War. German Teller mines were insidious weapons-killing or maiming thousands of Allied soldiers and civilians.
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