Contact Methods

Although a small number of landmines were introduced into modern warfare during World War I, the tactics of landmine use, both in the deployment and removal, did not become clear until World War II. By 1939, the German and Italian armies had developed both antitank and antipersonnel landmines, which were used effectively against the Allied forces. Naturally, the Allies developed techniques for defeating the defensive barricade presented by a well-laid-out minefield. The obvious array of flails, rollers, and projected charges were used. However, “the first, and throughout the entire war, the commonest procedure was to locate the mine, neutralize it if necessary and remove it by hand”[1]. Although metal detectors based on the principle of heterodyne oscillation were used to rapidly scan an area, the final approach to a landmine prior to neutralization inevitably used a pointed stick, such as a bayonet.