The "Engineer Special Brigade" During the D-Day Landings 

​Danger UXB are proud to be working with the (WW2 Film Foundation) of America, to produce a unique documentary about the American “Engineer Special Brigade”  and their attack on Omaha and Utah beach's, to be shown on the PBS TV Channel towards the end of this year.
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​The documentary primarily remembers the American engineers who were some of the first soldiers to step foot on Omaha and Utah beaches, with the roll to clear the beaches of mines and obstacles to allow the main allied force to attack the enemy.
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On June 6th 1944 at 06,47 am on Omaha beach Normandy, after disembarking from his landing craft, Captain Robert Hayes was in charge of 16 combat demolition units had orders to clear 50 metre corridors on the beach to the headland.
One of his team was Corporal James Mitchel watched his 3rd demolition combat engineers consisting of 5 men trying to tackle mine clearance under intense fire from the German forces. as well as the danger of finding and defusing the mines on the beach.
The trouble was, Bomb clearance was in its infancy, and required engineers to crawl across the beach using a bayonet, to probe the sand at 45 Degree angle until they found a mine,  with each mine taking around five minutes to find an neutralise.
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​In the months leading up to D-Day, General Erwin Rommel had his troops erect numerous obstacles along the beaches in Normandy. These obstacles were strategically placed to hinder Allied amphibious landing craft as they approached the shore.
The Germans deployed several types of formidable barriers, such as:

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Czech Hedgehogs - These anti-tank obstacles were among the most common on the beaches. Typically shaped with an L or I cross-section and constructed from wood, metal, or concrete, they were designed to stop armored vehicles. They were positioned in shallow water to damage landing craft.

Belgian Gates (Cointet-elements) - These were nearly 7-foot-tall, 10-foot-wide steel fences intended to repel tanks. They were extremely heavy, placed on concrete rollers for easier transport. The Germans typically placed them on the low-water line alternating with other obstacles.

Wooden Stakes/Hemmbalken - These were wooden posts 4-5 meters (13-16 feet) long, planted at an angle in the sand along the Norman coastline, reinforced by other wooden poles, and often topped with Teller mines to disable or damage landing craft.
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Concrete Pyramids / Tetrahedra - These were large hollow triangular prisms with sides between 1-2 meters long, made of either steel or reinforced concrete, sometimes equipped with anti-tank mines attached at the top.

Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's Atlantic Wall, did not achieve the mine density he desired before D-Day. He hoped to install eleven million antipersonnel mines alone, with an range of other mines intended for use against landing craft and vehicles.
Some of the mines were placed on the Normandy beach obstacles and buried in the sand  to impede or destroy Allied tanks, vehicles as well as the landing craft. Most were detonated by a pressure plate with sensitivity settings that varied from the weight of a man to a truck or a tank, while others were activated by radio or electric wires. However, few of the 6.5 million land mines deployed were designed for beach use, and large numbers of those were rendered inert by constant exposure to salt water.

But not all explosives were mines in the true sense. Some devices were more aptly described as ‘‘booby traps,’’ concealed by sand or gravel and detonated by trip wires. Others were command detonated, with electronically activated wires leading to a dugout or bunker. 

There were three main types of mine used by the Germans on the atlantic wall, the Teller mine targeting landing craft

Teller Mines
Teller mines are a plate sized steel land mine with 11.4 lbs of TNT and widely distributed across the Normandy beaches, frequently buried in the sand and attached to obstacles, such as poles and tetrahedra.  They functioned much as land mines, being activated by sufficient pressure from a soldier, vehicle or Allied landing craft. All Teller mines could be fitted with ‘‘anti-tamper devices,’’ sensitive fuses intended to detonate the mine when it was lifted.
​German troops were trained to deactivate mines before moving them; Allied engineers learned the same procedures from practical experience.

S-Mine

​S-Mines
Antipersonnel mines that when triggered sprang into the air and exploded at waist height were called ‘‘bouncing Betties’’ by American soldiers. The mine was electronically fused to detonate a split second after it was activated, increasing the chances of killing or maiming the victim.

Glasmine 43
This antipersonnel mine consists of a glass jar that can hold a 200 gram bread type explosive on which a lighter is place, along with a rupture plate and a fractionation plate placed over the igniter. A pressure of 8 to 10 kg on the friction plate breaks the breaking plate and crushes the igniter’s head, triggering the detonator and the explosive charge.
Today, many Glasminen 43,s are still buried on the battlefields with many of them have still not been neutralized. 

Glassmine 43

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