Another Decent Find - S.Mi.35 'Bouncing Betty'

[VolksJager]

Here is the second of my decent acquisitions in the last few weeks. I managed to get a nice S-mine from Latvia. A brief history care of Wikipedia:

"French soldiers encountered the S-mine during minor probes into the coal-rich German Saar region in September 7–11, 1939, during the Saar Offensive. The S-mine contributed to the withdrawal of these French incursions. The mine's performance in the Saar region affirmed its effectiveness in the eyes of the German leadership and prompted the United States and other countries to copy its design. After their experience, the French nicknamed the mine "the silent soldier".

The Third Reich used the S-mine heavily during the defense of its occupied territories and the German homeland during the Allied invasions of Europe and North Africa. The mines were produced in large numbers and planted liberally by defending German units. For example, the German Tenth Army deployed over 23,000 of them as part of their defense preparation during the Allied invasion of Italy.

S-mines were deployed on the beaches of Normandy in preparation for the anticipated invasion as part of a general program of heavy mining and fortification. On the Îles-St.-Marcouf, just off Utah Beach, where the Allied planners feared the Germans had established heavy gun batteries, Rommel had ordered S-mines to be "sown like grass seed." To build the Atlantic Wall, Germans deployed millions of land mines of various types, anti-personnel mines (such as the S-mine), dug hundreds of kilometers of trenches, laid barbed wire, and constructed thousands of beach obstacles. The mines were subsequently used to defend German positions during the Battle of Normandy and in the defense of Northern France and the German border. S-mines were typically used in combination with anti-tank mines to resist the advances of both armor and infantry. The Allies removed an estimated 15,000 unexploded mines from dunes by Pouppeville, after the initial invasion.

The S-mine acquired its cynical nickname "Bouncing Betty" from American infantrymen. The S-mine had a great psychological effect on Allied forces because of its tendency to seriously maim, rather than kill, the infantryman. The German habit of laying the mines around anti-tank and anti-vehicle mines contributed to the reputation. If a vehicle was disabled by a mine, the soldiers would be trapped in it until someone came to rescue them. In particular, limbs and genitalia were the most vulnerable. In his book Mine Warfare on Land, Lt. Col. Sloan described the S-mine as "probably the most feared device encountered by Allied troops in the war." Exact death tolls inflicted by the S-mine are not known. The Allies did not record whether a death was caused by a particular type of weapon, only whether or not the death occurred in the course of battle. Regardless, some unofficial assessments credit the S-mine with significant casualties. The 4th Division 12th Regiment at Utah Beach suffered what it termed as "light" casualties in the landing, most of which were caused by S-mines. Civilian casualties are even more a matter of speculation. "


Once again its fully INERT and empty. Still with a decent amount of original paint to the canister. The top of the mine is nicely marked 'brg 43' with the maker being H. W. Schmidt, Döbeln, Saxony. Still has the internal sleeve which is good, as I prefer my items to be as complete as I can get them. The triple fuse adapter is quite pitted and rusty but will do for the short term as I will start to look for a better one. The 2 ZZ.35 Fuses are in decent shape as well one being dated 1940 but again I may look at replacing them in the future. I also have a 3 prong pressure fuse on the way that is in a similar condition to the mine so should look half decent.



Trouble I have now is where to put it! Might have to do some re arranging of my items and maybe even having to start another German field items shelf.

Thanks for looking

Jason

[Spitace41]

Looks nice. Are you going to treat that bit of rust or just see how it goes? either way, nice example.

[VolksJager]

Cheers, I will probably leave the rust as it is, as its really solid at the moment.

Jason

[INERTZ]

you could use some oxalic acid in very warm water and it will clean the rust and not harm the paint at all in the slightest....it should brighten up your S.Mi.35 very nicely, you would be amazed what oxalic acid can do....here is some good reading about how to do it Grenade cleaning - Page 3

[INERTZ]

Nice S mine....you could use some oxalic acid to clean it and should look even nicer

here is soem good reading how to do it and pics of some items cleaned....... Grenade cleaning - Page 3