Mines

There were three types of Mine charges:-

OFFENSIVE

DEFENSIVE

TACTICAL

Offensive mines could be further subdivided into the COMMON Mine and the FOUGASSE. Mine

A COMMON mine was designed to blow up the enemy.

A FOUGASSE mine was designed to bury the enemy by throwing a large amount of debris over the enemy position.

Defensive mines were designed to destroy or disrupt enemy mining.  This was usually done by placing a Camouflet charge close to the enemy tunnel. A ‘Camouflet’ is a subsurface charge which is designed to be contained in the earth and not break surface.

 Tactical mines were not aimed at destroying the enemy.  Usually these were to provide a high rim for firing positions overlooking the enemy, or conversely to screen off enemy positions, or to obstruct enemy approaches.

 A variation on the above themes are Bored Mines (usually known as Wombat mines from the hand drilling rig employed).  These were mostly tactical; blown to provide a screened route across No-Mans-Land