Light sensitive: Beware of opening doors on dark cupboards or shining a light inside as there are switches which are sensitive to light.

Trembler: There is a type of switch called a trembler which is principally a U-shaped tube filled with mercury or similar. When the item in which it is housed is moved the mercury slops around and makes a circuit which fires a detonator.

Package lift: It is not difficult to rig a switch underneath a package in such a way that it fires a charge when the package is lifted. There was once a spate of these rigged to boxes of cigarettes as a soldier could always be relied upon to pick up a packet of ciggies to see if there was one left inside.

INSURGENT TACTICS FOR USING MINES, IEDS AND BOOBY TRAPS

You know now how mines work and how they are used on the battlefield in a conventional war. You also know how IEDs and booby traps work and that they are, by definition, only used in insurgency campaigns by the bad guys. To pull this all together we just need to look at how mines, booby traps and IEDs are actually used by insurgents to kill soldiers.

When you take over an area from the previous battalion you really must make it your business to discover what the local insurgents have been doing recently with regard to these three threats. If they have shop-bought landmines and are using them then you have to look out for these. If they are busy making and planting IEDs against road or foot patrols then be aware of that. If your work involves searching buildings or vehicles then make sure you have an idea of what booby traps have been used in the past – if any. Of course this is not perfect as the insurgents’ supply situation may improve or get worse, and their tactics may change for some other reason, but it is a starting point and this awareness is something to begin tilting the odds in your favour.

Insurgent strategy: Dead not wounded

Besides their lies and propaganda, the insurgents are trying to kill as many of you as possible to get your loving families to put pressure on your government to bring you home – and out of the insurgents’ country. This is the whole purpose of their campaign and nothing else. It does not matter to them how many of their own side have to die to achieve this.

If you take a look at the news in any media you will see that though the death of a soldier nowadays doesn’t make much a of a news story it still makes a much bigger story than a soldier wounded. Now contrary to what a lot of Westerners think, insurgents are not stupid. They may be crazy but they know that to make the news, and take another step towards getting rid of you, they just have to kill a few more soldiers this month than they did last month, however many of them you kill. So they are not out to blow your legs off – they want you dead. This is why they make big bombs and mines rather than using standard AP mines which just take off your feet.

As Ho Chi Min said during the Vietnam War, ‘These Americans come over here, they kill many of us, we kill a few of them and then they go home.’ And, though I loath Commies, I have to admit he was a wily old bird and absolutely right. The goal of an insurgency force is not to beat the invaders on the battlefield, it is to break the will of their politicians and civilians back home. The Americans managed to kill around 3 million Vietnamese without breaking their will but the American people forced the withdrawal of American forces when the US death toll reached 58,000. You can do your part to achieve victory over the insurgent by staying alive and on your feet.

Landmines

The main difference between mines and IEDs from a tactical point of view is that mines do not need an insurgent watching them to kill you whereas a command-detonated IED does. From an insurgent’s point of view this is either good or bad according to the situation.

A mine does not need watching, or a command wire to give it away, but it has no discrimination and will kill the first person to walk over it be that civilian or soldier. This means a mine can only be placed where a soldier will walk, rather than a civilian, or the locals must be told. If the locals are not told then this will waste the insurgents’ mines and possibly upset the locals, so locals are always an important source of information for you. In addition, mines are patient and will sit there, effectively forever, waiting for their target without risk to the insurgent. An IED, on the other hand, can be placed anywhere, regardless of passing traffic, and the person detailed to detonate it can allow any number of civilians to walk or drive over or past it safely until the chosen target arrives. Of course this ties down at least one man, and puts them at risk of being shot, but it does allow the weapon to be selective and detonate without being wasted on a civilian. This is why IEDs are so popular with insurgents.

Avoiding AP mines

Insurgents want to plant their landmines where they think you will walk of course. But mines can only be planted in soft ground. Insurgents don’t generally have lots of time and they don’t generally have an endless supply of mines either so they try hard to make each one count. And they don’t just want to take your foot off as we saw above, so there is a good chance they will plant extra explosive with an AP mine or perhaps an anti-tank mine underneath. Not just to make sure of the guy who treads on it but to get his mates too.

There are no sure ways of avoiding mines, bar staying in camp, so you do all you can and hope for the best. Most often insurgents don’t want to kill the local villagers, goat herds or whatever, as these support them with food and information regarding your movements, so they either don’t plant mines near the villages or they tell the locals where they have planted mines. Around a village, by far the best way to avoid mines is to persuade a few locals to walk in front of you. Of course your commanders may not allow this so instead watch the local’s movements carefully before committing to a route.

TOP TIP!

How to avoid mines

Mines must have a soft surface above them which can transmit your weight and press down on the mine to cause detonation. The mine also has to be buried. This means they will only be laid in soft ground, as opposed to asphalt, so stick to the hard stuff when you can. If you see a patch of broken asphalt, walk around it.

Mines are often left in place for an extended period so the earth may blow away from the top and make the prongs or whatever visible so keep your eyes open. If the mine has been planted recently there may be signs of disturbed earth so step around that too.

It is always a good idea to avoid bottlenecks on a track where a mine-layer will know you have to step. Now I have mentioned it, you will notice how on bends, by walls, by trees and at the approach to bridges tracks tend to funnel people over the same narrow strip of ground. Don’t walk on it until you see a local walk there first.

If mines are expected, and you can’t use the locals to find them, then it may be worthwhile having a mine detection device at the front of the team but if this is not practical then the front man should keep his eyes open for signs of a mine, rather than enemy attack, and the next man protect him but keep well back. Change the lead man regularly unless you owe him money.

When it is your turn to be in front of your patrol, or ‘point’ as some say, you need to keep your eyes open for a couple of things: freshly disturbed ground which might suggest a recent planting or the prongs of the mine sticking above the surface where wind or rain or bad laying has led to the business end being uncovered. Good luck.

Anti-tank or vehicle mines

The principles are very similar to anti-personnel mines in terms of tactics but these mines often have even more explosive added to defeat our increasingly heavily armoured vehicles.