German S-Mines: The Bouncing Bettys

From Wikipedia.

I had never heard of a German S-mine such as the one that injured actor Charles Durning so badly in France, so had to look them up.  I found it was more commonly referred to by U.S. troops as the infamous "Bouncing Betty."  I had heard of Bouncing Bettys before, one of the most-feared mines in the German arsenal.

The Germans called the S-mine a Schrapnellmine, hence the name.  It was also referred to as a bounding mine.

When triggered, it would launch into the air about 2-3 feet and detonate, sending a lethal spray of shrapnel in all directions.  The Germans developed it in the 1930s and it was a key part in their defensive strategies and inflicted heavy casualties.  They were especially used on the beaches along the Atlantic Wall and present at the D-Day beaches.

American soldiers gave it the nickname and it tended to seriously main more often than cause death.  The 5.1-inch tall, 3.9-inch diameter mine wounded and killed many Allied soldiers during the war, but the exact numbers are not known.

Watch Where You Step.  --GreGen