One hundred years after the outbreak of World War I, none of its participants remained alive. The only thing that can help us and our children to understand the scale of the bloody battles are the scars on the heart of the earth, historical relics, photographs, memorials and cemeteries scattered around the world.
1. A tangle of branches frame the Canadian World War I memorial, also known as the Pensive Soldier. The statue was installed in the city of Saint-Julien, Belgium and is designed to perpetuate the memory of the Canadian troops who died in the first gas attacks of the First World War in 1915. (AP)
2. In Vimy, France, sheep graze peacefully in a still-uncleared field filled with loaded munitions from the First World War. (Getty Images)
3. An innumerable array of crosses stand in the Duamont cemetery near Verdun, France. (Reuters)
4. The battlefield at Verdun still bears the scars of the shell explosions. Photograph 2005.
5. Experts of the sapper team show unexploded British Army grenades found in the vicinity of the Somme River in France, where one of the largest battles took place. Every year local farmers discover several tons of shells, shrapnel, unexploded mines and grenades. All finds are disposed of by explosives. (Reuters)
6. Sculpture by German artist Käthe Kollwitz, bearing the name "Grieving Parents" at the soldiers' cemetery in Vladso, Belgium. The cemetery contains the graves of over 25,000 German soldiers. The sculptor's own son, Peter Kollwitz, was killed in action in World War I when he was only 18 years old. He is buried right in front of the statue.
7. Members of the German Historical Association for World War I sit on the skeleton of a French 155mm long-range cannon. The surrounding area is the war-wiped village of Bezonvu, located in eastern France, not far from Verdun. It is in this place, which took on the heaviest battles, that members of French and German historical societies gather annually to honor the memory of hundreds of thousands of lost lives and destroyed settlements. (Reuters)
9. The warship Caroline is moored in the docks of Northern Ireland. Funds are regularly allocated by the National Heritage Fund to maintain its condition as a memorial. The ship was launched in 1914 and was part of the 4th Cruiser Squadron, which took part in the Battle of Jutland in 1916. Now it represents the last surviving unit of the Royal Navy of that time. (Getty Images)
10. A diver from a sapper brigade takes out an unexploded shell from the bottom of a river that flows next to one of the former battlefields. (Reuters)
11. A member of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission demonstrates a Canadian Army uniform badge found among the remains of dead soldiers near the town of Cambrai in southern France. The owner of the badge fought between September and October 1918. (Photo: Reuters/Pascal Rossignol)
12. Trees rise above the area that was once the village of Fleury. During the war, this settlement, like many others in the neighborhood, was completely destroyed. The names of such lost villages continue to be marked on maps and government documents in France, but all the buildings, roads, people who filled these places with life have disappeared without a trace. (Reuters)
13. Clock found among the remains of French soldiers in Verdun. About 26 bodies of soldiers were found in the completely destroyed village of Fleury. The identities of seven people were identified thanks to the found name tokens. (Getty Images)
14. A man peers at the names of missing soldiers. In Belgium and France, a total of 956 military cemeteries bear witness to the immeasurable human sacrifice made during the two world wars. (Getty Images)
15. A tank found during archaeological excavations in the south of France, left by British troops in 1917. Some time after the British retreated from these places, the tank was sunk into the ground and used as a bunker by German soldiers. (AP)
16. The battlefields on the Somme River store several military cemeteries on their land at once: Beaumont-Hamel (in the foreground), Redan Ridge cemeteries No. 2 and No. 3 (above). (Getty Images)
17. Gas masks serving as exhibits of the exhibition "1914, the middle of Europe" in the museum, the building of which was previously a chemical plant. Essen, Germany. (AP)
18. Blooming red poppies on a Belgian field. It is this type of flower that is one of the first to bloom on battlefields richly flavored with blood, so poppies have received recognition as a symbol of memory. They are worn in buttonholes on Armistice Day. (AP)
19. Unexploded ordnance awaiting disposal. A British farmer discovered this "harvest" while plowing his field near a French military cemetery. (Reuters)
20. The coffin with the body of the last veteran of the First World War - US Army Corporal Frank Buckles. He passed away in 2011 at the age of 110. In the war, Buckles ended up at the age of 16, from 1917 to 1920, (Getty Images)
21. A statue of a caribou deer surrounded by winding trenches in the Newfoundland Memorial Park in Beaumont-Gamel, France. The park has preserved the landscape of the former battlefield here, on which the Newfoundland Regiment made an unsuccessful attack in 1916 in the early days of the Battle of the Somme. (Getty Images)
22. Digital echolocation image of a sunken German submarine at the bottom of the North Sea. The crashed model U-106 was discovered off the island of Terschelling in the north of Holland. The place of its flooding is now called the official military burial. The submarine sank in 1917 after being hit by a mine. All crew members were killed. (AP)
23. Members of a bomb squad load into their vehicle a large unexploded ordnance found at a construction site in Ypres, western Belgium. According to the Belgian Department of Defense, two construction workers, while working, died from the explosion of the same munition on March 19, 2014. (AP)
24. View from the inside of a World War I trench. The area around it changed hands numerous times during the fighting between September 1914 and September 1915. During restoration work in this network of trenches, the remains of seven soldiers were found. (Reuters)
25. Rusty barbed wire near Kilometer Zero on the Franco-Swiss border. In this place, during the fierce battles, there was a front line, stretching in the direction of the North Sea for 750 km. (Getty Images)
26. Discovered by archaeologists in the city of Arras in southern France, the remains of British soldiers buried in 1917. In the photo you can see how military boots have been preserved, serving as proof that all these people came from the same city. The War Graves Commission found that all 20 soldiers found served in the 10th Lincoln Battalion. (Reuters)
27. Monument in honor of the deceased local population in Wildenrot, Germany. In many villages on the periphery of southern Germany, you can find similar monuments, which immortalize the names of local soldiers who served in the First World War. The names sometimes number in the tens and even hundreds, which makes a huge impression, given the very small population of such villages. (Getty Images)
28. Neighborhood of the city of Verdun, France. A sign reading “Main Street” stands between massive trees overgrown with centuries-old moss. The village of Bezonwu used to flourish at this place, until bloody battles razed it to the ground. (Reuters)
29. Vera Sandercock holds a photo of her father, Herbert Medland, who served during the First World War as a private. His service was held in Erodsfoot, one of the 13 so-called "double gratitude" villages. This definition was awarded to settlements in England and Wales, from where, after the battles, most of the fighters managed to get out safe and sound. (Reuters)
30. A visitor walks towards the Canadian National Memorial in Vimy, France. (Getty Images)
31. Divers explore the inside of a sunken warship off the Orkney Islands in Scotland. During both world wars, this area, called Scapa Flow, served as a strategic British military base. During the fighting, colossal human losses were suffered here. After the armistice, 74 German warships were interned in these waters, after which the order was given to sink them in 1919, since the German Admiral Ludwig von Reuter mistakenly considered that the peace would be only temporary and the British army could take advantage of the active units of the German fleet . Currently, this place is very popular with divers. (Reuters)
32. The remains of unknown soldiers in the crypt at the Duamont cemetery, located in eastern France. In total, the bodies of 130 thousand unidentified French and German soldiers are buried in this place. (Getty Images)
33. A statue depicting "Poyla" (the so-called French soldiers during the First World War) against a cloudy sky. Military monument in Cappy, northern France. (Reuters)
34. Poppies are reddening in the walls of the restored trenches of Dixmuide, Belgium (AP)
35. Shoes that belonged to a British soldier. This find was discovered by Belgian archaeologists, who are considered the best specialists in excavating artifacts from the First World War. (Reuters)
36. Charlotte Cardin-Deskamps, the owner of the Belgian farm Varlet, points to various types of World War I shells found in the vicinity of her possessions in just one season. (AP)
37. Underground shelter in France, discovered by members of the Alsatian Archaeological Society. In the foreground is the leg of a German soldier who died during the French attack. He and his fellow soldiers were buried alive when a powerful Allied shell exploded in 1918. Until recently, all the soldiers found in this place were considered missing. (AP)
38. Aerial view of the Canadian National Memorial at Vimy in northern France. You can still easily see the scars of sinkholes and trenches covering the ground. The memorial is dedicated to the memory of members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force who died during the First World War. (Reuters)
39. On the first day of the offensive, a huge mine was blown up in the vicinity of the Somme River. The remaining funnel - the Lochnagar crater - is still available for viewing. On its edge, a cross was erected in memory of the dead. (Getty Images)
40. Nollett Chinese Cemetery, where about 850 Chinese workers died during the attacks of the First World War. Noyelles-sur-Mer, northern France, (Getty Images)
41. Aerial view of the Franco-British memorial in Tipwall, northern France. Spread out on a raised platform, this is the largest British war memorial in the world, commemorating over 72,205 missing soldiers of the First World War. The name of each of them is engraved on a stone pillar. (Reuters)
42. A man in full dress pays his last respects to Harry Patch, the last British soldier of the First World War. Patch passed away at the age of 111 in 2009 and thousands of people attended his funeral. (Photo: Reuters)
43. An employee of the State Environmental Commission and an unexploded shell discovered by him in the forest. Massive fighting took place on this site during the First World War. This kind of spoils of war, unfortunately for the authorities and archaeologists, often attract all sorts of marauders. (AFP/Getty Images)
44. During the annual night parade of veterans in honor of the event called “Four Days of Verdun”, it is customary to light commemorative torches in the Duamont cemetery. In the photo - the 98th anniversary of the battle of Verdun. (AFP/Getty Images)
45. World War I memorial day participants at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers in Sydney, Australia. (AFP/Getty Images)
Adapted from Theatlantic.com; translation and adaptation by Catherine Straszewski |
Hello.
Phonsavan is a small village in Laos, known mainly for the Valleys of Jars. However, there are a number of much more cool sights there.
There are no sights of Phonsavan in Phonsavan itself. To each point it is necessary to go from 10 to 40 kilometers. Pedestrians travel by taxi or excursions, we - of course - were able to quickly go around everything on motorcycles. In general, this region of Laos is spinning up due to the echoes of the Vietnam War. The consequences of the American bombings are everywhere, which have been used for a long time as a lure for tourists. Although occasionally come across and authentic things.
Of the sights, it is worth hitting the road to the Pitchers, to see the Burnt Buddha, the Fields of Funnels - also quite nothing. And Tad Ka waterfall is really very good. But the publicized "Village on Bombs" looks something like this:
Nothing special. If once upon a time this was an authentic village built using unexploded bombs lying around here and there, now most of the metal has already been handed over, a small part of the bombs is used only to maintain the status of a landmark. But the truth is not entirely clear why the locals need this, since the traffic of tourists will still be preserved: the village is located just on the way to the Tad Ka waterfall.
Funnel fields.
This area was under large-scale bombing, huge craters from explosions of air bombs still remain.
This funnel field is located, I can’t even imagine how to get there without my own transport, but if you look at Google maps more carefully, you can find other similar fields closer to Phonsavan.
Single funnels are found everywhere.
Waterfall Tadka.
Located . A beautiful waterfall with several cascades, to which a mountain dirt road leads.
Valley of Pitchers.
No one knows why, but someone once made huge stone jugs and scattered them in a heap across several surrounding fields. There are several pitcher fields around Phonsavan, it's worth visiting them all only if you are a big fan of pitchers. The most convenient field is located, there is also a cozy small cave with a Buddha.
Here we need to make a small branch. In Laos, there are no such major attractions that a normal person would like to climb for a long time, like the Cambodian Angkor, which you can easily spend several days on. And moving between these small places, like the Field of Funnels and the Valley of Pitchers, you understand how convenient a motorcycle is as a transport for these places.
There are interesting places that we did not go to, and therefore I will not describe them here. Like the same quarries where stones were mined for the manufacture of jugs. But these places are local and small, and do not require much time to explore. There are no adequate places for trekking in Phonsavan either, so if you decide to travel around Laos by public transport, it is quite possible that Phonsavan should be crossed out of the route altogether.
Burnt Buddha and Wat Phia Wat.
The temple was built in 1322 and stood safely until the 1970s, when an American air bomb hit it. Everything was destroyed, except for the Buddha statue itself. The Buddha is still in place, receiving guests and does not even ask to take off his shoes at the entrance, like his other colleagues from other temples. The statue is located, it is distinguished by its exceptional apocalyptic character and, in my humble opinion, it touches more than other places in the vicinity of Phonsavan in its atmosphere.
Phonsavan-Kong Lor.
The road is asphalt and mountainous throughout. Sometimes the road descends into the valley, but in general, you spend the whole day shifting the motorcycle from side to side.
Locals weave scarves and keep strange pets.
Gas stations are manual, although bottles of gasoline for sale are also found everywhere in Laos.
And again a night journey, and again Vanya illuminates the path for both. The ride is similar to a traffic police motorcade, but with a caveat to chickens and piglets flying under the wheels. On the way to Kong Lor, we felt the climate change: we descended from the mountains.
Some kind of village, darkness, grass is burning, smoke is everywhere. A roadside shop, the owners of which count bundles of local banknotes with the whole family (even a small purchase there will amount to tens of thousands of local vulons, so everyone has a lot of money). We buy beer before everything closes completely and think, where did we end up? After a couple of kilometers, already closer to a dead end, we see a lot of quite decent guest houses, we go into the first one that comes across, we are surprised at low prices, the presence of a restaurant and a crowd of Europeans from different countries. They must have come to the right place! 🙂
The widget allows you to hide selected fields from certain managers, at certain stages of the funnel, or on selected funnels. Hiding fields in funnels is used to have some fields in one funnel and others in another. The widget allows you to hide selected funnels from certain managers. Hiding funnels is used so that other funnels do not distract him or he does not know about their existence.
After the widget settings, if the manager enters the card, he will not see the hidden field. You can hide absolutely all fields, including the budget field or contacts. Also, if the manager enters the deals menu, then the selected funnels will be hidden from him and he will not see them.
Thanks to the widget, you can hide from the manager not only confidential information, but simply unnecessary information, so that the fields that are filled in at the end of the funnel do not interfere with work and are simply not displayed at the beginning of the sales funnel.
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Free for those customers who have purchased the basic implementation packageThis year marks a full century since the end of World War I.
During this time, the shell-pitted landscapes of the Western Front have been reclaimed by nature or turned into agricultural land, and the scars of war are being healed. Some places are still toxic a century later, and some are still littered with unexploded ordnance and closed to the public.
But in France and Belgium, the most significant battlefields have been preserved as memorials, and some have been turned into huge cemeteries. In these places, the physical traces of the battles are still reminiscent of the destruction and fierce fighting that once claimed so many lives.
1. The battlefield preserved as a monument in Beaumont-Hamel, France, on June 10, 2016. Here the Royal Newfoundland Regiment launched an unsuccessful offensive on July 1, 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
2. Sheep graze among the craters of the First World War at the site of the Battle of Vimy.
3. Overgrown German fortification in the Argonne Forest, France, May 1998. From here began the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, which killed 117,000 Americans, 70,000 French and 100,000 Germans.
4. A piece of barbed wire from the First World War at the site of the former village of Bezonvaux near Verdun, France, August 27, 2014. Bezonvaux, like many other surrounding villages, was destroyed during the Battle of Verdun in 1916.
5. Stone crosses on the graves of German soldiers, German military cemetery, Hoglede, Belgium, August 4, 2014.
6. A German bunker in the Spencourt Forest near Verdun, France, August 27, 2014.
7. A fragment of Fort Douaumont near Verdun, France, May 17, 2016.
8. The remains of the ruined Chateau Supir near the famous Chemin des Dames (Ladies' Road), where the battles of the First World War took place, on March 25, 2017.
9. Cemetery of American soldiers in Aisne Marne near Chateau Thierry (France) on the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Belleau Wood, May 27, 2018. In the month-long battle, about 10,000 American soldiers died.
10. Wild poppies in a Flemish field near the Tyne Cot military cemetery near Passendale, Belgium, on August 4, 2014.
11. The remains of the Château de la Hütte in Plogstirt, Belgium, on November 21, 2014. Due to its high position, the chateau served as a position for British artillery, but was soon destroyed by German shelling.
12. The remains of the trenches of the Newfoundland Memorial Park in Beaumont-Hamel near Albert, France, May 17, 2016.
13. A dilapidated German fortification in the Argonne Forest, France, May 1998.
14. A tree grew in a trench, Douaumont, near Verdun, France, on March 30, 2014.
15. Wild poppies in the "Trench of Death", a preserved network of Belgian trenches, Diksmuide, Belgium, July 14, 2017.
16. A German bunker in the Spencourt Forest near Verdun, France, on August 27, 2014.
17. Passage in Fort Douaumont, France, September 3, 2013. Fort Douaumont, built between 1885 and 1913, was the largest and tallest of the 19 defensive forts that defended the city of Verdun in the First World War.
18. Plateau California near Craon (France) is still dotted with sinkholes and trenches, March 25, 2017.
19. An unexploded World War I shell in a field near Auchonville, France, in November 2013.
20. The sun illuminates the craters from artillery shells fired during the fierce Battle of Les Eparges near Verdun, France, August 26, 2014. This battle between the German and French armies for a strategically important height took place in 1915 and preceded the Battle of Verdun in 1916.
21. A German bunker, nicknamed the "Devil's Bunker", on a hill in Cuisy, France, March 24, 2017.
22. A barbed wire fence removed from a firing position in a World War I bunker, Belgium, February 28, 2014.
23. The remains of funnels and German trenches in Beaumont-Hamel, France.
24. The ruins of a bunker in Plogstirt forest, Plogstirt, Belgium, April 14, 2006.
25. The moon over the Newfoundland Memorial, built in honor of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, near Beaumont-Hamel, France, March 12, 2014.
26. Dawn over the Tyne Cot cemetery, Passendale, Belgium, March 25, 2014. It is the largest military cemetery in the Commonwealth; 11,956 World War I soldiers are buried here.
27. Funnels among regrown forests at the site of the Battle of Vimy, France.
28. The skeleton of the church on the site of the former village of Orne near Verdun, France, August 27, 2014. Orne is another village completely destroyed in the Battle of Verdun in 1916.
29. A steel machine-gun turret at Fort Douaumont over the Voivre Plain near Verdun, France, August 27, 2014.
30. Basalt cross on the site of former bunkers, Langemark German cemetery, Poelkapelle, Belgium, March 26, 2014.
31. Sunset in the Newfoundland Memorial Park near Beaumont-Hamel, France, March 12, 2014.
32. "Thoughtful Soldier" - a monument in honor of the participation of the 1st Canadian Division in the Second Battle of Ypres, Saint-Julien, Belgium, August 2, 2014.
Do you know the history of the First World War?
In a defensive battle, one of the most important tasks of troops is to destroy an advancing enemy by fire. It is clear that only well-organized, well-aimed fire can inflict losses on the enemy, which is why the troops build trenches for themselves, which provide great convenience for firing.
But this is still not enough. Improving the conditions of their combat work, the troops simultaneously strive to adapt (change) the terrain in such a way as to hinder the actions of the enemy, hold him under their fire and force him to suffer heavy losses. To do this, the troops use various barriers and destruction.
Obstacles and destruction are used not only in defense, but also during retreat, in order to delay the advancing enemy and inflict losses on him, and sometimes also during the offensive, in order to protect one's flanks from being bypassed.
In modern combat, it is necessary to delay the advance not only of infantry, but also of armored forces, that is, primarily tanks. Therefore, modern barriers are divided into anti-personnel and anti-tank.
Barrages must always be built in such a way that they hold up enemy tanks and infantry, under real fire from anti-tank guns and machine guns.
When constructing various barriers and demolitions, the troops very often have to use explosives in order to strengthen the action of the barriers or to produce the necessary destruction; therefore, first of all, it is necessary to get acquainted with these substances.
Anti-tank barriers (obstacles)
Modern tanks have very high cross-country ability, and their attacks can be expected on almost any terrain. The only natural obstacles for tanks are dense old roadless forests, deep (more than 1 meter) swampy swamps, deep ravines and cliffs with slopes steeper than 45 °, chopped wood, if the tank does not pass between the stumps, and the height of the stumps is more than 0.5 meters. Deep (more than 1.5 meters) and wide (more than 3 meters) rivers and lakes are also a natural obstacle for all tanks, except for floating ones (amphibians).
It is clear that the troops, deploying on the ground, first of all try to use all available natural obstacles in order to protect their position (or resting place) from a sudden attack by tanks. Obviously, these obstacles will always be few: if they cover the troops, then only in some individual directions. Most of the terrain will always be available for tanks. In such areas, they organize fire (artillery guns) and engineering anti-tank defense, the main rule of which is the skillful combination of fire with obstacles.
Artificial anti-tank barriers can be of very many types. Of these, they choose those that can be done more easily and quickly in a given area, it is better to disguise and more reliably cover with the fire of their own artillery.
When setting up barriers, local obstacles can often be used. With the appropriate reinforcement, these obstacles become impassable for tanks or slow down their movement, which makes it easier for our artillery to fight tanks. For example, if you cut down part of the trees in a rare forest, leaving high stumps and knocking down the trees so that there are no passages between them, you will get a blockage, which will be very difficult for tanks to overcome. You can also stretch a strong steel rope at the edge of the grove at a height of about 1 meter.
A shallow river and even a stream can be turned into a barrier by arranging a dam, thanks to which the water will rise and flood the banks. On deep rivers, in order to make them impassable also for amphibious tanks, they arrange blockages, underwater gouges (piles), escarpment of banks, etc.
An insufficiently steep slope of a ravine or hill can be made steeper by cutting the ground with shovels or special engineering machines - you get the so-called scarp, or counterscarp.
In winter, an anti-tank obstacle can be made from snow banks 1.5-2 meters high and 3.5-5 meters thick.
Finally, one of the best obstacles against tanks are special anti-tank mines, a supply of which the troops always carry with them. Anti-tank mines are a high explosive charge enclosed in a metal shell. The explosion of a mine occurs only under the weight of the tank. Due to the high speed of movement, tanks can overcome some types of obstacles, as if flying over them with a running start. To prevent high-speed tanks from overcoming obstacles, it is necessary to arrange additional earthen ramparts, deeply plowed strips, etc. in front of the obstacles. Then the tank will go to the main obstacle at a lower speed and it will be more difficult for it to overcome it.
Anti-tank mines are placed on the roads and the most open areas so that a tank cannot pass between them. A mine explosion interrupts the caterpillar of the tank and stops it.
On roads, especially on difficult to bypass sections of them (a bridge over a deep ravine or river, a mountain gorge, a ditch in a swamp, a deep dredging of a rut, a high embankment, a narrow clearing in a dense forest), various types of destruction and special barriers are also widely used. First of all, bridges are usually destroyed, since bypassing them or restoring them is not an easy task and can significantly delay troops in general, and tanks and other heavy military supplies in particular. Most often, bridges blow up. Wooden bridges can sometimes be burned or cut (sawed) of their foundations. Bridges on floating supports (on rafts or boats) can be dismantled or flooded. Funnels are arranged on the roads, ditches are pulled apart, blockages are made (in the forest) or the road is dug up with a deep and wide ditch.
One of the main conditions for setting up an anti-tank barrier is its difficult detection. For example, a snow bank is directed with its sloping side towards the enemy, with the expectation that the tank driver will not see an obstacle and will drive into it, confusing the rampart with a natural hill. As a result, at the end of the snow bank, the tank will simply “bite” with its nose into the ground, thus turning into an easy target for anti-tank artillery and even for infantrymen with hand-held anti-tank grenades. The counterscarp pursues the same goal.
Overcoming barriers
The troops have to not only build barriers, but also overcome them. In order to successfully overcome obstacles and not incur unnecessary losses, first of all, careful reconnaissance of them is necessary. This reconnaissance should determine the exact boundaries of the barrier, the nature of its structure, how it is defended, what materials are needed for restoration work, and, most importantly, which sections of the barrier are easier to overcome, whether there are convenient approaches to them and whether it is possible to bypass the barrier. Reconnaissance of obstacles is carried out by photographing them from aircraft and directly examining and studying them on the spot.
For direct reconnaissance of the obstacles, special parties of scouts are sent, which include sappers and chemists. All discovered obstacles and passages in them are designated by scouts with conventional signs, immediately reporting the results of reconnaissance to the commander who sent them. If a. If there is a possibility, then the scouts immediately remove some of the obstacles or make passages in them (remove or undermine the discovered mines and land mines, arrange passages in the rubble).
When overcoming obstacles in combat, tanks, motorized mechanized units and infantry in small groups try to penetrate through the passages discovered by scouts or bypass the obstacles and attack the enemy in order to facilitate further work to expand the passages and overcome obstacles.
The construction of passages or the removal of obstacles is carried out by the troops in various ways, depending on the type of obstacle and the situation.
Wire nets are destroyed and taken away by tanks or destroyed by artillery, and sometimes, under favorable conditions, are blown up by sappers with the help of elongated charges. When the enemy weakly guards his barriers, at night, in rain or snow, the infantry can destroy the wire nets with the help of wire shears.
To make a passage in an electrified obstacle, it is necessary either to completely destroy a separate section of it so that the remaining wires are not connected to each other anywhere, or to divert the current to the ground. Tanks can destroy wire obstacles by moving not only across, but also along the obstacles. The final clearing of the passage is carried out by sappers in special suits made of copper mesh. A fighter in such a suit can freely touch the electrified wire, since the current through the grid will go into the ground, and will not go through the body. In order to divert the current to the ground, the same fighters in suits throw or attach a thick wire to the fence, the other end of which is reliably grounded (the remaining coil of wire is buried deeper). When the current is diverted to the ground, the obstacle is removed in the usual way, that is, it is pulled apart by tanks, destroyed by artillery, or undermined.
Anti-tank mines and land mines are dug up or blown up. Self-explosive land mines and traps are neutralized by sappers after a thorough acquaintance with the technique of their construction.
The rubble is pulled away with the help of tanks, or the trees are sawn up and rolled away piece by piece. If it is possible to safely bring tractors, then the rubble is pulled away with their help. Small blockages can be successfully blown up with strong elongated charges.
Areas contaminated with agents (UZ) are overcome with the help of military means of PHO or by the forces of chemists.
Overcoming barriers during an attack on the enemy's defensive zone, and especially inside it, requires the unanimous work of all branches of the armed forces.
Types of anti-tank barriers
1. Anti-tank hedgehog
The anti-tank hedgehog is the simplest anti-tank barrier, which is a voluminous six-pointed star. Hedgehogs are less effective than minefields and other obstacles, but they can be made in large quantities from improvised materials without the use of high technology.
The hedgehog is made from three pieces of rolled steel (usually an I-beam - a rail, a corner, etc. are less durable) so that the ends of the beams form an octahedron. The beams are connected with rivets on scarves (the structure must withstand the weight of the tank - up to 60 tons). On hedgehogs of industrial production, holes are left for barbed wire, one of the beams is made removable. To complicate the work of enemy sappers, hedgehogs can be connected with chains or cables, mine the area around, etc.
Hedgehogs are installed on solid ground (asphalt street surfaces are best suited). Concrete is not good - the hedgehog will slide on concrete. On soft soils, hedgehogs are of little use, since the tank presses them into the ground and easily passes over them. If the tanker tries to push the hedgehog away, it rolls under the bottom, and the tank is raised. The tracks lose their grip on the ground, the tank begins to slip and is often unable to move off the hedgehog. The defending forces can only destroy the stopped tanks and prevent the tankers from pulling the hedgehogs apart with tow ropes. And if the enemy led the tanks in a different way, the anti-tank defense, all the more, fulfilled its task.
Hedgehogs are about 1 m in height - more than the ground clearance of the tank, but below its front plate. It is not advisable to make larger hedgehogs - a hedgehog that is higher than the frontal plate will be easily moved by the tank. Hedgehogs exceeding these dimensions must be fixed in the ground (piles driven into the ground) or tied together with 6mm wire at least three strands.
2. Anti-tank ditch
Ditches can be of various profiles - in the form of a regular and irregular trapezoid or an equilateral and non-equilateral triangle.
The disadvantage of ditches in the form of an unequal triangle and an irregular trapezoid is that enemy infantry can, accumulating in them, use them as cover and tanks can enter it. But the amount of work is much less than in the construction of equilateral and trapezoidal ditches.
Ditches in the form of an equilateral triangle can be arranged in dry sands.
All these obstacles require good flanking, since they are not penetrated by either frontal or oblique fire.
Ditches are used in flat terrain, with a low level of groundwater, where it is impossible to build other, less labor-intensive obstacles.
3. ANTI-TANK ESCARP AND COUNTER-ESCARP
Escarps and counterscarps are built on hilly terrain, with steep slopes or along river banks. Counterscarps in the form of a moat can also be erected on slightly rugged terrain, if it gradually rises in our direction. Scarps and counter-scarps are less labor-intensive than ditches, and therefore, in reconnaissance, it is necessary to make every possible use of all the natural slopes of the terrain.
Escarpments have the disadvantage that under certain conditions the enemy can use them as a defense against our fire when accumulated. Counterscarps do not have this drawback, since the approaches to them are open and can be shot through by all types of fire. In addition, the counterscarp is not visible to the enemy, which is an important advantage, although it is easier to overcome with the help of various devices. Practice has shown that at high speed, the tank, overcoming the counterscarp, burrows so much when falling into the ground that it becomes completely helpless and requires several hours of passage by a special team. The counterscarp, in view of the possibility of observation and shelling of all approaches to it, is a better obstacle than the scarp.
4. "TRENCHES" and "GRAVES"
In areas with a high level of groundwater, a system of "trenches" or "graves" can be erected. Due to the different direction of the "graves", the tank, if it goes through them, will sit on its belly on the "pillars" between the "graves". The volume of the excerpts of the "graves" although large, but the work is easier, because the depth is small. The disadvantage of this system is that the enemy infantry can use the "graves" as a shelter, so you need to tear them off so that there is water at the bottom by 25-50 cm, twist them with wire and reinforce them with anti-tank and anti-personnel mines. The "graves" system can be fired upon both by flank and frontal fire.
5. ANTI-TANK PLUGS
Obstacles made of wood or iron are gouges. Wooden gouges have the disadvantage that, when pierced by bullets or shells, they break easily under the weight of a moving tank; therefore, they should be used in combination with ditches, at least reduced profiles.
Metal hedgehogs and gouges in the field lines can be used to close individual, small areas along the front, mainly on roads and bridgeheads.
6. ANTI-TANK EARTH AND SNOW SHAFT
In some cases, in areas with a high level of groundwater, ditches with high embankments and earthen ramparts can be used.
Ditches with high embankments can be used provided that the backfill does not block frontal shelling, i.e., if the terrain rises slightly in our direction and makes it possible to conduct frontal fire.
Shafts are used to block narrow valleys, which are well penetrated by flank and oblique fire from surrounding heights. The earth for the shaft is taken from a wide ditch, torn off 25 centimeters below the groundwater level, next to the shaft.
Snow ramparts are used in winter when it is impossible to quickly build an earthen rampart or other anti-tank obstacles associated with earthworks.
7. FUNNEL FIELD AS ANTI-TANK OBSTACLE
With a lack of manpower, short construction times, and if there is a sufficient amount of explosives, a field of funnels can be created. With an ammonal charge of 20-30 kg. and a laying depth of 2.5 m. The funnel will turn out to be 6-7 m in diameter and deep enough (depending on the soil). Such a field of craters, although not an insurmountable obstacle, delays the advance of the tanks so much that they can be easily shot down by artillery and anti-tank guns.
Literature / useful materials:
- Brochure - Brigadier SHPERK V. F. "FLANKING ANTI-TANK OBSTACLES" (MILITARY PUBLISHING HOUSE OF THE PEOPLE'S DEFENSE COMMISSARY OF THE UNION OF THE SSR. MOSCOW -1942)
- Military engineering STATE MILITARY PUBLISHING HOUSE OF THE PEOPLE'S COMMITTEE OF DEFENSE OF THE UNION OF THE SSR Moscow - 1931
