Land mine facts for kids
A land mine (called a "mine" when a naval mine is clearly not what is meant) is an explosive weapon that is put on the ground or just underneath the ground so that it explodes when a person or vehicle goes by. They are called "mines" because people who put them there dig a hole in the ground (like miners who dig for coal etc.). Many people can be killed by mines, including civilians. Sometimes mines can lie in the ground and kill and injure people years after a war has ended.
There are different types of land mines. Big anti-vehicle mines are against vehicles. Smaller iInfantry mines are used against foot soldiers.
Images for kids
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Examples of anti-personnel mines. Center: Valmara 69 (a bounding mine); right: VS-50
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Swedish FFV 028 anti-tank-mines of the German Bundeswehr (inert versions)
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Roman caltrop
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Illustration of the "self-tripped trespass land mine" from the Huolongjing
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'Underground sky soaring thunder', land mines connected to weapons above ground, from the Wubei Zhi
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Cutaway diagram of the S-mine
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The Schu-mine 42, the most common mine used in the Second World War
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Claymore mine with firing device and electric blasting cap assembly
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An L9 Bar Mine
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Section of an anti-tank mine. Note the yellow main charge wrapped around a red booster charge, and the secondary fuze well on the side of the mine designed for an anti-handling device
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Diagram of components
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Examples of anti-handling devices
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Anti personnel mine in Cambodia
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A U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal technician removing the fuze from a Russian-made mine to clear a minefield outside of Fallujah, Iraq
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Argentine minefield at Port William, Falkland Islands created in 1982; clearance inhibited by boggy terrain
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Minefield warning on the Golan Heights, still valid more than 40 years after creation of the field by the Syrian army
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British Royal Engineers practice mine clearance
See also
In Spanish: Mina terrestre para niños
