Polish mine detector
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The Mine detector (Polish) Mark I (
History
In the pre-war period, the Department of Artillery of Poland's Ministry of National Defence ordered the construction of a device that could be helpful in locating duds on artillery training grounds. The instrument was designed by the AVA Wytwórnia Radiotechniczna, but its implementation was prevented by the German invasion of Poland. Following the fall of Poland and the transfer of Polish HQ to France, work restarted on the device, this time intended as a mine detector. Little is known of this stage of construction as the work was stopped by the Battle of France and the need to evacuate the Polish personnel to Great Britain.
There in late 1941 Lieutenant
An attempt was made to mount a version of the mine detector on a vehicle so that sappers would be less vulnerable. To this end "Lulu" (on a
Design
The Polish detector had two coils, one of which was connected to an oscillator which generated an oscillating current of an acoustic frequency. The other coil was connected to an amplifier and a headphone. When the coils came into proximity to a metallic object the balance between the coils was upset and the headphone reported a signal. The equipment weighed just under 30 pounds [14 kilograms] and could be operated by one man. The Polish detector saw service throughout the war and the Mark 4c version was still used by the British Army until 1995.
— Mike Croll, The History of Landmines
See also
Notes
- ISBN 9789050951890.
- ISBN 9781780964539.
The first, and most important, was a reliable portable mine detector, of which the most noted example was invented by a Polish officer, Józef Stanisław Kosacki.
- ^ "Detector Spots Buried Mines". Popular Science, May 1943.
- ^ F. Majdalany The Battle of El Alamein: Fortress in the Sand 2003-p 86 "The new Polish mine detector (invented by a Polish officer serving in Britain) was making its debut in this battle, 500 of them having been rushed out to Eighth Army in time for Alamein, but some were faulty and many became damaged in ."
- ^ Fletcher, The Universal Tank 1993 HMSO 0 11 290534 X pp 94–95.
References
- "The History of Landmines" by Mike Croll published in Great Britain in 1998 by Leo Cooper, Pen & Sword Books Ltd. ISBN 0-85052-628-0
- The Polish Contribution to The Ultimate Allied Victory in The Second World War Tadeusz Modelski, Worthing, England 1986, Page 221
- Time Magazine/Canadian Edition, March 8, 1999, page 18
- Mieczysław Borchólski "Z saperami generała Maczka", MON 1990, ISBN 83-11-07794-0