21. Anti-tank mine

WWII dummy anti-tank mine. It is stamped “Üb” (Übung) and was therefore used in connection with training.

The text “T.Mi 35” tells us this is a so-called teller mine, an anti-tank mine used to destroy vehicles, including tanks. In the final years of WWII, the occupying forces laid about 1.5 million land mines along the West coast of Jutland. After the war, about 2,500 German soldiers, many of them youngsters, were ordered to clear the mines. About 150 of them lost their lives and 300-400 were wounded during the five-month period, during which the mine clearing work took place.

The mine sweeping operation officially ended on 1 October 1945. Mines are still unearthed on the North Sea coast from time to time.