Land mines in World War II were of two major types, antitank mines and antipersonnel mines. The latter were developed chiefly to foil attempts to detect and remove the antitank mines.

The first antitank mines deployed in World War II were laid by the Italians in 1940 during the Western Desert Campaigns. These devices were activated by pressure on the top of the mine. The Italians also deployed antipersonnel mines--chiefly to protect the antitank mines--which were nothing more than stick hand grenades triggered by trip wires or pressure fuses.

The British were the second belligerent to develop antitank mines, but these were not deployed until after the conclusion of the Battle of France. Fearing invasion, the British began to mass-produce the mines to defend against Panzer attack. The devices were manufactured from modified cake tins, which were filled with eight pounds of TNT and fitted with a primitive pressure fuse. The first model, designated Mark IV, was easily cleared by explosive blasts detonated nearby, so the mine was redesigned with a new fuse that could not be so easily triggered by a blast; this was designated Mark V. The British did not produce antipersonnel mines, instead defending their minefields by gunfire.

The German Tellermine was first used in the Western Desert Campaigns in 1941. Like the British mines, it was circular. The mine was packed with 11 pounds of TNT and was activated by a pressure fuse. In addition to this antitank mine, the Germans deployed the S-Mine (Springenmine), an antipersonnel device that was buried just below the surface of the topsoil. Small prongs remained above ground; when triggered, these set off a shrapnel-filled canister, which sprayed the deadly metal shards upward to chest height.

The Soviets produced few mines at the outbreak of the war, largely because, as defensive rather than offensive weapons, they were frowned on by Joseph Stalin and other Communist Party members. It was not until 1941 that production of antitank mines began in earnest in the USSR. Before the end of the war, however, the Soviets produced mines in massive quantities, laying perhaps as many as 200 million.

Mines were laid principally wherever armor was extensively employed in combat. For that reason, the Pacific war, which made relatively little use of tanks, did not see a large quantity of mines.

As a weapon, mines were not only destructive in and of themselves, but required an extensive commitment of manpower to clear, so beyond their direct effect, their use tended to tie down significant numbers of troops and generally to delay the advance of armor. They were often a menace to the mine-laying side however, as well as the enemy. It was all too easy to blunder into one's own minefield. . .

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