143. Mine Field Markers

a. Corner Posts. Posts marking the corners of a mine field are faced on the friendly side with the flat surface painted red and the letters Mi (for Minen) painted in black on the red surface (fig. 186).

b. Mine Fields Edges and Gaps. The rear and side boundaries of mine fields are marked by a rectangular sign painted on the friendly side with two red and one white horizontal strips as shown in figure 186. Gaps in mine fields are marked with rectangular signs with one half of the friendly side painted white and the other half red (fig. 186). The white half of the sign is toward the gap and the red toward the mine field or danger side. If red painted is not available, mine fields are often marked with signs painted white on the friendly side with a skull, a skull and crossbones, or an outstretched hand, and the let-ters Mi, Minen or Achtung ! Minen ! painted in black, as in figure 186.

c. Warning signs. Mine warning signs with vertical lettering indicate live mine fields; those with slanted lettering are used to indicate dummy mine fields.

d. Warning Fences. In general, German mine fields are fenced in with warning fences on the friendly side, as shown in figure 186. These warning fences usually consists of two strands of wire, the lower strand barbed wire and the upper smooth wire, attached to regularly spaced posts. Many German mine fields, however, were not marked at all.

Figure 186. Typical mine fields marking signs.