This was an 'impulse purchase' for at La Gleize ; I'm not really very interested in mines and there's something very nasty about anti-personnel mines. But I saw this on a stall - not something you'd see often at a UK fair - and the stallholder did a deal on the price. I didn't know how complete or otherwise it was but took a chance. I've now done some research and it's a reasonably complete one. The screws in the top plate are obvious replacements, and one of the inner sleeves ( the larger one ) is missing. Otherwise, it's nearly all there with top and bottom plates ( and there's even some black powder left under the bottom plate ). Not to be confused with the wooden Schu-mine, the S-Mine was one of WWII's most feared weapons among infantrymen. I can understand why - it even looks very sinister indeed.
Many of these were washed ashore this winter due to heavy storms in Britanny. They were buried in the dunes and forgotten until the dune was drowned last January and the mines scattered around the beach. After seventy years they look like tins with shells around them , so they are extremely dangerous because you'd never supsect they could be mines. The Mining squats blew up a whole bunch of them in April. They found 633 mines on one beach ! http://www.colsbleus.fr/articles/2498 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x202eou_neutralisation-et-destruction-d-engins-explosifs-sur-les-plages-bretonnes_news
