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What if soldiers want to fight the enemy, but can't hang around for them to show up? What if they want to destroy their morale and make them paranoid and jumping at shadows? What if they're on a tight budget? Well, booby traps can cater to all these problems and more, and have been used throughout history by military spies and anyone else who wants a set and forget weapon. Vietcong traps. If there's an undisputed world champion of booby traps, it would have to be the Vietcong. During the Vietnam War, they used guerrilla warfare, including copious amounts of traps to hit far above their weight class, frustrating their enemies into eventually packing up and going home.
They used a wide assortment of traps that ranged from the primitive to the ingenious, all of which were very effective. The most famous would have to be the punji pit, which was a simple hole in the ground with sharpened bamboo stakes facing upwards, covered with a mat and vegetation. These were so common that some American soldiers were issued boots with steel soles. This was overcome with a foot trap, which was two small boards with nails driven into them placed over a pit. When it was stepped on, the boards would close inward puncturing the side of a soldier's foot. One of the most effective traps was the buried cartridge. A rifle round would be wrapped in bamboo or other material to keep it in place, and the primer would be rested on a nail.
This setup would be buried with just the tip of the round above ground. So, when an unwary soldier walked by, the pressure of his step would force the round down onto the nail, hitting the primer, setting it off, and firing the bullet into his foot. Oh, and don't forget that steel plate in his boots to protect against punji pits, it's shrapnel now. These were just a sampling of traps, which could also include trip wires attached to explosives, spike-covered stones swung from tree limbs, and much more that was only limited by the Viet Cong's imagination and creativity. The goal of the traps wasn't necessarily to kill, but to maim. Make the Americans paranoid, force them to use resources saving a wounded soldier. Keep them on
their toes, quite literally. The traps were a significant part in the collapse of American morale, which helped end their involvement in the conflict. One of the reasons Viet Cong booby traps were so dangerous was the fact that they didn't disappear once they were planted. Long after the soldiers who built them had moved on, the traps remained hidden, waiting for someone unlucky enough to stumble across them.
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of your personal information, click the link in the description and use the code simple history to get 60% off an annual Incogni plan. It also comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it completely risk-free. Now, let's move on from the jungles of Vietnam to another nation with its own deadly approach to booby traps. Japanese booby trap bodies. The war in the Pacific between the United States and Japan was brutal to say the least, and both sides fought with equal savagery.
Since they were on the defensive for the most part, the Japanese made extensive use of land mines and booby traps against the advancing Americans. These were often typical tripwires attached to grenades and stretched across doorways or along trails. American leaders had to issue repeated warnings to not take souvenirs, since the Japanese would rig weapons, flags, and other objects of interest with explosives. They also used booby traps on something a bit more disturbing, themselves. The Japanese military abhorred the idea of surrender and considered it dishonorable. And Japanese soldiers were more likely to go down fighting than give up.
When they had no other option, they would fake surrendering, then drop a grenade or pull a pistol or a knife on a soldier taking them prisoner. Rigging dead bodies was also commonplace. Japanese soldiers were known to hide among the wounded or the dead, and when an American investigates, they set off a grenade. After this happened a few times, wary Americans would just shoot or bayonet wounded and surrendering Japanese, not bothering to check if they were sincere or not, adding to the brutality of an already brutal conflict. German anti-handling devices.
During the Blitz, the Luftwaffe dropped tons of bombs on Britain. Most exploded on impact, but some were time-delayed and would explode well after they had landed. These bombs had to be defused. That's pretty straightforward, just remove the detonator fuse and problem solved. But of course, nothing is that easy. Many of these bombs were equipped with the ZUS 40 anti-withdrawal device. It does exactly what it says on the tin. When attached to the fuse of a time-delayed bomb, the ZUS 40 would activate when the impact with the ground released a ball bearing, arming a spring-loaded firing pin. If an explosive ordnance disposal tech tries to remove the main detonator, the firing
pin will activate, causing the warhead to explode. The Germans also used the EIZ 50, another anti-handling device that functioned on an electrical charge. Once activated, the device would activate with any significant movement, detonating the bomb. The two types would sometimes be used together on the same bomb, presenting a major hazard to EOD techs who were tasked with clearing them from civilian areas. The Soviet Molniya. Booby traps aren't only used on the battlefield. During the Cold War, the KGB established supply caches in Western countries containing items like radios, encryption equipment, and even weapons which could be used for sabotage.
They were stored in hidden locations and further protected by the Molniya, meaning lightning in Russian. The Molniya was an explosive device that had a multi-step disarming process. Agents would be given instructions on the complex process, one that was so sensitive that if done out of order, the explosive would detonate, destroying the contents of the cache and killing the person who opened it. The instructions also came with a warning. If at a certain point a click is not heard, the agent was to get away as fast as possible.
One of these Molniya caches was found near Bern in Switzerland. It exploded when sprayed with a water cannon with no further casualties. Though the Cold War is over, there is still some risk that these deadly devices are still armed and ready for some unlucky person to stumble into them. IEDs in the Global War on Terror Booby traps still have a place on the modern battlefield. During the Global War on Terror, insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan made extensive use of improvised explosive devices or IEDs. Since they were, well, improvised, there was no standard design and were made from whatever could be cobbled together. Unexploded bombs, repurposed grenades, and anything else at hand was fair game.
IEDs could be detonated in a wide variety of ways. Tripwires and pressure plates were used, of course, but they also made use of cell phones and pagers. This meant that the insurgents could watch from a distance and set off the devices when they thought it would do the most damage, rather than waiting for chance. As always, EOD techs were given the unenviable task of clearing them out. To keep the warheads from detonating in their faces as they worked on them, the techs would carry specialized jammers that block out radio and cell phone signals so any insurgent wouldn't be able to set it off when they were working on the devices.
In spite of their efforts, IEDs contributed to the single largest number of coalition casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan. What's old is new again, and the toll they took was a major drain on morale, much like the Viet Cong traps of yesteryear. Scottish traps at Bannockburn It's the early 14th century. An army outnumbered more than two to one is facing down one of the most terrifying sights on a medieval battlefield, a charge of heavy knights on horseback. In order to simply survive this nightmare, they needed some clever strategy to even the odds a bit. During the war for Scottish independence, an army led by Robert the Bruce was besieging Stirling Castle. An English relief column led by King Edward II tried to break the siege, and both
armies met at Bannockburn. Though outnumbered, Robert the Bruce was fighting defensively and took the opportunity to prepare a proper welcome for the English. Before the battle, pits were dug in front of Scottish lines and along the roadways the English were likely to approach from. According to one chronicler, these were about a foot across and as deep as a man's knee. They would be covered with sticks and vegetation to conceal them from view, and they would be little threat to a walking human, more of an annoyance than anything. But that wasn't the target. When the English charged, their horses would stumble in the pits, causing them to fall, breaking their legs, and throwing their riders. This threw their
charge into confusion, and the remaining knights had to slow down, bunch up, and were funneled into a killing ground of Scottish choosing, where the packed ranks of their pike-carrying schiltron formations did the rest. The Scots may have also used caltrops, twisted spikes of metal that can maim a horse's legs. These traps were a major factor in stalling the English cavalry, and the outnumbered Scots took advantage of the confusion, winning a decisive victory and secured Robert the Bruce's position as King of Scotland. Before you go, one last thank you to today's sponsor, Incogni. Take your personal data back by clicking the link in the description and using code Simple History to get 60% off an
annual Incogni plan. And remember, every plan comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it completely risk-free. If you enjoyed this video, don't forget to like, subscribe, and let us know what piece of military history you'd like us to cover next.
