Explosive object
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An explosive object (military abbreviation "SprO", French Ouvrage miné "Omi") was a permanent facility in the Swiss Army that was used to destroy thoroughfares or bypass axes in order to make them impassable.
location
Explosive objects were at Engnissen created where no workaround was ( "passage obligé"), usually together with tank traps and in the fire area of permanent weapon position around locking points . Blasting objects near streets are about five meters deep shafts embedded in the street. The 80 by 80 centimeter large shafts are laid out at a distance of around four meters ( chamber blast ).
purpose
The destruction caused by the detonation of suitable objects can delay the deployment of a well-equipped enemy by days, weeks or months, which he needs to provisionally restore the destroyed traffic route. Permanent explosive objects are an effective and inexpensive means of defense for defenders and are an important part of Swiss defense doctrine.
Time of demolition
Choosing the right time to detonate it would have been a difficult decision because detonated objects not only limit the opponent, but also the defender's mobility and ability to act. The authority to detonate was determined in relation to the possible consequences of destruction for the defender. In the case of bridges with important lines, railway tunnels or built-up areas (prior evacuations), the authority to detonate was at higher command posts. The demolition would have been carried out by mine detachments from the engineering troops.
effect
Blasting by engineering troops is more effective and much cheaper than artillery and aviator use. This can be shown using the example of the Belgian bridges on the Albert Canal near Vroenhoven and Veldwezelt , which were prepared for demolition in 1936 and loaded with TNT in 1938 and made ready for ignition. These bridges were crucial for the rapid German advance in the western campaign . In the early morning of May 10, 1940, the Wehrmacht attacked the Belgian guard and demolition crews with the use of gliders , which prevented the bridge from being destroyed. Allied counterattacks by infantry and artillery were unsuccessful. Allied airmen were only able to destroy the bridges after two days of bombing, after two German tank divisions had already crossed over. During the bombing, 32 Allied aircraft were shot down and the same number damaged.
history
The combination of natural obstacles with permanent terrain reinforcements ( letzins ) played an important role in defense in Swiss defense as early as the Middle Ages.
The mine warfare (combat tours with explosives) began at the siege of fortified towns. During the Turkish siege of Vienna in 1529, Ottoman miners undermined the city walls with black powder barrels and used them to blow up breaches (Sulaiman breach, Kärnter Tor). Explosives to destroy bridges and to interrupt traffic routes were first used in the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig (Elsterbrücke). Mine warfare was used on a large scale in the First and Second World Wars.
The first explosive object in Switzerland was created in 1859 when the Waldshut – Koblenz railway bridge was being built . After the Franco-Prussian War , explosive objects were placed on international railway lines ( Gotthard tunnel in 1890, Simplon tunnel in 1906). Starting in 1892, officers of the genius organized courses for loading the mine chambers in the engineering structures of the international connecting lines in peacetime by means of Landsturm pioneer detachments.
During the First World War , extensive land reinforcements were created in the fortifications of Hauenstein , Murten and Bellinzona . At that time there were already the first explosive objects. In 1917, 93 railway and 56 road objects were prepared for destruction in the border areas.
From 1935, the explosive objects were technically improved and could be secured against unintentional release. Initially, all Rhine bridges were equipped, later strategically important road sections.
The Second World War led to the fact that from 1939, due to obligations of neutrality policy, the border sections were provided with permanent terrain reinforcements and explosive objects (bridges on the border rivers). Between October 1939 and June 1940, the first army position, the Limmat position , was expanded accordingly. In 1939 there were 32 HD mine groups with 8000 men and 850 objects.
The encirclement of Switzerland by the overpowering armies of the Axis powers with the western campaign made it necessary to retreat into the most powerful natural and difficult to access obstacle in Switzerland, the Alpine fortress in the Swiss Réduit . Here it was easier to reinforce the terrain and at the same time it was possible to prevent the enemy from using the most important Alpine crossings.
On June 25, 1940, the general ordered the retreat to the Réduit, where the construction of fortifications began. The traffic routes in the mountains offered innumerable suitable possibilities for the placement of explosive objects. At the end of October 1940, over 1000 explosive objects had been completed and 2000 more were planned. In the dissolution strategy, the Alpine transversals were the top bargaining chip against the two Axis powers. Therefore, the preparation for destruction (mining of the railway tunnels etc.) was given special weight. By the end of 1941, 2,043 explosive objects had been set up.
At the end of the Second World War, the 26,000-man destruction troops maintained around 3,000 explosive objects, which were still distributed across all parts of the country even at the end of the Cold War. Prepared destruction of traffic axes became a central element of Swiss national defense in the event of war.
With Army 61 , the explosive object concept “Permanent Explosive Dispositiv 75” (PSD 75) was introduced from the end of the 1970s. Explosive objects were prepared structurally for bridges, tunnels, galleries, retaining walls, road bodies and airstrips and were not yet permanently loaded with explosives. In the 1980s around 2,000 sites were prepared for rapid but targeted destruction. The explosives were installed directly, within 2–3 hours roads, railway lines or bridges could be damaged in such a way that an advancing enemy would have needed a lot of time, material and personnel to get through.
The removal of explosives and the lifting of explosive objects began in 1991. Reasons were the obsolescence of explosives, the saving of maintenance costs and the possibility of using modern mobile means with a comparable effect.
Most of the blocking points were taken out of service with the army reform in 1995 , the rest around 2004. By the end of 2014, the explosives had been removed from all permanently charged explosive objects.
See also
literature
- Jürg Trick, Gerhard Wyss: Explosive objects . History, technology, commitment. Historical Military Facilities Association, Freiburg / Bern. Annual magazine 2013.
- Jürg Trick: The Swiss Army's miracle weapons. Explosive objects and obstacles . Swiss Army Museum Association, Thun 2017. ISBN 978-3-033-06166-8
- Jürg Trick: The Swiss Army's miracle weapons. Additions. With list of explosive objects. Swiss Army Museum Association, Thun 2018. ISBN 978-3-033-06966-4
Web links
- Aargauerzeitung from April 12, 2017: Federal Office for Armaments makes a secret about once explosive blasting shafts
- GMS-Reisen October 2016: Explosive objects - the Swiss Army's miracle weapon
- National Museum: Wehrmacht wants to blow up the Simplon Tunnel
Individual evidence
- ↑ Army Museum: Explosive objects from the Swiss Army - history and significance - destruction would have stopped the enemy
- ↑ Tagesanzeiger from March 15, 2017: Zurich relics from the Cold War
- ↑ Tagesanzeiger of November 19, 2014: "Thanks to the explosives, the Germans did not attack"
- ↑ Fortress Oberland: The Swiss Army's Wonder Weapons