Roadside Bombs & IEDs (catch all)

[redbullets]

Thanks, I'll use this one too. I guess I'm categorizing based on actual automobiles and wagons in what I'm writing, but an attempted hit on another major international historical figure is great fodder for what I'm working on. A bit of shock value is certainly the goal, mainly to try and let readers know that IEDs have been around since gun powder, and that the US has not been an exception.

Another section I'm including is on the Rains brothers during the American Civil War. In the interest of full disclosure, I've referred to writings about BG Gabriel and COL George Rains by Mike Wright and Peggy Robbins in presentations about landmines, but since Gabriel took friction fuses developed by George and put them on artilery shells, I reckon they will work as another early example of IEDs in the US. Gabriel even managed to kill a 'possum with one while chasing Seminoles in Florida in the 1840's.

Cheers,

[Wagram]

Having spoken to many veterans of the war in Algeria, read articles as well as countless books written in french on the subject, I have to say I found the article too light on research and too heavy on assumptions.

In Algeria, IEDs aren't mentioned as a major threat in books written by veterans of that periods. The trail running along the "Morice line" (a barbed wire control zone separating Algeria from Tunisia) and patrolled day and night by protected vehicles (M3 half-tracks, Scout Cars, M8 Greyhounds and the like) was often mined by the ALN but IEDs as such were a rarity. The main threat was encountering an ALN katiba in transit from Tunisia before it had "bomb shelled" and while it still had all its fire power (including the dreaded MG-42 MGs that were far superior to what most french units used then, either the FM 24/29 or even the BAR LMGs, the AAT-52 LMG arriving only late in the conflict).

A good friend of mine was a FFL Pn Cdr at the time; he survived dozens of contacts in the Djebel but he never once mentioned to me IEDs.

The ALN units did not want to be surprized in the open planting complicated devices; mines were used but they were heavy and had to be manpacked all the way from Tunisia; their use was thus more widespread close to the Morice Line.