While the engineers traditionally made new minefields or replaced old mines with new models, in 1983 they had a new mission. As a condition of receiving an economic aid package granted by West Germany, the East German government began removing the border land mines and fence mines. The task would prove to be time consuming as well as arduous as military engineers began probing, locating and destroying land mines along 292 kilometers of the Iron Curtain. Additionally, the engineers had to dismantle and remove 60,000 self-firing fence mines spread along 393 kilometers of the border. Although clearing operations ceased in 1985, a further search after reunification discovered another 1,100 land mines. The border was then declared "mine free," but an occasional mine was known to surface as late as 2001.
Prior to working in the minefields, though, the engineers went through enhanced training and often had to move to personnel and equipment to the area of the work site. Once on site, the engineers were ready to go.
The paragraphs below how the engineers cleared the minefields. It's important to note, though, that while the minefield work was left to the engineers, the Grenztruppen were always close by standing guard between the minefields and the West German border in the event an engineer had any ideas about escaping to the West.
An East German engineer walks into the minefield with his probe. - TDP photo
Staging Area
In preparation for working in the minefields, sometimes the engineers established staging areas near the minefields where they could park vehicles and store equipment. These areas usually consisted of a few tents and a parking area for trucks and engineering vehicles. At the end of the day the troops were sent back to the barracks and only the equipment stayed overnight on site.
The engineers probed for mines using long, metal poles as they inched through the minefield. This usually involved clearing a lane next to the minefield so the engineers could being probing. In some cases the engineers were elevated over the minefield by a special lift attached to the front of a tractor. The metal flooring of the lift platform no doubt provided additional protection from exploding mines. Once a mine was located it was marked and excavated in preparation for detonation. Occasionally mines were detonated by the probes sometimes resulting in injury or death to the unfortunate engineer.
Preparing for Demolition
Once the mines were located the engineers prepared them for destruction. To eliminate the amount of debris flying over the border into West Germany, the engineers sometimes used a tractor to lower a metal cage over the mine before detonating the mines. This cage was employed because West German border agencies would sometimes record the amount of dirt and debris that flew over the border and then file a formal protest with the East German government.
Once the mines were ready for destruction the area around the mine was cleared of personnel. Warnings were given by horn blasts signaling the engineers, the border guards, and Western observers to prepare for the blasts. The mines were destroyed by either blowing them up individually or several at one time
The engineers also employed various types of mine rollers to clear the minefields. These special purpose vehicles utilized a tank chassis with rollers attached to the front. As the vehicle slowly drove through the minefield the rollers caused the mines to detonate.
Removing the NS-501 fence mines was not as time consuming as the buried land mines, but it was still dangerous. The trip wires to the mines were removed and the mines were then taken off their mounting brackets. After the mines were removed work crews completed the tasks and removed the mounting hardware from the border fence.
