User:Gaius Cornelius/Anti-tank obstacle

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An anti-tank obstacle (also known as tank obstacle) is any natural or artificial obstruction which will cause military vehicles, especillay tanks, to stop, slow down, maneouver or change direction.

Anti-tank obstacles were introduced shortly after the advent of Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFVs) during the First World War when tanks at least partially addressed the problem of crossing open ground under enemy fire. Even the earliest tanks were able to cross ditches and trenches, pass over or through hedgerows and walls and to crush barbed wire entanglements. Commanders sought to find obstacles that would stop tanks rolling through defensive lines.

Anti-tank ditches[edit]

Thousands of miles of anti-tank ditches were dug, usually by mechanical excavators, but occasionally by hand. They were typically 18 feet (5.5 m) wide and 11 feet (3.4 m) deep and could be either trapezoidal or triangular in section with the defended side being especially steep and revetted with whatever material was available.[1][2]

Feestanding obstacles[edit]

Czech hedgehog[edit]

Main article: Czech hedgehog

The Czech hedgehog (Czech: rozsocháč) was a static anti-tank obstacle defence made of angled iron (that is, lengths with an L- or H- shaped cross section) deployed during World War II by various combatants.

The hedgehog is very effective in keeping tanks from getting through a line of defence. It maintains its function even when tipped over by a nearby explosion. Although it may provide some scant cover for infantry, infantry forces are generally much less effective against fortified defensive positions than mechanized units.


Dragon's teeth[edit]

Dragon's teeth near Aachen, Germany, part of the Siegfried Line
Dragons Teeth on GHQ Line in Britain in 2006
Main article: Dragon's teeth (fortification)

Dragon's teeth (German: Drachenzähne, literally "dragon teeth") are square-pyramidal fortifications of reinforced concrete first used during the Second World War to impede the movement of tanks and mechanised infantry. The idea was to slow down and channel tanks into "killing zones" where they could easily be disposed of by anti-tank weapons.

Pimples, popularly known as Dragon's teeth, were pyramid shaped concrete blocks designed specifically to counter tanks which, attempting to pass them, would climb up exposing vulnerable parts of the vehicle and possibly slip down with the tracks between the points. They ranged in size somewhat, but were typically 2 feet (61 centimetres) high and about 3 feet (91 centimetres) square at the base. There was also a conical form.[3][4][5]

Concrete blocks[edit]

Anti-tank cubes
Anti-tank cylinder

Anti-tank barriers were made of massive reinforced concrete obstacles, either cubic, pyramidal or cylindrical. The cubes generally came in two sizes: 5 or 3.5 feet (1.5 or 1.1 metres) high.[3][6] In a few places, anti-tank walls were constructed—essentially continuously abutted cubes.[1][7]

Large cylinders were made from a section of sewer pipe 3 to 4 feet (91 to 122 cm) in diameter filled with concrete typically to a height of 4 to 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 metres), frequently with a dome at the top. Smaller cylinders cast from concrete are also frequently found.[8][9]

Cubes, cylinders and pimples were deployed in long rows, often several rows deep, to form anti-tank barriers at beaches and inland. They were also used in smaller numbers to block roads. They frequently sported loops at the top for the attachment of barbed wire. There was also a tetrahedral or caltrop-shaped obstacle, although it seems these were rare.[10]

Pallisades[edit]

Where natural anti-tank barriers needed only to be augmented, concrete or wooden posts sufficed.[11][12]

Admiralty scaffolding

Crater mines[edit]

Main article: Canadian pipe mine

The Canadian Pipe Mine (later known as the McNaughton Tube after General Andrew McNaughton) was a horizontally bored pipe packed with explosives – once in place this could be used to instantly ruin a road or runway.[13][14] This produced a very effective anti-tank obstacle about 28 feet (8.5 metres) wide and 8 feet (2.4 metres) deep with loose soil at the bottom.[15][16]

Roadblocks[edit]

Removable roadblock on the Taunton Stop Line

Roads offered the enemy fast routes to their objectives and consequently they were blocked at strategic points. Many of the road-blocks formed by Ironside were semi-permanent. In many cases, Brooke had these removed altogether, as experience had shown they could be as much of an impediment to friends as to foes. Brooke favoured removable blocks.[17]

The simplest of the removable roadblocks consisted of concrete cylinders of various sizes but typically about 3 feet (0.91 metres) high and 2 feet (61 centimetres) in diameter; these could be manhandled into position as required.[18] However, these would be insufficient to stop armoured vehicles. One common type of removable anti-tank roadblock comprised massive concrete posts permanently installed at the roadside; these posts had holes and/or slots to accept horizontal railway lines or rolled steel joists (RSJs). Similar blocks were placed across railway tracks[19] because tanks can move along tracks almost as easily as they can along roads. These blocks would be placed strategically where it was difficult for a vehicle to go around—anti-tank obstacles and mines being positioned as required—and they could be opened or closed within a matter of minutes.[20]

Socket Roadblocks[edit]

Sockets for hedgehog removable roadblock on a bridge over the Kennet and Avon Canal
Sockets for anti-tank mines on a bridge over the Basingstoke Canal

There were two types of socket roadblocks. The first comprised vertical lengths of railway line placed in sockets in the road, was known as hedgehog.[21][22] The second type comprised railway lines or RSJs bent or welded at around a 60° angle, known as hairpins.[23][24] In both cases, prepared sockets about 6 inches (152.40 millimetres) square were placed in the road, closed by covers when not in use, allowing traffic to pass normally.

Another removable roadblocking system used mines. The extant remains of such systems superficially resemble those of hedgehog or hairpin, but the pits are shallow: just deep enough to take an anti-tank mine. When not in use, the sockets were filled with a wooden plug allowing traffic to pass normally.[25]


A "Panzersperre" from WWII: eight large rocks placed on top of a concrete base, as it stands on sides of the road leading up to "Batterie Fjell", at Sotra island, Hordaland - Norway. Originally, the rocks were held in place by a thick wire only, which could be cut in case should enemy troops land and try to advance towards the Fjell Fortress via the road. The eight heavy rocks would, when the wire was cut, fall down on the road and block the way for tanks and cars. On the right hand side, there is a steep hill impossible to climb for tracked or wheeled vehicles, to the left there is a wetland, bog, also impossible to cross. This particular roadblock is a rare construction: a German standard roadblock was named "Walzkörpersperre", and was made entirely of concrete.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Ruddy, 2003, p29.
  2. ^ "Location of anti-tank ditch". South Somerset Museums and Heritage Services. Retrieved 22 February 2007.[dead link] A rare extant example.
  3. ^ a b Ruddy, 2003, p26.
  4. ^ "Images of Anti-tank pimples". Pillboxes UK. Retrieved 8 July 2006.
  5. ^ "ANTI-TANK OBSTACLES, ISLE OF GRAIN, KENT". English Heritage. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
  6. ^ "Images of anti-tank cubes". Pillboxes UK. Retrieved 8 July 2006.
  7. ^ Foot, 2006, p45.
  8. ^ Ruddy, 2003, p28.
  9. ^ "Images of Anti-tank cylinders". Pillboxes UK. Retrieved 8 July 2006.
  10. ^ "The 'Caltrop' as Anti-Tank Obstacle". Retrieved 4 March 2006.
  11. ^ Image of concrete anti-vehicle posts near Donyatt.
  12. ^ Image of wooden anti-vehicle post at Crookham Wharf.
  13. ^ Foot, 2006, p24.
  14. ^ Cameron, 2000, p156.
  15. ^ McNaughton tubes; road cratering - WO 199/2661. The Catalogue, The National Archives
  16. ^ Cameron, 2006, p156.
  17. ^ Ruddy, 2003, p27.
  18. ^ Lowry, 2004, p25.
  19. ^ Image of removable railblock on the Taunton Stop Line near Donyatt..
  20. ^ "Imperial War Museum Online Collection". Photograph number H 7330, Home Guards erecting a road barrier. Retrieved 29 May 2006.
  21. ^ "Images of Hedgehog obstacles". Pillboxes UK. Retrieved 24 May 2006.
  22. ^ "Imperial War Museum Online Collection". Photograph number H 15191, Home Guard soldiers prepare a roadblock by inserting metal girders into pre-dug holes in the road (image). Retrieved 14 March 2007.
  23. ^ Lowry, 2004, p20.
  24. ^ "Images of Hairpin obstacles". Pillboxes UK. Retrieved 22 June 2006.
  25. ^ Tim Denton. "Basingstoke Canal Anti-Tank Cylinder & Mine Socket Excavation". Pillboxes UK. Retrieved 5 March 2009.

General references[edit]

  • Cameron, A Bryce (2006). Under Sand, Ice & Sea. Trafford Publishing. ISBN 978-1552123195.
  • Foot, William (2006). Beaches, fields, streets, and hills ... the anti-invasion landscapes of England, 1940. Council for British Archaeology. ISBN 1-902771-53-2.

Official documents[edit]

Collections[edit]

  • "The National Archives". Repository of UK government records. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  • "WW2 People's War". BBC. Retrieved 2 August 2010. - 'WW2 People's War is an online archive of wartime memories contributed by members of the public and gathered by the BBC



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