Land mine invention by the Polish officer Józef Kosacki. His invention, known as the Polish mine detector, was used by the Allies alongside mechanical methods, to clear the German mine fields during the Second Battle of El Alamein when 500 units were shipped to Field Marshal Montgomery's Eighth Army. The Nazis used captured civilians who were chased across minefields to detonate the explosives. According to Laurence Rees "Curt von Gottberg, the SS-Obergruppenführer who, during 1943, conducted another huge anti-partisan action called Operation Kottbus on the eastern border of Belarus, reported that 'approximately two to three thousand local people were blown up in
Field marshal (Australia) Field marshal (Australia) Field marshal is the highest rank of the Australian Army and was created as a direct equivalent of the British military rank of field marshal. It is a five-star rank, equivalent to the ranks in the other armed services of admiral of the fleet in the Royal Australian Navy, and marshal in the Royal Australian Air Force. The subordinate army rank is general. Field Marshal Sir William Birdwood (later created The 1st Baron Birdwood) was a British Army officer who commanded the First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF) in World War I. As such, he was made