The Mark II mine or A./T. Mine G.S. Mk II was a small British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 anti-tank blast mine

Anti-tank mine

An anti-tank mine, , is a type of land mine designed to damage or destroy vehicles including tanks and armored fighting vehicles....

 used during the Second World War. The consisted of a body about seven inches (18 cm) in diameter and two inches high (5 cm). The mine has a central fuze

Fuze

Fuze Beverage, commercially referred to as just Fuze , is a manufacturer of teas and non-carbonated fruit drinks enriched with vitamins. Currently the brand consists of five vitamin-infused lines: Slenderize, Refresh, Tea, Defensify, and Vitalize...

 well accessed from the bottom, with a main charge in a cavity around the well consisting of about 4 pounds

Pound (mass)

The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the Imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement...

 (1.8 kg) of TNT. The mine is fitted with a thin brass

Brass

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...

 cover, which acts as a pressure plate. The cover is suspended over the main body of the main by four leaf spring

Leaf spring

Originally called laminated or carriage spring, a leaf spring is a simple form of spring, commonly used for the suspension in wheeled vehicles...

s. A Sorbo ring made of Sorbo

Sorbo

Sorbo may refer to:*Sorbo, a type of rubber used in various products, like the Mk 2 mine-People:*Gunnar Sørbø , current director of the Chr...

 rubber can be fitted between the cover and the mine body, which absorbs shock

Shock

Circulatory shock, commonly known simply as shock, is a life-threatening medical condition that occurs due to inadequate substrate for aerobic cellular respiration...

 and blast

Blast

Blast or The Blast may refer to:*Explosion, a rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner*Detonation, an exothermic front accelerating through a medium that eventually drives a shock front-Film:...

 and allows the mines to be planted as close as two feet (60 cm) without causing sympathetic detonation

Sympathetic detonation

A sympathetic detonation , also called flash over, is a detonation, usually unintended, of an explosive charge by a nearby explosion. Sympathetic detonation is caused by a shock wave, or impact of primary or secondary blast fragments.The initiating explosive is called donor explosive, the initiated...

 (normally five feet is the minimum safe distance).

Sufficient pressure on the cover of the mine causes the cover to press downward onto the pressure cap of the fuze. This downward pressure forces the assembly surrounding the striker

Firing pin

A firing pin or striker is part of the firing mechanism used in a firearm or explosive device e.g. an M14 landmine or bomb fuze. Firing pins may take many forms, though the types used in landmines, bombs, grenade fuzes or other single-use devices generally have a sharpened point...

 down until the striker retaining balls are aligned with a cavity. The balls are pushed aside and the striker is released impacting the detonator which detonates the C.E. pellet, triggering the exploder and then the main charge.

The mines main charge was relatively small and the mine appears to have been withdrawn by the end of the war, being replaced by the large Mk 5 mine

Mk 5 mine

The Mk 5 or Mine G.S. Mk V was a cylindrical metal cased U.K. anti-tank blast mine that entered service in 1943, during the Second World War. It was replaced in British service with the Mk 7 mine....

. However the mine was used in large numbers at the Battle of El-Alamein

Second Battle of El Alamein

The Second Battle of El Alamein marked a major turning point in the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. The battle took place over 20 days from 23 October – 11 November 1942. The First Battle of El Alamein had stalled the Axis advance. Thereafter, Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery...

 http://www.dupuyinstitute.org/pdf/m-8mixedminesys.pdf.

Specifications

• Diameter: 7½ inches (18 cm)
• Height: 3¼ inches (8 cm) with cover
• Weight: 8.5 lb
  Pound (mass)
  The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the Imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement...
  
   (3.9 kg
  Kilogram
  The kilogram or kilogramme , also known as the kilo, is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units and is defined as being equal to the mass of the International Prototype Kilogram , which is almost exactly equal to the mass of one liter of water...
  
  )
• Operating force: 350 lbf
  Pound-force
  The pound force is a unit of force in some systems of measurement including English engineering units and British gravitational units.- Definitions :...
  
   (1.56 kN)
• Explosive content: 4 lb of TNT (1.8 kg) or Baratol