Canadian troops posing next to spike-traps laid by German forces to pop truck tires, France, WW1, 1914-1918

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Canadian troops posing next to spike-traps laid by German forces to pop truck tires, France, WW1, 1914-1918
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Interestingly I thought the point of caltrops was that no matter how they fell, they’d always have a point upwards and yet these appear to be embedded on boards.

A caltrop is a device composed of four spikes or points arranged so that in whatever manner it is thrown on the ground, it rests on three and presents the fourth upright.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caltrop

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It may have been stuck into a board to minimize the chance of them being lost in the rumble of artillery fire and mud, but caltrop-shaped as a ‘just-in-case’ for any that were detached from the board in the hopes that if they were shaken loose anyway, they might still be some chance of being useful. That’s just speculation on my part though, I don’t know anything about these traps in particular.

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I think you might be right. A caltrop on the ground will tend to get picked up and stuck to the tires, so they will only impede one vehicle. One attached to a board will pull back out and remain in place.

That and it also makes the caltrops removable if you need to pass through it.

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We want to document these but we are a civilised nation so we won’t do it without some sexy studs in sexy stud poses - no need for future history nerds to not have fun.

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