constructed thousands of beach obstacles. The mines were subsequently used to defend German positions during the Battle of Normandy and in the defense of Northern France and the German border. S-mines were typically used in combination with anti-tank mines to resist the advances of both armor and infantry. The Allies removed an estimated 15,000 unexploded mines from dunes by Pouppeville after the initial invasion. The S-mine acquired its odd nickname "Bouncing Betty" from American infantrymen. The S-mine had a great psychological effect on Allied forces because of its tendency to maim, rather than kill, the infantryman. The German habit of laying the mines around anti-tank and anti-vehicle mines contributed to the reputation. If a vehicle was disabled by a mine, the soldiers would be trapped in it until someone came to rescue them. In particular, limbs and genitalia were the most vulnerable. In his book Mine Warfare on Land, Lt. Col. Sloan described the S-mine as "probably the most feared device encountered by Allied troops in the war." Exact death tolls inflicted by the S-mine are not known. The Allies did not record whether a death was caused by a particular type of weapon, only whether or not the death occurred in the course of battle. Regardless, some unofficial assessments credit the S-mine with having caused significant casualties. The 12th Infantry Regiment at Utah Beach suffered what it termed as "light" casualties in the landing, most of which were caused by S-mines. S-mine production ceased after the end of World War II. No information has been discovered as to the exact fate of the remaining stockpiles of the S-mine, but it can be assumed a majority were destroyed as part of the disarmament of Germany after its surrender, although possibly some were preserved for study and reverse engineering by the Allies. Many direct imitations of the S-mine appeared in the years following World War II. During the military occupation of Germany and the postwar rebuilding of Europe, the American Army Corps of Engineers, the newly established French government, and the British Ministry of Defence engaged in one of the most prolonged and successful mine-clearing operations throughout Western Europe. France deployed a variety of personnel to undertake this task, including 49,000 German prisoners of war. This joint operation eliminated a majority of the remaining fields of mines on the war-torn western half of the continent and was greatly assisted by the