Minefields were laid extensively in The First World War by both German and allied forces as a deadly line of defence. In The Second World War The Eighth Army’s celebrated victory at El Alamein in 1942 was dependant firstly upon breaking through enemy mine fields. One of the fundamental principles of laying fields of these ghastly weapons is to plot and retain a detailed record of where you have laid them so at least to avoid self destruction if you need to move through them or remove them at a later date.