Fougasse ( weapon ) A fougasse is an improvised mine constructed by making a hollow in the ground or rock and filling it with explosives ( originally , black powder ) and projectiles . Fougasse was well known to military engineer s by the mid - eighteenth century but was also referred to by Vauban in the seventeenth century and was used by Zimmermann at Augsburg in the sixteenth century . This technique was used in several European wars , the American Revolution , and the American Civil War . The term is still used to describe such devices . Firing . The normal method of firing was to use a burning torch or slow match to ignite a " saucisson " ( French for " big sausage " , a cloth or leather tube water - proofed with pitch and filled with black powder ) leading to the main charge . This had numerous disadvantages ; the firer was obvious to the attacking enemy , and had to race to get clear after lighting the fuse . The black powder was also very susceptible to moisture , and might not work at all . In 1573 Samuel Zimmermann devised an improved method which incorporated a snaphance ( or later , flintlock mechanism ) into the charge and connected its trigger to the surface with a wire . This was more resistant to moisture , better concealed , and enabled the firer to be further away . It also enabled the fougasse to be tripwire activated , turning it into an anti - personnel fragmentation mine . In a letter to his sister , Colonel Hugh Robert Hibbert described such a weapon employed during the Crimean War : Types . There are several variants according to the material projected by the explosion . Stone . The most common type in early use was the stone fougasse , which was simply filled with large rocks , bricks , etc . When fired , it would scatter a hail of fast - moving stones across the area to its front . Large stone fougasses might hold several tons of rubble and as much as a hundredweight of powder . Shell . The shell fougasse was loaded with early black powder mortar shell s ( essentially a large version of an early black powder hand grenade ) or incendiary " carcass es " . When fired , the powder charge would throw out the shells and ignite their fuses , so the projectiles would be scattered across the target area and then begin exploding , filling the area with fragmentation or flame from all directions in an effect similar to a cluster bomb . Flame . A flame fougasse was a similar weapon in which the projectile was a flammable liquid , typically a mixture of petrol ( gasoline ) and oil . The flame fougasse was developed by the British Petroleum Warfare Department in response to the threat of German invasion during World War II . In Britain , during WWII , the flame fougasse was usually constructed from a 40 - gallon drum dug into the roadside and camouflaged . It would be placed at a location such as a corner , steep incline or roadblock where vehicles would be obliged to slow down . Ammonal provided the propellant charge which , when triggered , caused the weapon to shoot a flame wide and long . Initially a mixture of 40 % petrol and 60 % gas oil was used ; this was later replaced by an adhesive gel of tar , lime and petrol known as 5B . The November 1944 issue of the US War Department Intelligence Bulletin refers to ' Fougasse flame throwers ' used in the Russian defence at Stalingrad being the basis of a German version found in Italy that were buried with a fixed direction discharge tube and integrated with conventional landmines and barbed wire in defense works . The German weapon , the Abwehrflammenwerfer 42 had an 8 gallon fuel tank and the seven in the installation were wired back to a control point and could be fired individually or together . The flame fougasse has remained in army field manuals as a battlefield expedient . Such expedients are constructed from available fuel containers combined with standard explosive charges or hand grenades triggered electrically or by lengths of detonating cord . Some designs use lengths of detonating cord or blasting caps to rupture the fuel container as well as detonate the main charge . Weapons of this sort were widely used in the Korean and Vietnam wars as well as other conflicts .