This German mine washed ashore at Mokau Heads on 2 December 1942 and is now mounted on a concrete base in Mokau township on State Highway 3. The mine was probably laid by the German Navy ships Penguin and Passet off south Australia in October/November 1940. It has been mounted upside down.
Three mines are known to have washed ashore on Taranaki beaches during the war - at Bell Block on 28 November 1942, Mokau on 2 December 1942 and Belt Road on 15 February 1943.
Plaque on concrete base:
LET THIS GERMAN MINE FOUND
DECEMBER 2ND 1942 REMIND US
IN THE DAYS OF PEACE. WITHOUT
VISION THE PEOPLE PERISH
Plaque donated by
MOKAU PROGRESSIVE ASSOCIATION
Additional information can be found in the following publications:
Mokau School 80th Jubilee,1975, p12
Great Guns: The Artillery Heritage of NZ, Cooke, Peter & Ian Maxwell (2013)
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