Punji stick

Punji stick

The Punji stick or Punji stake is a type of booby trapped stake. It is a simple spike, made out of wood or bamboo, generally placed upright in the ground. Punji sticks are usually deployed in substantial numbers. [Michael Lee Lanning and Dan Cragg, Inside the VC and the NVA, (Ballantine Books, 1993), pp. 120-168]

Punji sticks would be placed in areas likely to be passed through by enemy troops. The presence of punji sticks may be camouflaged by natural undergrowth, crops, grass, brush or similar materials. They were often incorporated into various types of traps; for example, a camouflaged pit into which a man might fall (it would then be a trou de loup). They were often smeared with human feces to increase the risk of infection.

Sometimes a pit would be dug with punji sticks in the sides pointing downward at an angle. A soldier stepping into the pit would find it impossible to remove his leg without doing severe damage, and injuries might be incurred by the simple fact of falling forward while one's leg is in a narrow, vertical, stake-lined pit. Such pits would require time and care to dig the soldier's leg out, immobilizing the unit longer than if the foot were simply pierced, in which case the victim could be evacuated by stretcher or fireman's carry if necessary. [Lanning and Cragg, op. cit]

Punji sticks were sometimes deployed in the preparation of an ambush. Soldiers lying in wait for the enemy to pass would deploy punji sticks in the areas where the surprised enemy might be expected to take cover, thus soldiers diving for cover would impale themselves. [Lanning and Cragg, op. cit]

The point of penetration was usually in the foot or lower leg area. Punji sticks were not necessarily meant to kill the person who stepped on it; rather they were designed to wound the enemy and tie up his unit while the victim was evacuated to a medical facility. [Lanning and Cragg, op. cit]

In the Vietnam War, the Viet-Cong would also use this method to force the wounded soldier to be transported by helicopter to a medical hospital for treatment, which was viewed as being more damaging to the enemy's cause than death.

Punji sticks were also used in Vietnam to complement various defenses, such as barbed wire. [Lieutenant General John H. Hay, Jr., "TACTICAL AND MATERIEL INNOVATIONS," US Army, Vietnam Studies, (DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY: WASHINGTON, D. C., 1989) weblink: http://www.army.mil/CMH/books/Vietnam/tactical/index.htm#Contents]

Etymology

The term first appeared in the English language in the late 19th century, after explorers encountered the sticks in Bengal. The language from which the term comes is unknown, but it may be from a Tibeto-Burman language.Fact|date=October 2007

References

ee also

*NLF and PAVN strategy, organization and structure
*NLF and PAVN logistics and equipment
*NLF and PAVN battle tactics


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  • punji stick — [ pʌndʒi] noun (especially in SE Asia) a sharpened, typically poison tipped bamboo stake set in a camouflaged hole in the ground as a means of defence. Origin C19: punji prob. of Tibeto Burman origin …   English new terms dictionary

  • punji stick — noun A basic weapon in the form a sharp spike in the ground, normally made from wood or bamboo …   Wiktionary

  • punji stick — …   Useful english dictionary

  • punji — [pun′jē] n. a sharpened, often poisoned, bamboo stake planted in a series as a barricade or planted and concealed in a hole, ditch, etc. as to cut or impale an enemy: usually punji stick or punji stake * * * …   Universalium

  • punji — [pun′jē] n. a sharpened, often poisoned, bamboo stake planted in a series as a barricade or planted and concealed in a hole, ditch, etc. as to cut or impale an enemy: usually punji stick or punji stake …   English World dictionary

  • punji — ˈpənjē noun ( s) Usage: often attributive Etymology: perhaps from Kachin : a sharpened stick usually of bamboo set in the ground especially in Vietnam as an antipersonnel weapon punji stick punji trap …   Useful english dictionary

  • punji stake — /poon jee, pun / a sharp bamboo stake concealed in high grass at an angle so as to gash the feet and legs of enemy soldiers and often coated with excrement so as to cause an infected wound. Also called punji stick. [1870 75; earlier punjee, panja …   Universalium

  • punji stake — /poon jee, pun / a sharp bamboo stake concealed in high grass at an angle so as to gash the feet and legs of enemy soldiers and often coated with excrement so as to cause an infected wound. Also called punji stick. [1870 75; earlier punjee, panja …   Useful english dictionary

  • punji — noun /ˈpunʒi/lang=jbo A sharpened bamboo stick set in the ground to wound or impale enemy soldiers See Also: cpacu, lebna, cpana, batke, setca …   Wiktionary

  • pun|gi stick — or pun|gi stake «PUHN jee», a sharpened bamboo stick two or three feet high and often dipped in dung to infect the tip, stuck into the ground at an angle so as to puncture the foot of an enemy soldier. Also, punji stick or stake. ╂[< Annamese… …   Useful english dictionary

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