Talk about a negligent discharge!

[Por_sha911]

A World War II bomb exploded in the English town of Great Yarmouth on Friday as workers attempted to defuse it, according to police.

The device was discovered Tuesday in a river crossing in Great Yarmouth. It was located by a contractor working on the third crossing over the River Yare.

And on Friday, Norfolk Police revealed there had been an "unplanned" detonation.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/world-war-ii-bomb-explodes-england-unplanned-detonation

[GH85Carrera]

I guess all over Europe there are unexplored WW2 era bombs still ready to blow even after all the decades. That is one thing we don't have to worry about in the states.

I hope no one was injured. That has to be a scary job, to defuse a huge bomb. I will pass on that job.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

I guess all over Europe there are unexplored WW2 era bombs still ready to blow even after all the decades. That is one thing we don't have to worry about in the states.

I hope no one was injured. That has to be a scary job, to defuse a huge bomb. I will pass on that job.

Yep, they find bombs/munitions pretty regularly in Europe. Where I hear about it most is Germany and England. I remember reading about one where they were digging in preparation to lay the foundation for a building in the middle of a big city in Germany and ran across a very large bomb.

I think running across bullets, hand grenades, and motors are probably much more common, but not as publicized.

When I lived in Japan, every year in school we got a talking to by the MPs about what to do if we found anything while playing. I don't think what we'd have found would have been from the Allies, but would have been from stuff that was left/forgotten by the Japanese.

I also have heard that there are millions of land mines and bomblettes all over the world, especially in SE Asia.

[jamesnmlaw]

In Belgium, munitions and wartime iron harvested by farmers are carefully placed around field edges or in gaps in telegraph poles, where they are regularly collected by the Belgian army for disposal by controlled explosion at a specialist center in Poelkapelle. The depot was built after ocean dumping of shells stopped in 1980. Once extracted by the army, any gas chemicals are burned and destroyed at high temperatures at specialized facilities and the explosives detonated.

Stole this from Wikipedia.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by jamesnmlaw

In Belgium, munitions and wartime iron harvested by farmers are carefully placed around field edges or in gaps in telegraph poles, where they are regularly collected by the Belgian army for disposal by controlled explosion at a specialist center in Poelkapelle. The depot was built after ocean dumping of shells stopped in 1980. Once extracted by the army, any gas chemicals are burned and destroyed at high temperatures at specialized facilities and the explosives detonated.

Stole this from Wikipedia.

Who moves the stuff found in the fields? The farmers? That sounds dangerous. Hopefully, there's someone specialized that does it. I think the unintended explosions (and death and maiming) often occur when folks handle this stuff.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

I hope no one was injured. That has to be a scary job, to defuse a huge bomb. I will pass on that job.

according to the article

No injuries were reported and police said all army and emergency service personnel were accounted for.

Army specialists had been cutting the bomb using a technique that creates a slow burn of the explosives, police said. Workers began attempting to cut into the bomb on Thursday.

In various other articles that I've read, the bombs are often either isolated and then intentionally exploded or moved to a safe space and intentionally exploded.

[masraum]

Here's an article with more info and pics.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-norfolk-64609394

[oldE]

I was reading an article about folks who troll rivers in the UK using powerful magnets. They frequently find grenades. I suspect those must have been from training.
Most bizarre find? A pair of handcuffs, with the escaped prisoner still wearing them.

Best
Les

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

That is one thing we don't have to worry about in the states.

I heard the other day that some unexploded ordinance had been discovered at Gettysburg.

[mjohnson]

Originally Posted by Noah930

I heard the other day that some unexploded ordinance had been discovered at Gettysburg.

Most trailheads (and we have very many) here in Los Alamos NM have notices of UXO - luckily few "trinkets" are ever found but apparently in the 1942-1945 timeframe they were focused on other things than accounting for their toys.

Amusing, as a resident and trail user, but of course it's orders of magnitude unlike that in Europe and the UK after two (or more) wars. I imagine civil engineering is interesting there. One day, you're all "woah, bones - could be some king or something" and the next day it's "evacuate the neighborhood..."

[GH85Carrera]

When we lived in Hawaii the military still used one island for target practice. I bet that place is covered in ordinance. I can't image that island will ever be able safe to explore on foot.

[Captain Ahab Jr]

This will make a big bang if/when the 1400 tons of explosives go up

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Richard_Montgomery

[Seahawk]

Negligent Discharge was my Call Sign in the Navy.

[Sooner or later]

https://taskandpurpose.com/news/fort-sill-eod-detonation-145-artillery-rounds/

Jan 2022

U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians from the 761st Ordnance Company (EOD) pose in front the Block House on Fort Sill, Oklahoma. During a two-day mission, the company cleared a path through 145 unexploded rounds on an artillery range to historic blockhouse to enable a visit by 40 senior leaders from the Fires Center of Excellence.

“We had every EOD tech in the company out for this one, which is currently 15, including platoon and company leadership,” said Capt. Matthew J. Piranian, commander of the 761st EOD Company which conducted the operation. “There were about 145 unexploded rounds on the path – old 75mm rounds, 105mm rounds, 155mm rounds, 8-inch artillery rounds and even mortars.”

The blockhouse was built around 1870, when Fort Sill was a frontier outpost, home to the “Buffalo Soldiers” of the 10th Cavalry Regiment. It was constructed for use as an observation point and as a weather and signalling station.

[creaturecat]

the lost nuke? compliments of the Tybee Island mid-air collision?
hope no one digs that one up.

[Seahawk]

I deployed this with Navy EOD.

My now partner design it.



We have a much improved electric version.

[TMo]

A local community College was built on an old AF base here. Just about every time they go digging someplace they find some UXO. Apparently at the close of WWII they'd just bury the stuff 12-24" deep and call it good.

[pwd72s]

The good part of the Fox article:

"No injuries were reported and police said all army and emergency service personnel were accounted for."

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by oldE

Most bizarre find? A pair of handcuffs, with the escaped prisoner still wearing them.

Les

Les, this is an excellent example of the term "bury the lede".

You are awesome for writing that sentence that way you did.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

Negligent Discharge was my Call Sign in the Navy.

I've had a few romantic interludes that would have earned me that sobriquet.