And then of course, there's the Thames Estuary and the Richard Montgomery......
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Richard_Montgomery
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And then of course, there's the Thames Estuary and the Richard Montgomery......
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Richard_Montgomery
Bit late to this topic, but the lost mines on the Messine battlefield from WW1 have always fascinated me, particularly when I learnt that one of them actually detonated after a lightning strike in the 50s.
There are still 6 of them deep underground, one contains 50 000lb of explosives, it would be quite a bang!
https://www.google.com/amp/s/simonjo...-messines/amp/
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-0...bombs/10068020
As someone who used to work in this field its a pet hate to see people use ordinance rather than ordnance. Council rules dont typically blow up.
Ezzie
This was a planed detonation of a wwII bomb in Munich and a komplete failure...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwjmf5wwLL0
What happened?
it couldn't be safely defused due to the state of the chemi time delay detonator so it was packed with explosive and damped with straw bales and sandbags. Some of the straw, sparks and debris set nearby building fires that were quickly brought under control by the fire services causing only relatively minor damage.
The detonation was as controlled as could be. No one was injured.
Not sure what checks are made in the UK (Highseas will) but I know that there are good many building erected in the 60s and 70s that NEED a bomb under them.
Grew up in a village close to a WWll German ammo dump on the eastern front. We would find small square pellets, which I know now was propellant, cartridges, mortar rounds and sometimes large artilery projectiles. Most of the time, we didn't had to excavate theese. They would stick out of the ground after a downpoor.
Earlier in this thread I posted a link to the map showing locations where unexploded bombs have already been removed from the ground in the city of Rotterdam and the rest of The Netherlands.
Now last Thursday the Rotterdam city authorities made available to the public for the first time ever, a map showing known locations and suspicious areas for unexploded explosives from the Second World War that are still in the ground.
https://www.rotterdam.nl/wonen-leven/bommenkaart/
Its been 80 years since the bombings and not one of these old munitions ever went off unexpectedly. Not even once.
All building plans since then have been checked for such hazards as a matter of course.
So it is not at all obvious why the local TV public broadcast organization would find it appropriate to start making a weekly series of videos about the issue now.
In the first of the series published on internet today and broadcast over the TV cable, "Blind passers: The new bomb map of Rotterdam", they ask "What is the story behind all the bombs that are still buried in Rotterdam?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4e_NzDntdk
Lest we forget...? At least I know now, the closest 'suspicious area' is at least 161m from my house!
This is due to people who like me forgot to arm their bombs before dropping them...
Is it known whether these are mainly German bombs or Allied bombs? I believe Rotterdam was bombed by both sides during the war.
One explanation for this being aired now could be an attempt by the authorities to wave any responsibility. Should something unfortunate happen one day they don't risk to be blamed for not having raised the flag. This is called "Risk Management"...
But DRock's explanation is probably more to the point.
Something topical that reminds us it's not just bombs. Quite an alarming number of the mines from ww2 coastal barrages are unaccounted for, too.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-en...shire-48327618
Allied. The Germans bombed the city center once in a single big blitz which triggered the capitulation of the Dutch armed forces.
Allied bombings (more than a hundred raids) were often random and haphazard, bombing housing areas rather than industry etc, and killed as many people as the Luftwaffe.