Munitions in the news

Suspected World War II bomb is blown up by police in Hong Kong


Hong Kong - Scores of office workers were evacuated from central Hong Kong Monday as police detonated a suspected Second World War bomb unearthed on a building site. The bomb was discovered on the site of the new government headquarters next to Victoria Harbour on Hong Kong island on Monday morning, police said.

Bomb-disposal experts were called in, the site was cordoned off and a section of the busy harbour-side road closed down while the detonation took place. No one was injured.

Hong Kong was heavily bombed throughout World War II as British and Japanese armies battled for control of the strategically located former colony.

More than 60 years after the war ended, unexploded bombs still turn up fairly regularly. Dozens were found offshore close to where the Disneyland theme park was built on Lantau island before its 2005 opening.

Suspected World War II bomb is blown up by police in Hong Kong : Asia World

 

WWII bomb found at housing project site

19th November, 2008 KENINGAU: A World War II bomb has been uncovered by an excavator driver near Kampung Kuagan here.
Adnan Barisan, 28, found the bomb while he was clearing a piece of land at about 5.45pm on Monday.
“The excavator struck something hard and initially I thought it was a piece of iron. But when I came out of the excavator to investigate it turned out to be a bomb,” he related.
Adnan said he informed his employer who then reported the finding to the police.
A similar bomb was found in the same area which is now undergoing site preparation work for a housing development, two years ago.
District police chief DSP Zahari Mohamed when contacted yesterday said they were waiting for the bomb squad from the police HQ in Kota Kinabalu to detonate the bomb.
In the meantime, he advised those living nearby not to go near the bomb.
Police have cordoned off the area since Monday after the bomb was discovered.

New Sabah Times

 

And the saga in Orlando continues, with the Army trying to find some . . . . but not necessarily all of the bombs from the WWII training range that was in Orlando.

Southeast Orlando bomb cleanup: Hit or miss? -- OrlandoSentinel.com

 

WWII rifle cartridge explodes

VIENNA: A man carrying out repairs to a bridge in southern Austria was injured yesterday when he drilled into a WWII rifle cartridge causing it to explode, police said.
The 39-year-old man was working on the bridge at Stadl an der Mur when his drill apparently hit the rifle cartridge encased in cement.
He was injured in the face and required treatment from a doctor.
Police said they believed the cartridge came from retreating German Wehrmacht troops at the end of World War II who threw munitions into the Mur river.
Gravel from the riverbed was later used to build the bridge in 1949-1950. – AFP

Gulf Times – Qatar’s top-selling English daily newspaper - Europe/World

 

11 000 evacuated for WWII bomb
28/11/2008 21:05 - (SA)



Berlin - Firefighters say they have successfully carried out a controlled explosion of a World War II-era bomb in the northeastern German city of Oranienburg.
Oranienburg firefighters say about 11 000 people were evacuated from homes, schools and nursing homes in the area surrounding the bomb.
Construction workers found it last week during work in the city north of Berlin.
Authorities say the bomb was too large to relocate and decided instead to set it off Friday after covering it under several yards (meters) of earth and straw.
More than 140 unexploded bombs from World War II have been found in Oranienburg since 1990. The city was a manufacturing hub under the Nazis and came under heavy fire from the Allies.

11 000 evacuated for WWII bomb: World: News: News24

 

Contractors Find Unexploded WWII Artillery Shell While Renovating A Home

Monday December 1, 2008
CityNews.ca Staff
You never know what you're going to find when you disturb the past.
That's the lesson contractors found out on Monday, as they were digging between two houses on Willard Ave., near Jane and Bloor. All their work stopped suddenly when they dug up what was later confirmed to be a WWII artillery shell in the dirt.
No one knew if the long undiscovered explosive was active or not, and none of the workers were willing to find out. The ETF was called in to examine the mortar and after approaching it carefully, eventually deemed it inert and harmless.
They later took it away from the scene to be disposed of, but not before one officer proved his bravery. "A Staff Sgt. hit it with a ball peen hammer," one his colleagues at 11 Division tells CityNews.ca. Fortunately, he lived to tell the tale.
Police say these kinds of ancient discoveries are actually fairly common when you go poking through the past. No one was ever in any danger and the construction crew went back to work with a story to tell that you might just call a real bombshell.
File photo courtesy Wikipedia

CityNews: Contractors Find Unexploded WWII Artillery Shell While Renovating A Home

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7772435.stm

 

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Edinburgh, East and Fife | School evacuated after ammo found

 

2,000 leave buildings after WWII bomb found in Polish city

Last Updated: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 | 7:33 AM ET

CBC News


The discovery of a huge, unexploded WWII bomb has caused 2,000 people to be evacuated from a number of buildings in Wroclaw, Polish officials said Wednesday.
Kindergarten students and town hall employees living in the southwestern Polish city have also left, said Wroclaw police spokesman Krzysztof Zaporowski.
The one-tonne bomb was found during road work, Zaporowski said.
Explosive experts are trying to dig out the bomb and take it to a testing range to be detonated, he said.

2,000 leave buildings after WWII bomb found in Polish city

 

WWII aerial bomb found in Pawnee National Grasslands









The U.S. Army was called to help destroy a World War II aerial bomb a resident found in the Pawnee National Grasslands.

No one was hurt after a person found what looked like a land mine on Dec. 4 in a prairie about nine miles east of Briggsdale. Members of the Weld County Bomb Squad could not determine if the device was armed since it was frozen in the ground, according to Margie Martinez, spokesperson for the Weld County Sheriff’s Department, so they cordoned off the area.

The U.S. Army then destroyed it on Dec. 5.

“Obviously, we have no idea how it go there,” said Martinez, who also said the area is frequented by people shooting firearms.

WWII aerial bomb found in Pawnee National Grasslands | Greeley Tribune

 

WW II era explosives found by hikers Wednesday, 10 December 2008 On Dec. 9 at approximately 1:30 p.m., residents of Lone Pine were hiking in the area of Ash Creek when they located World War II-era explosives. The explosives appeared to have been exposed to the weather for numerous years and were extremely unsteady. Sheriff's Investigators, Deputies, CHP and Forest Service Law Enforcement Officers responded to the area and determined there were four live hand grenades and other explosive materials.

A sheriff's Explosive Ordinance expert arrive at the scene and determined that an Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) detail from China Lake Naval Station would be needed. China Lake was contacted and sent an EOD team to the location. After their initial survey, it was determined to detonate it in place. Officials from the Forest Service and an engine from the Olancha Volunteer Fire Department responded to the area and an explosive charge was set. At approximately 5:05 p.m. the ordinance was exploded.

Anyone with information on how the ordinance came to be in that location is urged to contact the Inyo Sheriff's Department at (760) 878-0383. Last Updated ( Thursday, 11 December 2008 )

Mammoth Times - WW II era explosives found by hikers

 

WWII-era bombs force closure of German legislature

BERLIN — German police say the discovery of five World War II-era bombs in the eastern city of Potsdam forced state legislators to cut short their final session of the year.
Police say they cordoned off an area around the state parliament after the bombs were found early today.
Lawmakers will not be allowed into the parliament until after the bombs can be disarmed on Wednesday.

Hundreds of unexploded bombs from World War II are still found frequently in parts of eastern Germany surrounding Berlin. The area includes many former manufacturing hubs that came under heavy fire from the Allies.

WWII-era bombs force closure of German legislature - BostonHerald.com

 

I am beginning to wonder how many bombs actually detonated!

 

Former Reginan clearing away WWII bombs
By VERONICA RHODES, Leader-PostDecember 22, 2008
REGINA -- Lieut. Troy Beechinor isn’t afraid to dive in and clean up explosive situations.
The Saskatchewan-raised officer is a highly trained clearance diver with the Canadian Navy, but is currently on an exchange with the Royal Navy in Faslane, Scotland, roughly 60 kilometres west of Glasgow. As a clearance diver, his job is to dispose of munitions found underwater in the United Kingdom, most of which have existed for several decades.
“The primary role of the clearance divers, specifically in World War II, was to clear mined areas. They’d be the ones when mines were found, they would be sent to dive down and counteract the mine,” said Beechinor, who was born in Saskatoon but lived for several years in Regina, where he graduated from Campbell Collegiate.
“That’s where all our explosives background comes from. It is sort of a strange thing when you see us doing IED (improvised explosive device) or land-based ordnance disposal but it’s because we’re highly trained in explosives work that we can branch out into those areas.”
Beechinor is the officer in charge of the Royal Navy’s northern diving group. With three diving units working in the United Kingdom, his group covers all of Scotland, Northern Ireland and the north of England. While his team has fewer than 40 people, Beechinor admitted they’re kept busy.
“In 2008, it was a little bit lighter year than historically has been the situation but we had 125 incidents so far this year. That’s a lighter year. You look back five, 10 years ago when the fishing fleet was really active and they were getting up to 400, 500 (incidents) a year,” he explained.
Most of the items that the team is called to inspect and dispose of are found by fishing vessels, but some wash up on the shore while others may be dug up while work is being done in the waterways. Beechinor admitted it is a dangerous job.
“When you look at it from the outside, we’re dealing with live ordnance bombs, going up against devices meant to hurt. Especially with the IEDs, we’re the ones they’re actually targetting,” he said.
“With your training and how we risk assess what we’re doing, the main idea is that everyone goes home at the end of the day.”
He recalled a suspicious object his team was called to just a few weeks ago in Largs, which is on the west coast of Scotland. Some commercial divers were working on a jetty on the River Clyde — the river that runs into Glasgow — when they came across the object.
Since it was in the workers’ way, it was lifted to shore by a crane, after which time it was deemed suspicious and the police were called. They in turn called in the navy dive team.
“When we got there, they had cordoned off 250, 300 metres, so they had emptied out the waterfront, all the waterfront businesses. It turned out it was a depth charge, a live depth charge that had been dropped in the Clyde at some point,” Beechinor explained.
While it is unknown where the depth charge came from, he noted it could have been from the Second World War.
“If at all possible, we dispose of (items) where they are. We don’t move them at all. That situation in Largs, it was a depth charge and when the divers brought it to the surface, that was probably the worst thing you could do because you’re changing the depth. That’s how it gets activated is by depth,” he said.
Especially since the Second World War, all kinds of items turn up in the waterways throughout the United Kingdom, which Beechinor said could be from ammunition dumps or laid devices. For example, there are several mines that have been laid around the coast.
Roughly two years ago, his team was called to the Orkney Islands in northern Scotland to handle such a device.
“(A scallop fisherman) came across, while he was diving, something that was suspicious and it turned out it was a buoyant mine, a German buoyant mine from World War II. This was still connected to the bottom and it had sunk. It was no longer floating like they do just beneath the surface, it had actually sunk and was lying on the seabed. I think that one was about 400 pounds of high explosives when we got rid of it,” Beechinor explained.
He has been with the navy for 18 years, seven of them as a diver. His three-year term in Scotland will end this summer, after which he will return to Canada to work in Toronto.
While he, his wife and two kids are looking forward to coming back to Canada and seeing family, he admitted they also don’t want their time in Scotland to end.
“It is a fascinating and excellent experience. From the military aspect of it, the job has been something, the experience I’ve gotten here is just something I couldn’t get in Canada ... The chance to do my trade, the diving and the ordnance disposal over here has been absolutely fascinating,” he said.
Beechinor’s parents and sister still live in Regina. His father admitted that while his son’s work makes him nervous, he understands the satisfaction it brings.
“We’re very, very proud of Troy. We’re proud of him because he just loves his work so much and he does a good job at it or he wouldn’t be over there,” said Ed Beechinor.
The work won’t end for the Royal Navy’s dive teams anytime soon. Troy Beechinor said there is estimated to be hundreds of thousands of pieces of ordnance in the waters around the United Kingdom.
While much has been found, there is still quite a bit that hasn’t and there is no estimate as to when the cleanup will be completed.
“Cleaning up from war zones is a time-intensive task. They’re still cleaning up mines in Vietnam right now,” he said.
“Any war zone, to just clean up all the ordnance put out, is time-consuming and a very lengthy operation.”

 

Well, here's four more bombs found and taken care of! Wonder how many more are still out there? Undoubtedyly hundreds. The authorities and civilians are still finding munitions from WW1 in parts of France and Belgium too as I understand it.

4 World War II bombs disposed of in German city after residents evacuated -- Newsday.com

 

Clint,

Here's the sentence which intrigued me: "The devices, believed to have been dropped by British planes during wartime raids, were located with the help of aerial photographs." I wonder what they were looking for to give themselves a clue???

 

I don't know, but I have seen very interesting aerial photos using "alternative" light sources to find ancient roadways, sewers, burial plots, etc.. I don't have a clue what they were looking for when the bombs were discovered, but it sure could have been stuff unrelated to the war itself.

I just noticed the "aerial" photos (and photos from space) are being used to find all kinds of things that cannot be seen by the "naked eye". The whole system at Ankar Wat has been explored anew, and more than could have ever been suspected has revealed itself.

The "authorities" (or independents) might have been looking for almost anything of an archaeological or historical nature and the bombs were a serendipitous "hello, what have we here!"

 

World War II era grenade forces evacuation of Goodwill Last Edited: Friday, 02 Jan 2009, 2:29 PM PST Created: Friday, 02 Jan 2009, 2:29 PM PST Eugene Goodwill evacuated after bomb scare
By John Tierney, KVAL News

KVAL -- EUGENE, Ore. -- The Eugene police bomb squad was called to the Goodwill store in West Eugene just before noon Friday after an employee found a World War Two era grenade in a large box of donations.
Police evacuated the store as a precaution and the situation was resolved around 1:15 p.m. The bomb squad safely removed the grenade from the store and subsequently found out it was not dangerous, according to police spokeswoman Jenna LaBounty.
Goodwill doesn't know where the grenade came from. An employee found the rusty grenade while going through a collections box, according to Goodwill spokeswoman Rufina Saiz.
Police say the employee did the right thing by immediately calling them after finding the grenade.
There are no reports of injuries.


MyFox Eugene | Eugene Goodwill evacuated after bomb scare

 

Office cleared after man brings in old explosives

by Heather Lynn Peters | The Muskegon Chronicle Thursday January 08, 2009, 8:44 PM


EXPLOSIVESOld ammo: Anyone who finds old ammunition or explosives should call a local law enforcement agency, rather than handling it, throwing it in the trash or transporting it. Where to call: Contact the Muskegon County Sheriff's Department at 724-6533, any local police agency or the Michigan State Police Post in Grand Haven at (616) 842-2100.


MUSKEGON COUNTY — A Muskegon man carrying a box of old ammunition into a Muskegon County Sheriff's Department office Wednesday sure knew how to clear out a room.
The elderly man walked into the department's records office, 25 W. Walton, around 3:30 p.m. with a number of explosive devices, including WW II military grenades and fuel sticks.
The man told the office employees he didn't know the proper procedure of disposing such items and was looking for assistance, said Muskegon County Sheriff Dean Roesler.
But when county officials looked at the items the man brought in, they were somewhat alarmed, Roesler said.
"Upon closer inspection, we noticed there were blasting caps, a hand grenade and we weren't sure if it was live," Roesler said. "There was also a smoke grenade and a lot of old military ammunition."
Roesler said the office employees had to be evacuated and the building was temporarily closed to the public. The Michigan State Police Firearms & Bomb Squad was then called in, took it to a safe place, and detonated it, he said.
"When they detonated the box, there was a fireball. It went up in flames because of the military fuel sticks inside," he said.
It turns out, Roesler said, the material had belonged to the man's brother -- a deceased war veteran -- who had done "demolition work" when he was in the military.
"His brother passed away and left all that behind. He found it when he was going through his brother's belongings," Roesler said.
The man isn't in trouble over the incident, he said.
"There was no intent on his part to do anything malicious. He was looking for some direction on how to get rid of it," Roesler said.
A similar incident happened about a year ago at a local Goodwill store.
The store at 1484 Ellis in Norton Shores was closed for nearly four hours after a suspicious device was discovered by an employee who found it while sorting items, police said.
The bomb squad removed the device and identified it as a tail fuse used to detonate aerial bombs.

Office cleared after man brings in old explosives - Muskegon News - The Latest News, Blogs, Photos & Videos – MLive.com

 

Bomb debris litters old WWII-era site

10:00 PM PST on Sunday, January 11, 2009


[SIZE=-1]By JEFF HORSEMAN
The Press-Enterprise[/SIZE]

Robert Frick's children aren't allowed to dig around his house. Engineers advised him not to dig around his vineyard.
More than 60 years ago, warplanes used Frick's Temecula Valley Wine Country property for target practice. Now, he can rarely dig a hole without unearthing shell casings, bombs and rusted metal.
"It's very stressful," the 41-year-old firefighter said. "It's unnerving with the unknown of finding something that may be live."
A report by the Army Corps of Engineers released in December detailed possible environmental hazards around the area known as Temecula Bombing Target No. 107.
While no live bombs have gone off, the report recommends "immediate removal action" and further study at the site, home to 364 people and 26,886 within a four-mile radius, according to 2006 Census figures. Residents said they didn't know the land was once a bombing target.
The site is one of more than 20 Inland properties being looked at as part of a military review of former munitions ranges.
One San Bernardino site is where napalm-like bombs were made between 1942 and 1945; the corps is looking at a triangular 637-acre area between Mount Vernon Avenue, Cajon and Ogden streets, said corps spokesman Greg Fuderer. Another 53-acre site near March Air Reserve Base was used as a skeet range prior to 1964.
Former bombing ranges have posed problems elsewhere. Earlier this month, the Army detonated more than 400 pounds of bombs and munitions found on the grounds of an Orlando, Fla., middle school. The area used to be a World War II bombing range.
many sites, few funds
According to a report by the Georgia-based consultant firm Parsons, the Navy acquired 160 acres of land from the Vail Ranch sometime after Dec. 1, 1944. The land was used for rocket firing, strafing and bombing until 1946.
At the time, Temecula Valley was sparsely populated, much of it ranch-owned. From the 1960s on, developers filled the valley with houses, and the first vineyards took root.
Today, hilltop homes, small horse ranches, dirt roads, citrus groves and vineyards occupy the site. While the target itself was 160 acres, the corps is examining a 649-acre swath to account for munitions that missed their mark.

Some of the homes in the area are valued at more than $700,000. The site is east of Anza Road and south of Rancho California Road, which is the main street for Wine Country wineries.
Inspectors first visited the site in 1999, according to the report. The site was also the subject of Department of Defense archive searches in 2002 and 2004.
Asked about the time lag, Lloyd Godard, a corps project manager overseeing the site, said inspections depend on funding and which sites have highest priority.
"We have so many sites and so little money, we have to prioritize everything," he said.
Last July, inspectors walked a portion of the bombing target and took soil samples. Parsons representatives also did phone interviews with residents.
'time critical'
One of the 10 soil samples contained TNT, although there wasn't enough to pose a human health risk, the report read. Tests indicated elevated aluminum levels that could harm wildlife.
The presence of munitions remains, as well as the site's population density and unrestricted access, prompted a "Time Critical Removal Action" recommendation to take out immediate hazards and further study to determine the extent of any problems.
Godard said officials are working out details of what to do. Generally there's a six-month window for removal activities, he said.

Immediate action will likely involve removing items found near the surface, as well as some type of public education, Godard said.
No groundwater samples were taken over the summer, even though the report noted two private wells at the site and raised the possibility of munitions chemicals leaching into the groundwater supply.
Godard said the team had problems getting permission to test wells. While groundwater will be looked at as part of the follow-up study, Godard said he doubts the groundwater was contaminated.
waiting for answers
Frick said he bought his home a little more than a year ago. He said he noticed something wrong when he found a five-gallon bucket three-quarters full of bomb-like debris.
At first, Frick thought the debris was collected in the desert. Then in March, he said he got a letter from the corps.
Soon after, Frick said the Riverside County Sheriff's Department sent a hazardous device team to collect the bomb bucket and other munitions on his land. While the team was there, Frick said his then 7-year-old son approached a deputy with two small bombs in his hands that he dug up.
Now, Frick is waiting for answers. In two trips, the hazardous device team found 28 bombs, he said.
"If the soil's contaminated, obviously I have to move my family out of here," he said.
While Frick ponders his options, Kathie Jarrett, who lives about 1,000 feet from Frick, said she's not overly worried. Jarrett, 36, said her father once found a bomb partially buried on their 2-acre property, where she has lived for about three years.
Jarrett, who lives with her husband and their two daughters, said the land's former use is not a constant concern.
"It's never stopped us from doing anything," she said. "When my kids go outside to play, they go outside to play."

Bomb debris litters old WWII-era site | Beaumont | PE.com | Southern California News | News for Inland Southern California