These Nazi Bombs Are Even More Dangerous Then Ever.
Thousands of World War II bombs still lurk underground and theyre even more dangerous now than in the 1940s, making defusing a risky, delicate process. Jon Excell investigates.
23 September 2015
In August, construction workers in east London unearthed a terrifying relic from World War II: an unexploded 500lb (227kg) German bomb with the potential to obliterate surrounding homes and buildings.
The scene was immediately cordoned off, 700 people were evacuated and experts from the British armys Royal Logistics Corps (RLC) Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit spent a nervous 24 hours making the device safe. It was the third such incident in London in almost as many months. A smaller bomb was found by workmen in Wembley in May, while a giant 550lb (250kg) bomb found in Bermondsey in south London in March prompted the evacuation of more than 1,000 people.
During the Blitz, the Germans dropped about 24,000 tonnes of explosives. But 10% of the bombs didnt actually detonate
According to the London Fire Brigade, the Bethnal Green device was the ninth unexploded WWII bomb found in the capital this year. And it wont be the last.
Even now, 70 years after the wars end, tens of thousands of similar items of unexploded ordnance (UXO) may still be awaiting discovery beneath the peaceful gardens, roads and buildings of post-war Britain, say experts. And theyre often more dangerous now than they were during the war which makes defusing them a difficult and potentially risky process.
Workmen found a 110lb (50kg) bomb near Wembley Stadium in May (Credit: Ministry of Defence)
The reason theyre there at all is that a frighteningly large proportion of bombs dropped on Britain in World War II simply failed to go off. During the Blitz between September 1940 and May 1941, there were about 85 major raids on London, and during those raids the Germans dropped about 24,000 tonnes of high explosive, says Matt Brosnan, a historian with the Imperial War Museum. But 10% of bombs that were dropped didnt actually detonate.
Some bombs, Brosnan says, were simply duds casualties of fast, furious and error-prone wartime manufacturing. Others may have suffered damage to the fuse typically used to detonate the bomb, or to the clockwork time-delay mechanisms that were sometimes used. All of them, if mishandled, could present a major hazard.
A soldier examines the Wembley bomb, one of many types of World War II ordnance that can be hazardous if mishandled (Credit: Ministry of Defence)
Bombs away
The Germans produced an array of bombs during the war, ranging from simple 110lb (50kg) devices to a giant 3,970lb (1,800kg) explosive nicknamed Satan. But the majority of those dropped on Britain and the majority of those that are found today were the so-called iron bombs, or unguided explosives delivered from aircraft, ranging from 110lb (50kg) to 550lb (250kg). Half of each bombs weight was the explosive charge; the other half was the bomb bodys metal, which would fragment upon explosion.
The German bombs were fitted with a variety of fuses, some designed to detonate immediately, some with a time delay and some which were booby trapped
The British Army is called out on almost daily basis to deal with many different types of World War II ordnance including souvenir hand grenades brought back from Germany by returning troops, small arms ammunition and unused British and American ordnance.
But according to a spokesman for the RLC regiments EOD division, high explosive, air-delivered German bombs are the most dangerous World War II items it has to deal with. Not only are they in a sensitive state having already been deployed, armed and damaged by the impact with the ground but they are fitted with a variety of different fuses, some designed to detonate immediately, others which featured some form of time-delay and some which were booby trapped, specially designed to kill EOD operators.
German Dornier bombers flying over West Ham, London; the unguided explosives they delivered ranged from 110lb (50kg) to 550lb (250kg) (Credit: Imperial War Museum)
They are also more unstable and potentially lethal today than they were 70 years ago, thanks to chemical degradation of the fuse. Just the scrape of a workmans shovel hitting the bomb body or the fuse packet could cause a chain reaction, says Simon Cooke, a former British Army major and leading EOD specialist who heads up 6 Alpha Associates, a risk management consultancy specialising in explosives. It would do it instantaneously. The whole thing would be gone in hundredths of a second and you would be dead.
The bombs are more unstable and potentially lethal today than during World War II
The UK has been fortunate in its dealings with such a hazardous legacy. Although many EOD operators were killed during and immediately after the war, when army units dealt with around 45,000 unexploded devices, there have been no recorded casualties in the UK in recent years.
Sadly, this isnt the case for the rest of Europe. Most recently, in 2014, one construction worker was killed and several others injured when a digger uncovered a British bomb in Euskirchen in north-west Germany.
Military EOD experts examine an unexploded World War II bomb in Bethnal Green, London (Credit: Ministry of Defence)
This could be because British bombs havent aged quite as well and tend to be a little more volatile, suggests Cooke. But theres no doubt that the UKs approach to bomb disposal has also played a major role in keeping the public and the experts safe.
Disarming danger
So what happens when a bomb is discovered?
Some devices can simply be picked up, carried away and disposed of. Most, however, are in such a sensitive state that moving them is simply too dangerous and they have to be dealt with on site. This weapon is more than 70 years old, says Cooke. It hasnt gone off and you cant be certain why. A jolt, a shock, a knock, a drop, a bang on the back of a truck, a suspension rattle going over a pothole could set one of these things off.
This weapon is more than 70 years old. It hasnt gone off and you cant be certain why Simon Cooke
What happens next depends largely on the size of the bomb. For smaller devices its often possible to build a protective structure around the bomb and detonate it where it lies. For larger items, the structure required would be so enormous that this approach isnt an option.
Cooke likens the design of a bomb to the process of making a fire: you light a match, ignite some paper, set fire to some kindling and finally ignite the coal. In his analogy the match, the most sensitive component in the whole chain, is the fuse, and the coal the explosive. The first and most critical step in the so-called Render Safe Process (RSP) is therefore to deactivate the fuse. Fuse Immunisation, as its known, typically involves drilling into the fuse and introducing a solution that neutralises the chemicals.
As Dave Welch, a former Royal Navy bomb disposal officer, explains, this process varies depending on the type of fuse. Fortunately, says Welch, who now runs one of the UKs largest private bomb disposal firms, Ramora UK, its relatively easy to identify WWII-era fuses from the codes that were punched into the fuse body during the manufacturing process. Once the fuse has been identified, the EOD officer can decide on the correct procedure.
The fuse number printed on the bomb helps determine how to defuse it (Credit: RamoraUK)
For instance, if its a number 17 (a time-delay fuse that could be set to detonate the bomb anytime between two and 80 hours after the bomb hit the ground), the procedure is to drill into the fuse and pump a saltwater solution through the fuse itself. This saltwater is left in the fuse for a certain amount of time and then expelled, leaving behind salt crystals that jam up the cogs, ensuring the timer will no longer work.
Interestingly, while there have been some technological developments such as remote stethoscope equipment used to listen for the tell-tale ticking of a reactivated timer the methods used to deal with WWII ordnance havent changed much since the war.
The guys during the war were proper pioneers, says Welch. A lot of people died figuring out how these things worked. And because modern bombs are different, the WWII principles still apply to the WWII bombs, theres no other way of dealing with them. There are slightly enhanced drills and pump systems for putting the salt water in, but its still the same process.
A lot of people died figuring out how these things worked and how to defuse them Dave Welch
Once the fuse has been neutralised, the bomb still has to be disposed of. Sometimes it is relocated to a remote site and detonated with modern explosives (as was the case with the Bermondsey device).
See this link for the rest. Exceeded maximum number of Characters.
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Not everyone's cup of tea, as it were. Still I hope that along with reading what has been posted here, you'll click on the link and read the rest (it seems we have a character limit on each article). It's a very interesting (in my opinion) article about the leftover dangers of war. Once the war is over, most of the time the dying does not stop because of military ordinance left behind, on purpose or by accident.
Besides, few organizations tells stories such as these quite as well as the BBC. Well worth the read. IMHO.
Someone please tell me the see the link. I do not think I could have possibly made it more obvious.
Sorry Randy, no link. Hope you'll be able to add it in. As a specialist in ordinance, including explosive ordinance, and a student of military history, you definitely have my full attention.
I guess you have to read the article to see the link. Good link BTW.
The last sentence of the article that I posted is highlighted and is the link. That is why it says "See this link for the rest." Sorry if there was any confusion.
No confusion on my part Randy, I was using a little sarcasm and didn't tag it /s.
I think this person who calls himself "Petey" was also. I see his name from time to time, but I don't recognize him doing anything online? He's a mystery to me. Sort of a non-entity.
Randy, I can't even see an article there. I ran a cursor over everything that you wrote and found nothing. The system may have eaten the article or I just don't know how to access it.
I copied the link location above. As I said it is well worth the read. I found it very interesting. The link in the article is the last line. It is highlighted and should be clickable.
interesting read , I remember being stationed in the ardens (sp)region back in 84-85, we were told not to go off the trails because of this . it wasn't uncommon to hear of farmers turning up all sorts of things when they plowed their fields , . the ones that actually got peoplenervous were the munitions from WW 1, and usually it was a mustard gas shell , even as old as they were back then they wee still extremely deadly.
I liked it. I thought it was particularly interesting about the thousands of un-exploded mines, bombs and torpedoes underwater, one would presume mostly in the English Channel. With no idea of where most or any of them are this is bound to be a problems for many, many decades to come.
Got it Randy, thanks. I still can't see the part that you wrote, but I got through on the link. Very much worth reading. A lot of unexploded ordinance, particularly aerial bombs, are still being found. Since most of them were aimed at industrial centers (which also means population centers), the ones that didn't go off are usually found in heavily populated areas. At least WW I unexploded weaponry is more likely to be found along the area of the Western Front, which, once again, is mostly farmland. The thought of Mustard Gas shells detonating in a populated area is scary.
In the area off Mobile Bay, where the channel is being deepened, the remains of a Confederate ironclad were located and are being removed. Unfired explosive shells were found in her magazines. Those were removed in a separate operation, VERY carefully. They've been there since 1864 and are still dangerous.
Here in America were are generally free of old ordinance, except from the Civil War. As dangerous as that is, I can't imagine being a farmer or construction worker in Europe, working and never knowing if you're accidentally set off a bomb that could kill you and people for blocks around. Sooner or later there is going to be a really bad disaster because of this problem. Most likely several disasters.