WWII-era bomb safely detonated at sea after one of the largest peacetime evacuations in UK history
WWII-era bomb safely detonated at sea after one of the largest peacetime evacuations in UK history
Britain's Ministry of Defense says a World War II-era bomb whose discovery prompted one of the largest peacetime evacuations in British history has been detonated at sea.
A World War II-era bomb whose discovery prompted one of the largest peacetime evacuations in British history has been detonated at sea, the Ministry of Defense said on Saturday.
The 500-kilogram (1,100-pound) explosive was discovered Tuesday in the backyard of a home in Plymouth, a port city on the southwestern coast of Britain. More than 10,000 residents were evacuated to ensure their safety as a military convoy transported the unexploded bomb through a densely populated residential area to a ferry slipway, from which it was taken out to sea.
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How did it take them 80 years to find a bomb in a back yard? Is it a large yard? Was the bomb buried?
Plymouth, home to major naval bases for centuries, was one of the most heavily bombed cities in Britain during the World War II. Fifty-nine separate air raids killed 1,174 civilians, according to local officials. The raids destroyed almost 3,800 homes, and heavily damaged another 18,000.
There would've been a lot of destruction and rubble. It isn't hard to imagine that some of it would have been built over.
The ground is also not static, things move from their original position over time.
They usually are buried. Bombs were usually dropped from over a mile up. If the soil was soft enough, duds could be completely buried on impact.
The also used carpet bombing techniques. So if one bomb didn't blow, the nearby explosion would help bury it and hide the soil disturbance.
They find these all the time in Europe.
this is a regular occurrence across europe. shells from ww1 are found every year, accidentally, in what is known as the "iron harvest"
Me mate, Wallace, thought it a peculiar mushroom in his garden.