Historic Headlines (1944)  Leaking Mustard Bombs Found in Magazine

During the WWII time frame, U.S. and Allied Forces stored thousands of tons of CWM filled military munitions in various strategic places around the world. Often times due to corrosion or failures of the munition bodies themselves, leaks would occur. "Leakers" as they were called posed a serious threat to workers and could lead to the cross contamination of other munitions and equipment. Care was taken to identify leakers and remove them from storage. The leakers were typically drained or buried as a method of disposal. Drained CWM fillers were burned, dumped in holes dug in the ground, or put into storage containers to be dumped at sea.

A series of 11 images found in the National Archives (all now declassified) show how leaking M47A2 - 100 pound mustard filled bombs were discovered at a storage magazine in Hawaii. The images were taken in Hawaii but the exact location was not provided. The images have been put into a slideshow, which can be viewed using the download link below. The individual images themselves were also uploaded to the UXO Photo Library as well under the "Chemical" category.