Rennes, France Approximately 3,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes bomb experts defused an unexploded WWII British bomb. The 550-pound bomb was discovered by work crews building a new metro line near city hall.

The British bomb was packed with 70kg of high explosives. Disposal experts had to proceed with extreme caution during the disarming of the munition due to the bomb's sensitive fuzing. The city including a major railway junction was the target of numerous attacks in 1944.

Oceanside, California A curious man reportedly found an ordnance item in a public trash bin and decided to bring the item home. After having second thoughts, the man wised up and called police to report the find.

Police responded with technical support from EOD out of Marine Corps Base (MCB) Camp Pendleton to safely remove the item from the house. Nearby homes were evacuated and roads closed during the response. EOD identified the ordnance as a 40 mm projectile.

An investigation is underway to determine how the ordnance ended up in the trash bin in the first place.

Research at the National Archives II in College Park, MD provides an interesting insight as to the efforts of the U.S. Army at the end of WWII in the clean-up efforts on former training ranges. In a series of letters generated in April of 1945, the US Army Chief of Engineers established three specialized Bomb and Shell Disposal Squads to be trained in the detection, location and disposal of military munitions on various training installations that were used during the War. Initial training would be conducted at the Engineer School at Fort Belvoir, VA with follow-on training at the Ordnance School at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD.

Three squads were formed, consisting of one officer and six enlisted. Records indicate that the detachments were organized as the 9800th Technical Support Units Detachments 6th, 7th, and the 14th. Historical records of the 14th recovered from the National Archives provide an accurate historical listing of the actions took place from 1946 to 1948. Documents include individual reports of clearance operations conducted, inventories of munitions recovered, and destroyed maps and photographs of work conducted.

Among the inventory lists of recovered/destroyed munitions include the following for Camp Claiborne, Louisiana in 1946:

• 57, 105, and 155mm projectiles
• 60 and 81mm mortars
• 100 pound practice bombs
• Smoke pots & Grenades
• TNT and Nitrostarch Blocks
• German Mine Fuzes
• Cans and sticks of Black Power
• Dutch Mushroom AT Mines

A detailed written record of the methodology that was utilized during the range operations indicates that the methods and procedures that were used in 1946 involved the use of German POW's as sweepers. Today the USACE FUDS Program relies on the use of civilian UXO contractors.

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Allentown, Pennsylvania Concerned about her husband's WWII ammo collection, a Pennsylvania woman finally called 911. The Allentown Bomb Squad responded to deal with reports of a "pineapple grenade" among his collection of war artifacts.

The woman allegedly reported the grenade out of concerns her elderly husband's safety. He has symptoms of dementia, and though he had stored the grenade in a safe, she feared it might detonate.

The bomb squad identified the round as an inert MK II hand grenade. Although the munition did not pose a hazard, the wife asked them to remove the grenade from the house for proper disposal.

Motpellier Beach, France Authorities are concerned that a 15-ton dead whale that washed ashore could explode at anytime due to gases forming inside the carcass as it decays. One option under consideration to control the threat is to conduct an "open detonation" procedure using commercial demolition explosives. In this scenario, the whale carcass would be first towed out to sea a safe distance from the beach before rigging explosives to destroy the carcass.

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UXOInfo.com proudly honors our Nation's Veterans who have bravely served in the military. We would especially like to thank and recognize the EOD Veterans for all of their courage and sacrifices made to mitigate explosives safety threats from IEDs and UXO worldwide. You are true heroes and we salute you - Happy Veteran's Day.