Air 'Bomb' and Breakfast

Trefriw, North Wales Rental cottage owner Dave Dew is thankful to be rid of one uninvited guest. He was shocked to find a WWII munition in the garden while preparing to build a summerhouse.

Dew frequently finds scrap metal on the property, which was once a blacksmiths, but this was a first. He scraped his spade against something metallic between old tree stumps and immediately called police once he saw what it was.

He also sent a picture of the suspect item which was forwarded to an Army EOD Unit. Two soldiers from Chester responded.

Dew said, "After looking at it, they asked me if I wanted the good news or the bad news first. The good news was that it hadn't gone off, the bad was that it was still live. But was not thought to be life-threatening, which is why no evacuation was ordered."

[More]

Tree Stump Removal Results in Ordnance Find

Nantucket, Massachusetts a resident removing a tree stump was shocked to uncover an ordnance item. The resident called the police who responded with the local fire station. A Massachusetts State Police bomb squad responded to safely transport and dispose of the item.

'Shelved' Mortar Round Finally Dealt with a Year Later

Rich Hill, Missouri An employee looking for tools in a Missouri city-owned building discovered a live military-grade mortar round which, according to reports from Bates County Sheriff's Office, had first been discovered about a year ago. At the time, the UXO was placed on a shelf and forgotten.

According to a Facebook post from the sheriff's office, sheriff deputies and the Rich Hill Police Department were first to respond to the building after reports of the discovery. The Lee's Summit Bomb Squad then reported the find to the Kansas City Bomb Squad, which then notified EOD based at Fort Riley, Kansas.

An update from the sheriff's office reported that the U.S. Army Bomb Squad detonated the mortar in a controlled explosion. The update reassured residents in the area, who may have heard a "large explosion," that "everything is ok."

[More]

Fishermen Net a Small Cache of Mortar Rounds

Lake Victoria, Uganda Fishermen using cast nests from their boat fresh water lake thought they had caught the catch of their lifetime when the nets became heavy to raise. The men put down their paddles and worked together to bring the catch in.

However, instead of a load of fish, the men had raised a rusty metal box. Upon opening the box, the men got the shock of their lives when they found six 60mm mortar rounds inside.

[More]

Home Renovation Project Results In UXO Find

Exter, United Kingdom Homeowners were shocked when their contractor working on an extension to their home reported finding a munition during excavations. Police initially responded to incident before they called the Royal Navy EOD for technical support. EOD responded after the homeowners and construction crew were evacuated. EOD identified the item as an incendiary round before safely transporting the item for proper off-site disposal.

[More]

Rocket Reported in Residential Shed

Knoxville, TN A report of a military munition in a residential shed led to a multi-agency response including members of Fort Campbell EOD, the local FBI office and local police which followed standard protocol for that jurisdiction.

While the device was being X-rayed and evaluated, authorities requested that 20 homes within a 300-foot radius of the find be contacted directly by the 9-1-1 center and let them know they may be asked to leave their homes for a brief time later in the night.

[More]

Golf Course Maintenance Leads to Sizeable UXO Find

East Lothian, Scotland Staff at Archerfield Links golf club were conducting routine maintenance around the prestigious course when they discovered a small, suspicious device buried underground. The round metal object, about the size of a tennis ball, with arm and aerofoil on the end, was believed to be a WWII training device.

Police and the Ministry of Defence were contacted, along with East Lothian Council. A spokesman for Police Scotland said, "East Lothian Council attended with sandbags to assist with the operation. A dig of the area was implemented and 60 pieces of ordnance were dug up, 30 being practice rounds and 30 being live. A number of controlled explosions were carried out on the beach."

Japanese Grenade Found Among Vintage Car Parts

Hitchin, England Police officers were called to the Chevronic Centre in Hitchin after the owner found a suspected WWII grenade. The area was evacuated while the grenade was inspected by EOD.

The owner, Rob Moss, found the munition while sorting through a box of vintage car parts he had recently purchased. Moss said, "I was just going through the parts and buried in one of the boxes was what looks like a 1930s Japanese grenade."

Moss notified authorities who examined the item which was indeed a Japanese Type 97 grenade. It was deemed inert and the area was reopened.

Missouri Couple Grateful After Using a Steak Knife on WWII Mortar

Jefferson County, Missouri Routine yard work turned very interesting when Pamela Coffey stumbled upon a small metal object sticking out of the soil. She brought it inside and rinsed it off before noticing it had Japanese writing on it.

Coffey's husband, Sam, stepped in to help out by scrapping it with a steak knife. "We're trying to figure out what the heck this thing is," he said, "when from the kitchen she yells, 'Stop! I think that might be a bomb!'"

Using an image recognition app, they discovered it might be a WWII Japanese Navy mortar. Jefferson County Sheriff's deputies responded and were later joined by federal officials with the ATF, the St. Louis Regional Bomb and Arson Unit and EOD personnel from Scott Air Force.

[More]

Yard Sale Preparations Lead to Hand Grenade Find

Cape May, New Jersey The Atlantic City Bomb Squad responded to a residence in North Cape May after the property owners discovered a hand grenade in an old garage while preparing for a yard sale. Lower Township Police responded immediately and shut down the nearby streets to set up an exclusion zone for the bomb squad.

The bomb squad secured the grenade for transport to a local range for disposal in coordination with military EOD. According to a press release by police, the hand grenade was discovered by a couple who were cleaning out a garage that no one had looked through in more than 30 years. They had inherited the property from an uncle and were renting it out.

[More]

More Entries


BlogCFC was created by Raymond Camden. This blog is running version 5.5.002.