Marseille, France A construction crew is lucky to be alive after their backhoe hit and pierced open a buried WWII era bomb. After the crew realized what they hit, they contacted the police to report the find. The police responded and cordoned off the area. A bomb disposal team was called in for support.

The bomb was identified as a WWII era 1-ton German bomb packed with close to 1,400 pounds of explosives. The bomb was reportedly buried by the Germans during the war as a booby trap to destroy the port. Due to the size of the bomb, several days of planning were necessary to coordinate the evacuation of nearly 1,000 people and to halt boat traffic in the port. During the planning phase, an exclusion zone was established and guarded.

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Yorkersgate, United Kingdom Construction workers refurbishing the Talbot Hotel uncovered a mortar item. The workers called the police who responded with technical support provided by the Royal Logistics Corps Bomb Disposal Unit from Catterick Garrison. The bomb disposal unit identified as the mortar as a WWII era German smoke round. The mortar was safely removed from the site for proper disposal.

Tofino, British Columbia A volunteer assisting with the Wikaninnish Sand Dunes restoration project in the Long Beach area of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve uncovered an old mortar round. GPS coordinates of the general location were noted and the find was reported to the police. A team from Canadian Forces 19 Explosives Disposal Flight (19 EDF) responded and safely disposed of the WWII era mortar round. The UXO was left over from historic military training that occurred in the area.

Chiclana de la Frontera, Spain Bomb disposal experts were called to a local grocery market when a hand grenade was found in a sack of potatoes. The grenade reported only as a live WWII era hand grenade initially eluded detection through harvesting and shipping across Europe from Belgium due to its corroded state. The hand grenade was safely removed from the store and disposed of by the bomb squad without incident.

Marseille, France Workers uncovered a WWII era U.S. 500 pound bomb from a construction site. The police were called and the area around the construction site was secured. The responding bomb squad decided to leave the bomb in place for over two weeks under tight security while plans were made for its disposal. Authorities needed the time to organize the safety plan which involved evacuations and warnings to over 10,00 workers and residents within the travel path to the selected offshore disposal site.

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Brunswick, Maine Construction contractors working near the Mere Creek Golf Course on the former Brunswick Naval Air Station found a munition item lying along an embankment near a drainage ditch. The contractors called the police to report the find. The Brunswick Police Department responded to the scene. The responding officer who was a former Marine identified the munition as a sand filled practice bomb. Concerned that the bomb may have had a live spotting charge, the police coordinated with a UXO contractor doing work on the former installation on a separate project to safely inspect and dispose of the munition. The bomb, shown below, was identified as a WWII era 100-pound practice bomb.

Edison, New Jersey A construction crew working in the Raritan Center office-industrial park unearthed an unexploded shell. Workers called the police who responded with the New Jersey State Police Bomb Squad. The bomb squad safely removed the round for disposal. The area where the munition was found is a Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS) used as a munitions depot from 1917 till 1963 when the property was transferred for development.

Wick, United Kingdom A crew digging a hole for a new flag pole near the foundation of a building uncovered a cache of unexpended WWII era hand grenades. The police were called to respond to the find. The police identified the grenades as 1940s era No 76 incendiary grenades. The No. 76 grenades consisted of a glass bottle with a metal stopper, filled with benzene, water, white phosphorous, and a dissolved rubber-based compound to make the liquid sticky.

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Geraldton, Australia Quarry workers were shocked when they uncovered a cache of disposed WWII era bombs while digging. The workers called the police who responded with technical support from an Australian Defence Force EOD team. EOD identified the bombs as practice sand-filled WWI era munitions. The bombs were removed from the quarry and disposed of by EOD.

College Station, Texas A maintenance worker at Texas A&M University made a startling discovery in a manhole while attempting to route a water hose underneath a runway. The discovery turned out to be 27 cases of WWII era explosives approximately 1,400 pounds of explosives in all. Authorities suspect that the explosives date back to WWII when the area served as Bryan Air Base.

Ironically enough, the explosives cache was discovered just a short distance away from the Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) UXO school's UXO training grid. In fact, the maintenance worker initially contacted the school after he noticed the markings on the cases. The manager of the UXO school, Ed Fritz, responded and identified the explosives as TNT. Following proper protocol, the school immediately contacted the police and campus security.

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