Cambridge, United Kingdom A eleven year old boy magnet fishing at the city center waterway got the surprise of his life when he pulled up a mortar round. The boy was with his father and brother when the incident occurred. The father had the boys evacuate from the area as he called the police to report the find.

The police responded and cleared as they called an EOD unit from RAF Wittering for support. EOD responded and took several x-rays of the mortar before removing it from the area for proper disposal. The mortar was identified as a WWII era round (specific nomenclature not reported).

[More]

Terni, Italy more than 11,000 people were evacuated when WWII era bombs were uncovered at a construction site. Police and the Civil Protection Department cleared the area as Italian Army EOD worked to move the 250-KG HE filled bomb (shown below) to a local quarry.

[More]

Agat, Guam The Guam Police and Fire Departments responded to 911 reports of a UXO at a construction site near the Agat Mayors Office. The round was reportedly stuck in the teeth of an excavator. Navy EOD unit Detachment Marianas was called to move the item to a safe location where it was properly disposed of through a controlled detonation.

Saltstone, United Kingdom A Coastguard Rescue Team responded to Saltstone near Wanson Bay after a discovery of a possible UXO. Once there, they determined that the munition had already been declared harmless several years ago.

Despite the fact, photos of the item were then sent to the Coastguard Operations Centre in Falmouth, who then forwarded them to the Royal Navy's EOD Unit. Though not believed to be an immediate threat, they sent a team to inspect the find the next day.

The team was unable to make a positive identification, and because the item could not be removed due to its size and being embedded under heavy rocks, EOD removed one end with a 1kg explosive charge to see inside. Boscastle Coastguard Team was called in to cordon off the area and police closed off an adjacent road.The blast was reportedly heard three miles away.After opening up the ordnance, it was believed to be a dummy WWII anti-shipping mine.

San Roque, Saipan Workers uncovered seven unexploded WWII bombs at the construction site of Saipan Global Hotel, located south of the Gregorio T. Camacho Elementary School in San Roque. Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services Hazmat/Explosive Response Team responded to the site.

Four of the UXO were found buried one foot underground on the beach side on the property. A survey of the area yielded three additional ordnance items. The munitions, identified as 150-lb WWII Japanese naval bombs, were safely relocated to Marpi for proper disposal.

Castle Vale, United Kingdom A man and his nephew magnet fishing in a canal off Lathe Way, near Kingsbury Road, got a surprise catch  a WWII era hand grenade. The two called the police to report the find. The police responded and coordinated with a bomb disposal unit to conduct a controlled demolition disposal operation at nearby Pype Hayes Park. The hand grenade was safely disposed of without incident.

[More]

Hong Kong, China Authorities evacuated over 1,200 people from restaurants and offices in the Wanchai business district as a bomb disposal team worked to remove a WWII era 1,000 pound U.S. bomb from a construction site. The police reported that it was the third such discovery in the territory this year.

The bomb was exposed by the construction crew who called the police after realizing the potential danger. When the bomb disposal team arrived, the bomb was found laying vertical with two-thirds of the body buried underground.

Asked about the incident, bomb disposal officer Lai Ngo-yau was quoted in the local press - "we need to unearth at least part of the object before we start our operation.......Because the bomb is not stable, we need to do it very carefully".

[More]

Smeale, Isle of Man A civilian metal detector enthusiast found a WWII era UXO in Smeale in the north end of the island. The find was reported to authorities and an exclusion zone was setup by the local Coast Guard until a Royal Navy Bomb Disposal Unit from the UK could respond.

EOD disposed of the item (reported as a WWII era WP round - nomenclature not provided) in a controlled demolition shot. The Isle of Man Coast Guard released a statement to remind locals that "All suspicious objects found around the Manx coast should be reported as soon as possible."

[More]

Stirling, Scotland Army EOD were call to the grounds of Bannockburn House, an historic mansion in Scotland, after volunteers cleaning up the grounds discovered what appeared to be a munition in a garage.

One of the volunteers actually picked the item up before realizing its potential danger. The WWII-era UXO was safely detonated by EOD in a controlled explosion.

Cleethorpes, United Kindgom A 200-meter safety cordon was set up and a controlled explosion carried out on a beach in Cleethorpes after a WWII spiggot mortar was found by a member of the public. According to the Maritime & Coastguard Agency, the device was discovered during a clean-up at the Cleethorpes nature reserve. Royal Air Force EOD confirmed that the munition still had explosive charge.

[More]