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.
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".
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."
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.
Berlin, Germany More than 10,000 people were evacuated from their homes and business while authorities responded to a WWII era British bomb found at a construction site. The evacuations also impacted one of Germany's busies train stations, a nearby hospital and court building.
Following the render safe operation, bomb disposal personnel were able to remove the bomb from the site and transport it off-site for disposal.
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Allentsteig, Austria Demolition operations began at the Allentsteig military training area to dispose of over 18 tons of UXO recovered from various construction sites around Austria and Germany. UXO, primarily consisting of WWI and WWII era ordnance, is disposed of twice a year at the Allentsteig facility located north of Vienna.
The two day disposal operation included a series of disposal shots to dispose of the large cache of ordnance which included allied bombs and other ordnance from WWII. Austria's defence minister, journalists and others were invited to witness the disposal shots from a bunker a safe distance away.
East Honiara, Solomon Islands EOD from the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force safely removed a UXO discovered by children at the Panatina Creek in East Honiara. The munition was identified as US 81mm M57 WP Mortar.
The ordnance was located only feet from the home of the resident who reported the find. It has been transported to Hells Point for destruction at a later date.
Bologna, Italy Nearly 10,000 residents were evacuated as Italian Army EOD rendered safe a WWII era bomb was found at a construction site. The response also impacted vehicle and rail traffic around the area and caused the cancellation of over 65 flights at Bologna airport.
Fano, Italy Authorities evacuated 23,000 residents after the discovery of British WWII era unexploded bomb. The 225-kilogram bomb was uncovered during excavation work on Sassonia beach. Authorities responding to the call identified that the bomb had a delay fuze.
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