From the October 24, 2010, Telegraph of the United Kingdom "Thousands evacuated in France for Second World War bomb disposal" by Peter Allen.
Sixty-five years after the unconditional surrender of Germany, 10,000 people in Rennes, France, had to be evacuated from the city when a 500-pound RAF bomb was found.
Maurice Leclerk, 81, said, "I remember the bombing raid during the war when hundreds were killed. The fact that the bombs are still disrupting our lives all these years later is truly incredible."
Farther east in France, 4,500 were evacuated in Woippy, a suburb of Metz while experts worked on devices around a former Wehrmacht supply center which is now being converted into a bus station. It was bombed so many times, its basement and foundation is littered with ordnance of the RAF and US AAC.
DEPARTMENT OF MINE CLEARANCE
All of this cleanup is being handled by France's Department of Mine Clearance which recovers about 1,ooo tons of unexploded munitions a year.
Since 1945, about 650 of its staff have been killed handling the ordnance. The most recent was 1998 on the former World War I battlefield of Vimy Ridge.
There is a regular "Iron Harvest" of unexploded ordnance in northern France.
And. much of it is still live. Members of the department have to be especially careful of shells containing chemical warfare agents like mustard gas.
Lots of Left-over Stuff from Two World Wars in France and Germany. --Cooter
Showing posts with label unexploded munitions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label unexploded munitions. Show all posts
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Friday, November 19, 2010
World War II Mines and Bombs Still a Problem
From the November 19th Scotsman.
The Northern Diving Group based at HM Naval Base Clyde in Scotland is the foremost experts in bomb disposal techniques in the country, a skill largely honed from years of dismantling World War II mines and even bombs that turn up each year.
They are regularly called out to disarm munitions caught up in fishing nets or suspicious objects washed up on shore.
An example of their work occurred this past January when they were called out to disarm an unexploded Second World War caught up in a trawler's net off Port Seton in East Lothian.
Still a Problem After All These Years. --Cooter
The Northern Diving Group based at HM Naval Base Clyde in Scotland is the foremost experts in bomb disposal techniques in the country, a skill largely honed from years of dismantling World War II mines and even bombs that turn up each year.
They are regularly called out to disarm munitions caught up in fishing nets or suspicious objects washed up on shore.
An example of their work occurred this past January when they were called out to disarm an unexploded Second World War caught up in a trawler's net off Port Seton in East Lothian.
Still a Problem After All These Years. --Cooter
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