Large UXB in Bromley-by-Bow
 

In message , Graeme Wall
writes
In message
Edward Cowling London UK wrote:

In message , Graeme Wall
writes

The military think it is a very dangerous object. There are around a dozen
people killed every year by WW1 munitions dug up on the Western Front in
Northern France and Belgium and the sludge in those rusty canisters is 90
years old.


Really ? I'd love to see the source of info ? There was a TV programme
a few years ago which showed French farmers regularly ploughing up all
sorts of WW1 ordnance and selling the decent stuff.

No one seemed to think it was any threat !


If you paid attention to the TV programme it mentioned the dangers.

Sources ? I can say tins of Tapioca pudding should be treated with
extreme caution :-)

--
Edward Cowling "Must Go - Eldrad Must Live !!"

Large UXB in Bromley-by-Bow
 

In message , Paul Stevenson
writes

"Edward Cowling London UK" wrote in
message ...
In message , Graeme Wall
writes

The military think it is a very dangerous object. There are around a
dozen
people killed every year by WW1 munitions dug up on the Western Front in
Northern France and Belgium and the sludge in those rusty canisters is 90
years old.


Really ? I'd love to see the source of info ? There was a TV
programme a few years ago which showed French farmers regularly
ploughing up all sorts of WW1 ordnance and selling the decent stuff.

No one seemed to think it was any threat !

Edward,

I should stop now.
You are coming over as something of an idiot with a death wish.

Just maybe you worry I might be right ? :-) Yes the authorities need to
be seen to be going through the usual headless chicken routine. But the
media love all this stuff and I honestly wonder if 2 guys with a crane
from the municipal dump could have dealt with it just as well and with
no disruption.

When was the last time one if these thing actually went off ?


--
Edward Cowling "Must Go - Eldrad Must Live !!"

Large UXB in Bromley-by-Bow
 

In message , Andrew Robert Breen
writes
In article ,
Edward Cowling London UK wrote:
In message , Graeme Wall
writes

The military think it is a very dangerous object. There are around a dozen
people killed every year by WW1 munitions dug up on the Western Front in
Northern France and Belgium and the sludge in those rusty canisters is 90
years old.


Really ? I'd love to see the source of info ? There was a TV programme
a few years ago which showed French farmers regularly ploughing up all
sorts of WW1 ordnance and selling the decent stuff.

No one seemed to think it was any threat !

Hence the twelve-odd people killed each year.

From Tapioca related deaths you mean ? Yes it's awful and someone
should put a stop to it :-)

--
Edward Cowling "Must Go - Eldrad Must Live !!"

Large UXB in Bromley-by-Bow
 

"David Hansen" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 7 Jun 2008 10:22:33 +0100 someone who may be Edward Cowling
London UK wrote this:-

A policeman on the local television news yesterday was stressing just
how potentially dangerous this bomb was, a

Are they though ? I understand that TFL must take public safety as
their first priority, but is a 60 year old bomb that's been in the mud
all that time a credible risk ?

The military still study these old things, in order to be aware of
what is inside them, how they work, what is likely to have happened
to them while they laid undisturbed and what might happen to them
when disturbed. They do this in order to minimise the chances of
being blown up when they approach and then remove them. It takes a
fair amount of courage to walk up to something like that, rather
than get behind cover. It is not possible to argue with explosives,
they do not listen to reason.

It may be that this particular bomb could have been lifted up onto a
lorry and taken away for disposal, not in a rubbish tip. However, it
is at least as possible that had they done this it would have gone
bang at some time in the procedure. Would you have liked to be
taking part in this operation and wondering if every second was
about to be your last? Far better to explode it in situ, or if that
was not possible as in this case disrupt it so that it is less
likely to go bang and then remove it for disposal.



Interesting data on WW2 German bombs he-
http://reviews.ebay.co.uk/Bomb-Fuzes...00000001177383

Jim Hawkins

Large UXB in Bromley-by-Bow
 

Graeme Wall wrote:

The military think it is a very dangerous object. There are around a
dozen people killed every year by WW1 munitions dug up on the Western
Front in Northern France and Belgium and the sludge in those rusty
canisters is 90 years old.

There was also the danger that this particular one was sitting on top of a
gas main.

Actually, if I'm not mistaken, wasn't the location of this one almost
exactly upon the site of the original "Big Brother" house, that they used
for the first couple of years, before relocating to Elstree?

Large UXB in Bromley-by-Bow
 

On Jun 7, 12:57*pm, "Jack Taylor" wrote:
Graeme Wall wrote:

The military think it is a very dangerous object. *There are around a
dozen people killed every year by WW1 munitions dug up on the Western
Front in Northern France and Belgium and the sludge in those rusty
canisters is 90 years old.

There was also the danger that this particular one was sitting on top of a
gas main.

Actually, if I'm not mistaken, wasn't the location of this one almost
exactly upon the site of the original "Big Brother" house, that they used
for the first couple of years, before relocating to Elstree?

Never mind; with a bit of luck there's one in Elstree as well, likely
to be set off by screaming.

Large UXB in Bromley-by-Bow
 

On Sat, 7 Jun 2008 12:42:17 +0100 someone who may be Edward Cowling
London UK wrote this:-

When was the last time one if these thing actually went off ?

29th April, probably.

http://www.eveningstar.co.uk/content/eveningstar/news/story.aspx?brand=ESTOnline&category=news&tBrand=es tonline&tCategory=News&itemid=IPED29%20Apr%202008% 2018%3A12%3A49%3A470



--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54

Large UXB in Bromley-by-Bow
 

On Sat, 7 Jun 2008 12:49:36 +0100 someone who may be "Jim Hawkins"
wrote this:-

Interesting data on WW2 German bombs he-
http://reviews.ebay.co.uk/Bomb-Fuzes...00000001177383

Thanks.

The only thing I would add is to the entry, "23 rd November 1939 Lt
Cmdr Ouvery recovers first magnetic mine at Shoeburyness,and
successfuly defuzes it."

The Germans had delayed laying their "secret weapon" for some weeks
because they were worried that its secrets would eventually be
revealed to the British. When the Royal Navy examined this "secret
weapon", after extracting it from the mine, they were mildly amused.
The method of operation was similar to the fuze the RN had designed
in the First World War. Because of its deficiencies they had soon
abandoned the method, ISTR before the end of the First World War.





--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54

Large UXB in Bromley-by-Bow
 

In message
Edward Cowling London UK wrote:

In message , Paul Stevenson
writes

"Edward Cowling London UK" wrote in
message ...
In message , Graeme Wall
writes

The military think it is a very dangerous object. There are around a
dozen
people killed every year by WW1 munitions dug up on the Western Front in
Northern France and Belgium and the sludge in those rusty canisters is 90
years old.


Really ? I'd love to see the source of info ? There was a TV
programme a few years ago which showed French farmers regularly
ploughing up all sorts of WW1 ordnance and selling the decent stuff.

No one seemed to think it was any threat !

Edward,

I should stop now.
You are coming over as something of an idiot with a death wish.

Just maybe you worry I might be right ? :-) Yes the authorities need to
be seen to be going through the usual headless chicken routine. But the
media love all this stuff and I honestly wonder if 2 guys with a crane
from the municipal dump could have dealt with it just as well and with
no disruption.

When was the last time one if these thing actually went off ?



Fortunately it doesn't happen very often because, unlike you, the bomb
disposal people know what they are*doing. However the chances are that one
has gone off accidentally in the last month.

--
Graeme Wall
This address is not read, substitute trains for rail.
Transport Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail/index.html

Large UXB in Bromley-by-Bow
 

In message
Edward Cowling London UK wrote:

In message , Andrew Robert Breen
writes

A bomb that's been sitting in the ground for 60-plus years could
be much more sensitive to vibration than it originally was.
Explosives can get very unstable in their old age. Not nice.

They used AMATOL then, which doesn't have a long shelf life and isn't in
any way water proof. 60+ years buried in mud and you don't have a hair
trigger device..... you have a rusty cylinder full of sludge :-)

When they find the next I'll gladly drive the truck to the dump.


Any preference for flowers?

--
Graeme Wall
This address is not read, substitute trains for rail.
Transport Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail/index.html