In message
(A.Lee) wrote:

Graeme Wall wrote:

Doubtless there will be a few more as the Olympic works continue. Some
years ago I was told by a bomb-disposal expert that something like 30% of
the munitions dropped and fired in WW2 didn't explode when expected.

There are many thousands of known unexploded bombs throughout the
Country, with hundreds in Greater London.
The location is even detailed in some cases - e.g. 'In backyard of 13
Wester Road'.

See this site for a quick list of known bombs:
http://www.contaminatedland.co.uk/sere-dip/estd-uxb.htm
Other sites go into more details.
Alan

Interesting list.

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

On Fri, 6 Jun 2008 19:44:42 +0100, (A.Lee) wrote:

Graeme Wall wrote:

Doubtless there will be a few more as the Olympic works continue. Some years
ago I was told by a bomb-disposal expert that something like 30% of the
munitions dropped and fired in WW2 didn't explode when expected.

There are many thousands of known unexploded bombs throughout the
Country, with hundreds in Greater London.
The location is even detailed in some cases - e.g. 'In backyard of 13
Wester Road'.

See this site for a quick list of known bombs:
http://www.contaminatedland.co.uk/sere-dip/estd-uxb.htm
Other sites go into more details.

In the less-bombed areas, looking at a local authority's "bomb map"
will sometimes reveal worrying gaps where nothing is marked along the
course where a string of bombs was recorded.

"David Hansen" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 6 Jun 2008 01:39:51 -0700 (PDT) someone who may be Mizter T
wrote this:-

Rather than saying the bomb had started ticketing I suspect more
accurate way of describing it is to say that the fuse appeared to have
been armed / activated. I'm afraid I'm not much of an expert in
unexploded ordinance so whilst it did sound rather odd for all I know
the bomb was/is actually ticking.

It could have started ticking as they approached it, though I
suspect this is a bit of journalistic hyperbole. Apart from anything
else, how would they know whether it was ticking or not before they
approached it? Is the cat alive or dead inside the box before one
opens it?

Some bombs of that era were equipped with mechanical timer
mechanisms, the common phrase for them being a delayed action bomb,
amongst other fuzes. IIRC these were started by the impact of the
bomb hitting something, if they failed to start then hitting the
bomb with something or jolting it could start the mechanism. They
could be heard ticking with a stethoscope and, if the mechanism
contained magnetisable parts, discouraged from ticking with a
magnetic clock-stopper.

I think corrosion would have had an effect on the mechanism since it
was dropped. However, corrosion would have affected all fuzing
mechanisms and possibly made them more unstable than in the 1940s,
though it is equally possible that corrosion has made them more
stable and would prevent the bomb exploding. It all depends on the
materials used and due to shortages the Germans used some
undesirable materials at times (for example steel cartridge cases
rather than brass).

The best approach is presumably to blow the thing up in situ, but
where this is not possible (for example this would damage things
surrounding the bomb) then just disrupt the fuzes to prevent them
activating if they are still capable of doing so and then move the
(now rather less dangerous) bomb somewhere suitable to blow it up.
The bomb disposal people have favourite places to take things to
blow them up. A few years ago I arrived at an old fort just as the
Royal Navy were leaving after they had blown some things up in a
secluded location, which was perhaps chosen partly because the sound
would not be heard on land due to the surrounding cliffs/hills.



--
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

Would those fuzes actually ne fuses?

In message
,
Mizter T writes

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 ?

I think that trains stopped running and London City airport was
disrupted for a rusty canister full of harmless sludge !

I'd love to know what the military really think about this.

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

Would those fuzes actually ne fuses?


Yes ... thats the way its spelt...

http://www.army-technology.com/contr...tion/junghans/
--
Tony Sayer

"Edward Cowling London UK" wrote in message
...

I'd love to know what the military really think about this.

A deep respect I should imagine!

Survival being a basic human need.

Paul

In message
Edward Cowling London UK wrote:

In message
,
Mizter T writes

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 ?

A much greater risk than a brand new bomb. After 60 years the explosives have
parly decomposed and can be very unstable, even a slight knock could set the
thing off.


I think that trains stopped running and London City airport was
disrupted for a rusty canister full of harmless sludge !

You carry on thinking that. Tell you what, next one they find you can
volunteer to deal with it.


I'd love to know what the military really think about this.


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.

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

In message , Paul Stevenson
writes

"Edward Cowling London UK" wrote in
message ...

I'd love to know what the military really think about this.

A deep respect I should imagine!

Survival being a basic human need.

It's a serious point that all that disruption could have probably been
cured by carting it off on a truck to the nearest dump :-)

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

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 Cowling "Must Go - Eldrad Must Live !!"

"Edward Cowling London UK" wrote

It's a serious point that all that disruption could have probably been
cured by carting it off on a truck to the nearest dump :-)

But much less than the disruption which would have been caused if someone
had tried that and it went off, doing major damage to the LUL and c2c lines,
as well as to a lot of property over a wide area.

Peter