"World War II bomb to be exploded"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7439249.stm

---quote---
An explosion will be carried out on a World War II bomb that continues
to disrupt travel in east London.

The large bomb was found in a river at Sugar House Lane, near Bromley-
by-Bow Tube station on Monday.

It will be defused after a "small" explosion by 15 Royal Engineers
experts. Earlier this week the bomb began ticking as they approached
it.
[...]
The 1,000kg (2,200lb) device was the largest unexploded World War II
bomb to be found in central London for 30 years.

A 200m (656ft) cordon is in place around the bomb and its discovery
has disrupted rush-hour travel since Monday.
[continues...]
---/quote---


As the article indicates, bomb disposal experts have been trying to
deal with this overnight since Monday, in an attempt to limit
disruption on the adjacent Underground (District & H&C) and c2c lines.
However it looks like they've made the decision to deal with it once
and for all.

I understand that early and late Underground and c2c services have
been cancelled over the past few days, and now all Underground
services are suspended between Plaistow and Whitechapel whilst c2c
services are suspended between Barking and Fenchurch Street.

The bomb meanwhile was found in the mud in one of the waterways at
Three Mills. It was discovered as a result of works going on to
upgrade these waterways so they can be used to deliver construction
materials to the Olympic Park site a bit further north. One wonders
just how many more unexploded wartime bombs might be found on the
Olympic site, in particular in the many waterways that run through the
site.

A policeman on the local television news yesterday was stressing just
how potentially dangerous this bomb was, and was also full of praise
for another guy (I presume one of the bomb disposal team) who had
earlier gone back to inspect the bomb four times despite its highly
dangerous condition (I think this was after it had started ticking).

On 6 Jun, 09:31, Mizter T wrote:
"World War II bomb to be exploded"http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7439249.stm

---quote---
An explosion will be carried out on a World War II bomb that continues
to disrupt travel in east London.

The large bomb was found in a river at Sugar House Lane, near Bromley-
by-Bow Tube station on Monday.

It will be defused after a "small" explosion by 15 Royal Engineers
experts. Earlier this week the bomb began ticking as they approached
it.
[...]
The 1,000kg (2,200lb) device was the largest unexploded World War II
bomb to be found in central London for 30 years.

A 200m (656ft) cordon is in place around the bomb and its discovery
has disrupted rush-hour travel since Monday.
[continues...]
---/quote---

As the article indicates, bomb disposal experts have been trying to
deal with this overnight since Monday, in an attempt to limit
disruption on the adjacent Underground (District & H&C) and c2c lines.
However it looks like they've made the decision to deal with it once
and for all.

I understand that early and late Underground and c2c services have
been cancelled over the past few days, and now all Underground
services are suspended between Plaistow and Whitechapel whilst c2c
services are suspended between Barking and Fenchurch Street.

The bomb meanwhile was found in the mud in one of the waterways at
Three Mills. It was discovered as a result of works going on to
upgrade these waterways so they can be used to deliver construction
materials to the Olympic Park site a bit further north. One wonders
just how many more unexploded wartime bombs might be found on the
Olympic site, in particular in the many waterways that run through the
site.

A policeman on the local television news yesterday was stressing just
how potentially dangerous this bomb was, and was also full of praise
for another guy (I presume one of the bomb disposal team) who had
earlier gone back to inspect the bomb four times despite its highly
dangerous condition (I think this was after it had started ticking).


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. Contributions of those more
knowledgeable in these matters are of course welcome!

On 6 Jun, 09:39, Mizter T wrote:
Rather than saying the bomb had started ticketing


Was there a previous tendency of users of the adjacent lines to avoid
ticketed travel?

--
gordon

In message
, at
01:31:15 on Fri, 6 Jun 2008, Mizter T remarked:
One wonders just how many more unexploded wartime bombs might be found
on the Olympic site, in particular in the many waterways that run
through the site.

They won't find any more on land if they've finished digging up the site
and are now building on top.

I wonder if any pile-drivers have ever set off a UXB, though.

The ones in the water will be found if there are any additional dredging
works.
--
Roland Perry

In message
Mizter T wrote:


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. Contributions of those more
knowledgeable in these matters are of course welcome!

Assuming it had a delayed action fuse, these were often clockwork so it is
quite possible that the bomb did start ticking if the mechanism restarted
after being moved slightly.

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.

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

On 6 Jun, 09:58, Roland Perry wrote:

In message
, at
01:31:15 on Fri, 6 Jun 2008, Mizter T remarked:

One wonders just how many more unexploded wartime bombs might be found
on the Olympic site, in particular in the many waterways that run
through the site.

They won't find any more on land if they've finished digging up the site
and are now building on top.

Er, whilst I'm not sure on the latest I think the site has now been
cleared but I'm wouldn't think that necessarily precludes more digging
(for foundations etc).


I wonder if any pile-drivers have ever set off a UXB, though.

The ones in the water will be found if there are any additional dredging
works.

I think there's a far bit more work on the waterways both within and
without the Olympic Park site to be done (note that this bomb is
actually outside the boundary of the Park).

On 6 Jun, 09:47, " wrote:

On 6 Jun, 09:39, Mizter T wrote:

Rather than saying the bomb had started ticketing

Was there a previous tendency of users of the adjacent lines to avoid
ticketed travel?


Ha! Er... yes!

In message
, at
02:47:06 on Fri, 6 Jun 2008, Mizter T remarked:

One wonders just how many more unexploded wartime bombs might be found
on the Olympic site, in particular in the many waterways that run
through the site.

They won't find any more on land if they've finished digging up the site
and are now building on top.

Er, whilst I'm not sure on the latest I think the site has now been
cleared

So they probably won't fin any more on that land

but I'm wouldn't think that necessarily precludes more digging
(for foundations etc).

But they might on that land.

I wonder if any pile-drivers have ever set off a UXB, though.

The ones in the water will be found if there are any additional dredging
works.

I think there's a far bit more work on the waterways both within and
without the Olympic Park site to be done (note that this bomb is
actually outside the boundary of the Park).

--
Roland Perry

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

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
--
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