On some local nautical charts , they are areas marked " Ammunition Dump " to prevent ground fishing . And who knows what down there , I've heard stories of Chemical stock piles being stored in Eastern Canada , close to Europe , but not Too close .
There is a WW2 munitions ship, SS Richard Montgomery, in the Thames Estuary that is slowly disintegrating with time. However, if the thing were to blow, then the results may be frightening, especially if they go ahead with the new London Airport nearby. Wikipedia has an interesting article on the ship and a munitions manifest which includes 286 2000lb blockbuster bombs and 4439 1000lb ones. A large hole for sure!
Very sad indeed, but, still happening all over the globe. Land mines, bombs... future generations pay the price for a conflict they had nothing to do with.
There was a Civil War collector here in the states,that collected cannon balls. He bought it when one suddenly went off. S E Asia is constantly dealing with the problem too.
heres the link,and of interest that round sent a piece of shrapnel into another house a QUARTER MILE AWAY !!
Virginia Man Killed In Civil War Cannonball Blast | Fox News
Update, it was apparently an English blockbuster bomb.
► LINK ◄
Really? 4000 pounder - it would have done a LOT more damage, they were called 'blockbuster' for a reason. probably an american 500 GP judging by the crater, maybe even a 250 GP e,g, from a few years ago BBC News - WWII bomb in Rhine near Koblenz successfully defused
here is a 'cookie; in action ARMY BALLISTICS WWII RESEARCH BLOCKBUSTER 4000 LB. BOMB EXPLOSIVE TESTS 3479 - YouTube
If I'm not mistaken in Germany there is a specific job where they go around the streets and fields just looking for bombs, even up here in Canada they found mortars in the ground and shells not far from where I live from them doing target practise back during the war.
I don't imagine the machine operator could even have known what hit him-at least we can only Hope he didn't. As for the "injured", that could mean Anything-blinded, deafened,maimed, quadrapalegia....70 years, and there's Still banes in the Earth. And don't forget WWI. When you read about the sheer Numbers of Artillery shells fired in One Offensive bombardment, it is staggering. About 1.5 Billion shells on the Western Front Alone were fired-and this does not include grenades, aerial bombs, etc. They never Did go off 100%-there were always duds and slow pokes. Over 60 Million were fired into Verdun alone. The French Interior Ministry estimates that there are easily 12 Million unexploded shells in and above the areas around Verdun. Even today, there are Many many forests and areas in France that it is forbidden to even walk through from the danger. And, if you want to research something even More sinister, read about the Still Active poison gas shells in the ground. Mustard gas, Phosphene gas, Chlorine gas and more. And, of course, look at the several Mines they dug at Messines that never detonated when they fired them all off. Out of 25 mines laid, only 19 fired. It's taken nearly 100 years to "rediscover" just where the "duds" even were. In the meantime,one of them with 13 tons exploded on a farm on July 5,1955 during a lightning storm. Another(and possibly the last, although this is still being debated) is known to be 80 feet underground on a Belgian farm-with 22 Tons of old and unstable explosives in it. At present, it is considered "too expensive and too dangerous" to disarm the last several left. And, keep in mind, that the detonators and explosives in these mines were Very carefully waterproofed and protected. They were inside bottles, petrol cans, covered and tar sealed, etc, so the charges are undoubtedly still ready to roll. It is a very sobering thing to read about the incredible sheer Tonnage of unexploded ordinance still in the ground of Europe...The Franco-Prussian War, WWI, WWII...and countless smaller but just as vicious bombardments and engagements throughout the entire continent. There is sleeping death and mayhem in all the grounds you choose. And will be for perhaps centuries.
Read this article titled "The Forbidden Forest" from Orion Magazine. It will really open your eyes the next time you plan a picnic in France, Belgium, Germany and beyond...
The Forbidden Forest | Orion Magazine
Last edited by Wagriff; 01-07-2014 at 10:28 AM.
William
"Much that once was, is lost. For none now live who remember it."
William
"Much that once was, is lost. For none now live who remember it."
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