Bomb found in Exeter
 

I was somewhat surprised by the way a 1000kg German bomb was dealt with in Exeter on Saturday, actually blown up, I think by the RN in situ with the result of considerable damage to surrounding properties.:eek:

Where I live that'd be called causing thousands of pounds worth of improvements to the area.

There is footage on the BBC web site, but, I was just surprised that it could not have been safely removed, I can't remember anything similar taking place.

It obviously was just too dangerous to move any distance safely, what would have happened if they had put it on a lorry and started to take it somewhere, a lot of work had gone into the design of bombs fuzes and devices that stopped disposal teams from making them safe way back then and it probably doesn't help that its been in the ground for 75 years.

For those who don't know the size of a Hermann

I’m a retired Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) technician with over 30 years of experience. The 1st priority with unexploded ordnance incidents always is protecting lives; the 2nd priority is then protecting property.

For incidents such as the one at Exeter, it is always preferable to render ordnance fuzing safe in situ and then safely transport an item elsewhere for disposal (explosively). However, there are situations where it impossible, because of a variety of factors, to perform fuze render safe procedures. In these cases, the only viable alternative is blowing ordnance in place using substantial tamping.

Whilst there is now a tremendous amount of science underlying how ordnance items, both un-tamped and tamped, behave when detonated, the detonation behavior of an explosive item can still be wildly unpredictable. An EOD team will do their utmost to mitigate potential undesirable effects of a detonation such as the one at Exeter but things can occur with a detonation that are beyond an EOD team’s, or anyone’s, human control.

Assuredly, there will be a thorough investigation of the Exeter incident and there will be accountability if errors were made; however, given the exceptional training EOD personnel receive along with the high levels of professionalism and competency this work demands, it’s highly unlikely the team made errors and instead what occurred was well beyond the team’s control.


Best regards,
Jay

Well said Jay.
Blow it up, dont risk EOD lives.
Job well done, damage or no damage.

regards

Excellent point - A single life is worth more than a sh%t load of new double glazing ....

Bomb fpund in Exeter
 

Thank you for your reply. It was very interesting.

MJW

Here's a couple of links to seeing the detonation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEkRM_foc8Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72SDEBPExQc

Terry

Just as dangerous as they day they dropped it.

Any photos of the crater yet?

regards

SemperFi.. (Jay) Don’t know where you’re from..... but did you ever watch the series “Danger-UXB”.? I’m wondering, to the untrained eye, the episodes were pretty impressive, (technically), but were the actions undertaken really well done and truthful to the “Trained Eye”? Maybe a trifle out of your timeline but give us the “Gen”. Regards, D.J.

Hi D.J.,

It’s been eons since I watched the Danger UXB episodes—your posted encouraged me to buy the series on DVD and watch it again…lol—but the technical details were mostly accurate, albeit some aspects sexed up and others downplayed. Bit ambiguous reply right?

The early years of BD were brutal in terms of the learning curves for the field and tragically many lives were lost in that process. Many practices still in effect today resulted from those lessons learnt that cost men their lives.

For example, early in the war newspapers innocently published we were able to defeat (i.e., render safe) some German bombs and also how we did it. The Germans consequently learnt this and subsequently began installing anti-removal/handling devices that targeted BD and killed many men until we realised what the Germans knew and had done. From that point forward, ordnance render safe procedures (RSPs) became secret (i.e., classified) information.

Another example is the two-person rule—we always minimally worked in pairs. One technician would perform the work whilst another technician observed from a safe distance. The reason behind this rule is that if a weapon detonates and kills the technician working on the device, the observing technician can report what procedures were performed up until the blast. That reporting then can allow engineers or etc. to evaluate if possible design changes were made to a weapon, the viability of a RSP protocol, and etc. This rule enabled us to figure out during WWII, often at the cost of men’s lives, when, for example, the Germans modified weapons specifically to kill BD personnel.

To this day, it still is very much a cat and mouse game between EOD and weapons makers (be it government-made ordnance or rouge-made improvised explosive devices (IEDs)).

Another aspect of the field that comes and goes is photographing EOD technicians. At various times since WWII, EOD technicians have not been permitted to have their photographs and names published or etc. This practice was common during the Cold War—EOD technicians are rich intelligence sources about how weapon systems work and etc. They also are prime targets; for instance, Al Qaeda in Iraq offered monetary bounties for killing us…we were bad for their IED business! ;)

A bit long-winded post—I hope I kind of answered your questions DJ! :D

Jay

Jay, That was an absolutely SUPERB answer! The time taken to write and explain the aspects of the “Trade”, the explanation of the evolution of procedures and all the historical (WW11) notes you included were very much appreciated. I would be so bold as to suggest that it was a “Labour of Love” answering my inquired in the way you described the role that you and many unknown “heroes” played in the past and continue to do so today. I will now take a screen shot of your answer and slide it into one of the disc covers of my set of the series DANGER-UXB.
Thank you once again. Best regards, David Jeffrey.

A very interesting and informative exchange. We watched "Danger-UXB" and greatly enjoyed the way it portrayed this vital work.

Sadly, we are now "fed" (:rolleyes:) a diet of cooking shows, DIY series, survivor dramas with inane tasks to perform and relationship programmes....

Sigh....where has all the quality programming gone to? I know, those were expensive to create and the others much cheaper as any fool just would crawl over broken glass to be seen on TV!

David Jeffrey, thank you for your kind words--made my day! :) When the DVDs arrive and I begin re-watching them, I'll make notes. I originally watched the episodes early in my career and haven't watched them since, so it'll be fun and interesting to see them now in retrospect!

Dumdum, hear-hear! Many current programmes are absolute tripe! :(

Can’t remember who but somebody in the 50s coined the phrase, “TV, the opiate of the masses”! And I’m of the belief that you pay for it over there? Regards,D.J.

One of the episodes of the first season of Our Girl deals with disarming a suicide vest. Have to have very high respect for the men who do that task!!!

Terry

What is it with you and Lacey Turner?:eek:

Apparently you could hear the bang 5 miles away, I'm about twelve miles away and I didn't, unlike Uffculme fireworks factory some years ago which we did hear.

The Exeter Blitz has been an interest of mine for quite a while, it wasn't relentless like London or as destructive as Coventry, in fact it happened over a very few days but it destroyed much of old Exeter which was rebuilt hideously IMO.

History records that the Home Guard were hit very badly loosing several men in their headquarters in the old 1st Rifle Volunteers Drill Hall in Bedford Circus, their vehicle depot was destroyed and the Commanding Officer who was off duty fire watching outside his house was killed. Some of the men are buried in the Higher Cemetery along with many civilians, I'm yet to locate the COs grave, I believe its somewhere near Exmouth.

I've always quite fancied owning an empty German bomb.

Rob

Interesting question Frank. It is not necessarily Lacey Turner that is my focus, but that she plays a medic, which is an area I collect now thanks to Sean. I also really like any story where I see someone better themselves, which she obviously does. I continue to watch the series repeatedly, because I like seeing the transition she goes through, with the first few episodes being the most interesting as she goes through boot camp and then finally proves herself in the field.

I will admit that I like her character enough to say that I am putting together a framed display of her badges along with a couple of photos of her and her autograph.

The fact that she could be my granddaughter or maybe even great-granddaughter says that any romantic aspects are non-existent. I just enjoy seeing people better themselves. I also love the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series - books and movies.

Hope this answers your question,

Terry

It was Karl Marx who said that about religion being the opiate of the masses.

Knock knock

Who's there?

Biggish

Biggishwho?

Sorry mate, got one already.......

I'll get me coat.......

Don’t forget to turn off the TV on your way out!

Larf? - I almos' paid me tv license.

They’ve been rerunning the series here in Blighty from time to time recently on a wonderful little channel called Talking Pictures TV. It was as gripping and tense, to me anyway, as when I first watched it back in the 70s.

When I was a lot younger there were loads of blasting near our home as they were making a new freeway. Can clearly remember watching this and they used to cover the blast area with large blast blankets as they called them, made from interwoven strips of old car tyres.

At the time of the blast the vast majority of the rocks were trapped by these blast blankets, there were of course the odd flying rock but being kept at a safe distance we were safe along with nearby houses.

Brian

They did some blasting on our street and also used some kind of blanket material to cover the blast area. Worked well and there would be a slight carumph and a slight lifting of the blanket, but no shrapnel. The blanket was so heavy they had to use a dirt hog to move it around. Was very glad when they finished and we suffered now wall damage.

Terry