Berlin still uncovering WWII-era bombs
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Heck, they are still recovering WW I era artillery shells from the battlefield at Vimy Ridge and at other places around Europe. Even more stunning is that there are still several tonnes of high explosive ammonal buried somewhere in the Belgian countryside, from the Battle of Messines Ridge. Originally, there was two unknown caches, but one blew up in 1955, and the other is considered unstable, and can potentially go off under the right conditions. There are crater lakes from that battle that remains today, the Brits used THAT much explosives in the battle, just as mines. 
I have heard that there were talks about actually removing the explosives, but considering where it is underground, and how potentially unstable the explosive are (and the fact that the cache is now apparantly underwater), it was deemed too risky and too difficult to remove the explosives. So that cache is still out there, a ticking time bomb if you ask anyone.
I have heard that there were talks about actually removing the explosives, but considering where it is underground, and how potentially unstable the explosive are (and the fact that the cache is now apparantly underwater), it was deemed too risky and too difficult to remove the explosives. So that cache is still out there, a ticking time bomb if you ask anyone.
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It's quite scary actually. Bombs and Explosives and what not out in the country side is one thing but when they are scattered all over a large city, thats just scary. I would not want to be a construction worker in Berlin thats for sure.
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I just did some digging around, and apparantly, that lot of unexploded ammonal in Belgium from the Battle of Messines Ridge is near a small town (in fact, it is right under some poor farmer's farm!). Apparantly, if that lot of explosives goes off, pretty much the entire town gets leveled by the explosion.
i saw that on the history channel one day.
hell, out in CFB Shilo every year i go there for hunting on the ranges, there are warnings of un detonated ordnance still lost form training in the first? and second world wars.
any war torn country there is left over crap from wars be it explosive or not. in Batosh, there are still led bullets in the buildings form the end of the Louis Reils (sp) rebellion, just as well there are fields in Europe from the middle ages there are left over artifacts. even earlier then the Romans and Greeks, there are still old reminisce from wars past.
there will always be left overs from any war/ battle. these ones just have the chance of going "BOOM" some time...
of course im sure everyone here knows that.
hell, out in CFB Shilo every year i go there for hunting on the ranges, there are warnings of un detonated ordnance still lost form training in the first? and second world wars.
any war torn country there is left over crap from wars be it explosive or not. in Batosh, there are still led bullets in the buildings form the end of the Louis Reils (sp) rebellion, just as well there are fields in Europe from the middle ages there are left over artifacts. even earlier then the Romans and Greeks, there are still old reminisce from wars past.
there will always be left overs from any war/ battle. these ones just have the chance of going "BOOM" some time...
of course im sure everyone here knows that.
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Back in 1997 I was working in Berlin when a British crew working in Potsdamer Platz hit a 500lb bomb with a backhoe 4 dead 5 if you count the hoe all they found of it was the bucket 2 blocks away in a VW Dealership. made me think twice before getting back in my bobcat. All I ever dug up was a tail fin off what looked like a 81mm mortar. turns out the Telto Canal was a hot spot between the SS and the Ruskies.
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Around the 23 April, Rybalko's Third Guards Tank Army had been halted at the Tetlow Canal, the bridges had all been blown, and the attackers could clearly see lines of trenches, pill boxes, and tanks buried up to their turrets in the ground. Koniev decided to take no chances . He ordered up his heavy guns to join the rest of the artillery along the southern bank of the canal to form an unimaginable concentration of fire power to blast away the opposition. The next day he lined up 1050 guns for every mile of front. i imagine there might have been a "few" duds. ;D
The Fall of Berlin - Anthony Read and David Fisher
The Fall of Berlin - Anthony Read and David Fisher
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Also on the History channel there was a dcumentary about the French EOD dealing with UXO's from both WW's.
Showed them destroying some mines and TNT found in a old gun emplacement on the French coast from WWII,picking up WWI gas shell's from a farmer.
The EOD Tech said it's going too take over 500 yrs to clear up the mess from both WW's.This is just France,I wonder what the time line is like for Belgium,Germany,Holland etc.?
Showed them destroying some mines and TNT found in a old gun emplacement on the French coast from WWII,picking up WWI gas shell's from a farmer.
The EOD Tech said it's going too take over 500 yrs to clear up the mess from both WW's.This is just France,I wonder what the time line is like for Belgium,Germany,Holland etc.?
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I remember being showed a building in Munich that was an ammo dump in 1983 it was still fenced off and had a guard on the gate. Our guide said it was full of UXO and no one wanted to touch it.
She kind of inferred it was booby trapped or UXO of questionable use es.
She kind of inferred it was booby trapped or UXO of questionable use es.
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French still have full time EOD teams taking delivery of WW1 gas shells & cylinders that rise up to the surface every year (thru frost & ground heave). News report I saw indicated that there were several "depots" thru the french countryside AND that the gas shells were removed, once a year to a final disposal centre.... whatever that's supposed to mean (could be burial at sea for all I know) (but that would be unethical and probably would violate some international conventions)
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With beer ;D I watched the show about the underground mines in Belgium. if memory serves me right, one of the remaining one's lies under a farm house/barn, they think....
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geo said:If you want to check..... I can let you have a shovel
Pardon me if I don't come out and join you though
will be siting over hear testing out the ear plugs
Uhhh....no thanks ;D hearings rough enough as it is.
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