Frankfurt WW2 bomb defused after mass evacuation

[Kraut783]

I figured there was a lot of UXO, but damn.....


"Over 60,000 residents evacuated, the 1.4 tonne British bomb was found on a building site on Wednesday.

Frankfurt WW2 bomb defused after mass evacuation - BBC News

An average of about 2,000 tonnes of unexploded ordnance are found each year in Germany. It's estimated that about half the 2.7 million tonnes of bombs dropped by Allied powers during World War Two landed on German soil (compared to about 74,000 tonnes of bombs dropped on the UK by Germany). Many of the bombs were equipped with malfunctioning time-delay fuses, and many never went off.

Adding to the problem are Russian artillery shells, German hand grenades and tank mines, as well as Russian munitions from training facilities in post-war East Germany.

The problem is so widespread that Germany has a bomb-disposal unit, the Kampfmittelbeseitigungsdienst (KMBD), dedicated to the problem. Its technicians are among the busiest in the world, deactivating a bomb every two weeks or so - and they estimate their work will continue for decades to come."

 

[RackMaster]

There's a show called War Junk, they search battlefields for "junk" and connect it to individual's; then bring living relatives over to share the stories. One they did in Ypres, they were on a farm where the owner runs a private museum with "junk" he finds in his field's. This isn't the clip from the show but it's the same guy. It's amazing how much from WW1 still comes to the surface, let alone WW2.

 

[Gunz]

I suppose this must also be the case in Japan. I know it is in Vietnam. Except in VN they make boats and houses out of old ordnance.

 

[Frank S.]

In France, they still find the odd shell from WWI...