<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2015/aug/11/unexploded-second-world-war-bomb-london"><b>The Guardian</b></a><br>Tuesday 11 August 2015<br><h1 class="content__headline js-score" itemprop="headline">
Are you sitting on an unexploded second world war bomb?
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<p><b><i><font size="4">Learn to stop worrying and live with the bomb – even if the UK appears to be littered with them</font></i></b></p>
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<img src="http://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2015/8/11/1439309089138/Bang-009.jpg?w=300&q=85&auto=format&sharp=10&s=e91bcfb3f14be7841cad9a9c4b7b12f8" class="maxed responsive-img" itemprop="contentUrl" alt="Bang!">
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<b><font size="1">Bang! Photograph: Malerapaso/Getty Images
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<p class="byline"><span itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemprop="author">
<a rel="author" class="tone-colour" itemprop="url name" href="http://www.theguardian.com/profile/paulacocozza">Paula Cocozza</a></span></p>
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<p>A bomb from the second world war has been found in <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/aug/11/hundreds-evacuated-in-bethnal-green-after-second-world-war-bomb-discovery" class=" u-underline">Bethnal Green, east London</a>. Before Bethnal Green there was <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/may/22/bomb-found-200m-from-wembley-stadium-safely-detonated-by-army" class=" u-underline">Wembley</a>. Before Wembley there was <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/25/bermondsey-bomb-destroyed-controlled-explosion" class=" u-underline">Bermondsey</a>. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/interactive/2012/dec/07/every-blitz-bomb-mapped-london" class=" u-underline">London is littered with unexploded devices</a>.
The rest of the UK has them too, in smaller numbers. A spokesperson for
the Ministry of Defence estimates it receives “30 to 40 call-outs a
week for these things”. In Germany they turn up all the time - in Bonn,
Berlin, Munich and Koblenz. There were two in one week in <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/unexploded-wwii-bombs-pose-growing-threat-in-germany-a-859201.html" class=" u-underline">Oranienburg</a>.</p>
<p>When you sit on your sofa watching telly, are you sitting on a bomb,
buried just beneath your foundations? Well, if you are, don’t worry. As
long as you are not planning a basement conversion, you are safe.
“Totally safe,” says Kevin Kneebone. He is managing director of <a href="http://www.bactec.com" class=" u-underline">Bactec</a>,
a private bomb disposal company. “They only become dangerous when they
are impacted on.” Some people clearly do worry, though, because Bactec
offers an <a href="https://bombrisk.com" class=" u-underline">online risk assessment</a>: for £175 plus VAT you can check out any UK address.</p>
<p>But why are so many unexploded devices being discovered, and how dangerous are they?</p>
<p>The bombs in Bethnal Green, Bermondsey and Wembley were all found by
builders. This is not a coincidence. Parts of the capital that were hit
hard during the war – east <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk/london" class=" u-underline">London</a>
and Docklands for instance – are undergoing intensive regeneration, and
changes in architectural and construction trends are helping to feed
the discovery of munitions. Buildings are getting taller. Foundations
are getting deeper. Piling – a particularly invasive kind of foundation –
has become prevalent. In Germany, Belgium and Netherlands, Kneebone
says, construction companies are required by law to carry out a risk
assessment before starting work, even on a domestic house extension, but
not in the UK.</p>
<p>It is tempting to view a bomb that has lain quietly for 70 years as
harmless. But a dormant bomb is a wakeable danger. “As soon as there in
any influence or stimulus - like being whacked by the bucket of a digger
– it can set the timer off,” says <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisHunter1001" class=" u-underline">Major Chris Hunter</a>, a former bomb disposal operator and author of books such as <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Extreme-Risk-Chris-Hunter-ebook/dp/B004EYSXGG/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" class=" u-underline">Extreme Risk</a>.
“To a certain extent you are going in blind. It’s quite tricky to
neutralise them.” In London clay, they can be found as deep as 14-16
metres. Often, only a nose or tail breaks the earth. “You’ve got to try
to work out what fusing mechanisms are in there, what anti-handling
mechanisms.”</p>
<p>The problem is so widespread, Hunter says, because “their failure
rate was 10-20%”. In Kent, Hunter’s patch, most unexploded bombs were
brought to the surface by the mysterious churning of the earth and found
in the summer months by walkers. So how long will this regular
unearthing of potential explosions go on for? Kneebone thinks
discoveries will continue for “at least the next 50 years”. He believes
“thousands” of unexploded devices are still to be found. He points to
the MOD’s register of so-called “abandoned bombs” in the UK - where a
hole of entry was discovered, but no corresponding explosion logged. The
register, compiled from information gathered during the second world
war, charts 750 no-show detonations, but of the 30 unexploded bombs that
Kneebone’s Bactec has found since 1997, none was on the register,
suggesting the problem is much larger. You just don’t know when these
things will stir.</p></div></div><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><font face="Tahoma, sans-serif" color="#990000"><span style="font-size:10px"><b>=========================================</b></span></font></div><font face="Tahoma, sans-serif" color="#990000"><span style="font-size:10px"><b>CHUCK SEARCY</b></span></font><div><font face="Tahoma, sans-serif" color="#990000"><span style="font-size:10px"><b>International Advisor, Project RENEW</b></span></font></div><font face="Tahoma, sans-serif" color="#990000"><span style="font-size:10px"><b>Vice President, Veterans For Peace Chapter 160<br></b></span></font><font face="Tahoma, sans-serif" color="#990000"><span style="font-size:10px"><b>Co-Chair, NGO Agent Orange Working Group<br></b></span></font><font face="Tahoma, sans-serif" color="#990000"><span style="font-size:10px"><b>US +1 404 740 0653<br></b></span></font><div><font face="Tahoma, sans-serif" color="#990000"><span style="font-size:10px"><b>VN +8 490 342 0769</b></span></font></div><div><font face="Tahoma, sans-serif" color="#990000"><span style="font-size:10px"><b>E <a href="mailto:chuckusvn@gmail.com" target="_blank">chuckusvn@gmail.com</a></b></span></font></div><font face="Tahoma, sans-serif" color="#990000"><span style="font-size:10px"><b>Sk chucksearcy</b></span></font><div><b style="color:rgb(153,0,0);font-family:Tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:10px">=========================================</b><font face="Tahoma, sans-serif" color="#990000"><span style="font-size:10px"><b><br></b></span></font></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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