Last month, an 1,100-pound unexploded bomb from WWII, believed to be of American origin, was uncovered near Cologne, Germany, where a construction crew had been digging. Some 3,000 people were evacuated from the area while the bomb was carefully extricated. Earlier last year, similar bombs near Cologne were discovered and defused.
This kind of situation would possibly seem unimaginable to Americans. What would happen if, say, in one of those blockbusters, the structure of a new skyscraper was discovered in New York City? This, of course, also cannot have happened because World War II began. The United States was not bombed, but Germany was heavily bombed.
Truth be told, the bombs discovered near Cologne are not uncommon. Surprisingly, around 2,000 tons – yes tons – of unexploded ordnance is found, and detonated, annually in Germany.
A while back, I visited the country to imbed for a few days with the brave “hurt locker” German police as they hunted for these things. Part of our experience was out in the field, the other part visiting remote bunkers where many of the dangerous munitions are stored. Ordnance of all types – mortars, artillery shells, grenades, aerial bombs and mines from countries including Russia, the U.S. and Great Britain – are sprinkled around the reinforced concrete structure.
Peter Ewler, a mine clearance expert, met us in his bunker near the Oder River on the German-Polish border. Once inside, he asked me to remove an artillery shell from a cable container, but first put on gloves. “We have to have rules,” he smiles wildly.
Forbes Jim Clash holds an unexploded World War II shell in a remote German bunker near the Oder River.
The shell was medium sized and very rusty, and just holding it scared me. It also scared my photographer, a German named Wolfgang Schutt, because he was afraid I would disappoint him. It’s probably not a smart concept to do that.
After visiting the bunker, we go to the box and, with steel detectors, look for bombs with and without detonators. Sometimes those containing detonators are not strong enough to be transported to a garage bunker and therefore have to be destroyed on site.
German police detonate unexploded ordnance from World War II as Forbes Jim Clash watches.
A scoundrel who didn’t cooperate with his detonator forced us to dig a five-foot hole in the ground, hook up an electrical wire to it, place the device in the back of the hole, and then pile dirt on top of it.
After our team moved back a few hundred meters, the officer on tariff pressed a button that sent an electrical tariff to the device. There was a huge explosion that sent dirt, smoke and shrapnel more than thirty meters into the air. The deafening crack of the explosion came a moment or two later.
A misconception: Over time, old ammunition loses its power. After all, those things have been buried for what, seven decades, so what’s the big deal?
The German government is using old reconnaissance photographs taken by American and British pilots to locate sites where unexploded bombs from World War II are buried.
According to a recent study by Royal Society Open Science, the bomb’s casing material deteriorates, but not the active explosives inside like Amatol and TNT, meaning the core explosives are as potent as when they were manufactured. And, because the casing material deteriorates, the core is exposed to outside elements like snow, rain and the like, making the ordnance even more unstable.
Forbes Jim Clash examines a crater created through the detonation of unexploded ordnance from World War II through German police.
Sometimes, with the help of old American and British air reconnaissance photos, large unexploded bombs are discovered under schools, churches and houses constructed after the War. When that happens, the occupants must leave while excavators clear the site. Sometimes the bombs detonate unexpectedly, and property is destroyed and lives are lost.
In the end, Germany is still at war, although this time against itself. And maybe that’s a loss. As explained above, the longer explosive chemicals remain in the soil, the more volatile they become. As Ernest Hemingway wrote in one of his famous short stories: “William Campbell in a chase with a burlesque display. » Except this time, William Campbell is Germany and the mockery is his unexploded bombs.
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