45,000 evacuated in Germany - Unexploded 1.8 Ton WW2 British Bomb!

Nelly · 4 Dec 2011 at 08:10

Bomb disposal experts in Germany will attempt to defuse a British bomb dropped during the second world war.

The city of Koblenz, in the west of the country, is being evacuated while the operation takes place.
Around 45,000 residents have been moved, with seven nursing homes, two hospitals and a prison being emptied.

Officials have told Koblenz residents to stay away from their homes

Officials cleared an area with a radius of 2km (1.2 miles) from where the 1.8-ton bomb was found.

Trains and vehicles in the area will be stopped during the delicate operation.
The device was discovered last week along with a 275lb bomb dropped by American troops.
They emerged when the water levels in the Rhine fell after the area experienced a particularly dry spell.

Source

Edrof · 4 Dec 2011 at 08:14

Blimey! I'm surprised more things like that don't happen. They must've had a very good clear up in London and Berlin after the war ended (and the other bomb-battered cities on both sides).

Nelly · 4 Dec 2011 at 08:24

Edrof said:
Blimey! I'm surprised more things like that don't happen. They must've had a very good clear up in London and Berlin after the war ended (and the other bomb-battered cities on both sides).

I thought 1.8 Ton seemed like a huge bomb, but look at this! :eek:

Thats a British Lancaster flying with an 11 Ton Grand Slam Bomb underneath it! :eek:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Slam_(bomb)

JBod · 4 Dec 2011 at 08:25

"Thank you Nelly. Our German correspondent there bringing us the latest. Now over to Cumulus for the weather..."

Edrof · 4 Dec 2011 at 08:28

That's crazy!

cainer · 4 Dec 2011 at 08:30

JBod said:
"Thank you Nelly. Our German correspondent there bringing us the latest. Now over to Cumulus for the weather..."

i lol'd

Nelly · 4 Dec 2011 at 08:45

Someone find me a bigger bomb!

This beauty is 27 Tons! could wipe the whole of London out that! lol not bad for an old fashioned 1961 Nuke!

Tibbz2 · 4 Dec 2011 at 08:46

Nelly said:
I thought 1.8 Ton seemed like a huge bomb, but look at this!

Thats a British Lancaster flying with an 11 Ton Grand Slam Bomb underneath it!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Slam_(bomb)

Haha if that was there I could see half of Germany being evacuated

Spanker · 4 Dec 2011 at 09:07

No doubt we will contribute to the cost involved.

norm · 4 Dec 2011 at 09:28

Will the bomb be returned to the British? It's a historical artifact afterall.

I_M_Weasel · 4 Dec 2011 at 09:29

Edrof said:
Blimey! I'm surprised more things like that don't happen.

I was evacuated twice in the space of a year while serving in germany, 2 bombs within 500m of me. So I do think it happens quite often maybe not with such large areas needing evacuating.

Monkeymatt · 4 Dec 2011 at 09:34

Or perhaps they should use it for its intended use? Ship all Nazi's, BNP members and other extremists from the UK over there, combine them with their German counterparts and let the bomb go off. Better than letting it go to waste.

Cosimo · 4 Dec 2011 at 09:54

JBod said:
"Thank you Nelly. Our German correspondent there bringing us the latest. Now over to Cumulus for the weather..."

Craig1981 · 4 Dec 2011 at 10:02

They evacuated 45,000 people for one bomb? If it exploded, how much damage could it actually do?

King Damager · 4 Dec 2011 at 10:08

JBod said:
"Thank you Nelly. Our German correspondent there bringing us the latest. Now over to Cumulus for the weather..."

xD

On an very weakly related note... I think I've been to Koblenz at some point... Vaguely recall it being quite nice...

kd

[TW]Fox · 4 Dec 2011 at 10:10

This sort of thing happens all the time - including twice in the last year (IIRC) here in Plymouth.

Ricochet J · 4 Dec 2011 at 10:21

[TW]Fox;20716057 said:
This sort of thing happens all the time - including twice in the last year (IIRC) here in Plymouth.

I was about to say this. An unexploded WW2 bomb was found in Saxmundham. The villagers had to evacuate until the bomb disposal guys came and sorted it out.

Robert1986 · 4 Dec 2011 at 10:24

Craig1981 said:
They evacuated 45,000 people for one bomb? If it exploded, how much damage could it actually do?

A radius of 2km. Thats kinda a lot of damage.

Tibbz2 · 4 Dec 2011 at 10:24

Yeah true...

Probably because they have no news to report so they are plodding through countries looking for stuff to report on.

dalin80 · 4 Dec 2011 at 11:00

If memory serves from sleeping through history lessons many bombs were designed not to detonate when they hit as the disruption caused by having to evacuate an area and disarm it (which could take days) was more damaging then if the bomb had simply gone off.