WWII bombs spark mass evacuation

[cal04]

MORE than 22,000 people were evacuated from a district in the German city of Hanover for seven hours today as munitions experts defused three large unexploded World War Two bombs dropped by British warplanes.

"This was the largest post-war evacuation in Hanover," said Alfred Falkenberg, a spokesman for the fire brigade, noting the previous record was 18,000. "I hope the evacuations will end one day, but there are probably several hundred bombs still buried."

The bombs were found buried between three and six metres below the surface in a north Hanover quarter after local authorities studied aerial photos made available by Britain and the United States.

One of the bombs – believed to have been dropped in a British attack in October 1943 – was buried in a garden just a few metres from a house while, the other two were detected and then removed from under open fields.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,20588261-1702,00.html?from=public_rss

[Captain Hilts]

1. French farmers STILL get killed by ordnance from Franco-Prussian 1870

[bluemarkers]

2. Civil War

ordinance in North Carolina has caused concern from time to time. Of course we have a nuclear bomb (plane was carrying a live bomb during the cold war and the plane had engine trouble) buried near Goldsboro NC!! They measure for radiation every so often. :)

Now that is scary. I can deal with the war on the bogeyman.

[sarge43]

6. And pockets of buried mustard gas from WWI

The gifts that keep on giving

[Bigmack]

3. How many unexploded.......

clusterbomb bomblets do you suppose there are in Mess-o-Potamia? In Lebanon?

Not as big a boom as old WWII ordinance, but big enough to take out the kid who picks one up or the unlucky slob who disturbs one trying to clear away the wreckage of his former home.

Shit, the mines are still claiming people in Vietnam.

[Bigmack]

4. And then there's the DU....

All the DU in the area will probably claim more than all the UXBs from all of WWII. And the DU will kill people slowly.

[Karenina]

5. Ordnance: refers to weapons

Ordinance: refers to decrees, regulations, orders, laws.

Just trying to nip another DU error in the bud. :evilgrin:

[Bigmack]

13. My bad... and I should know....

I took USMC training in Explosives, Ordnance, and Demolition. (a thousand years ago)

Maybe that's why they abbreviate it for dumbshits who can't spell.

EOD

[sofa king]

7. Or mines.

Apparently in Afghanistan it's now considered good etiquette to a) kneel down to pee, so that one doesn't create a clear silhouette and b) never, ever step off the road to pee, because of the threat of mines. Nobody knows how many mines are sown in Afghanistan, but it is thought to number in the millions.

Both of these customs supposedly evolved during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, but they're still quite valid today.

[JoFerret]

8. "Bomber" Harris's legacy (and others of course)

The legitimacy of many of those bombing raids is still not ready to be discussed in the open.

[Captain Hilts]

9. Yes, Harris has to answer for Dresden. But, Germany started a war...

so they inherently run the risk that someone else will finish it.

[JoFerret]

10. Ah - the "good war" (not:)

Maybe in another century there may be room for some perspective.

[Captain Hilts]

11. Huh?

World War II sucked. Having lived in Russia I've seen the scars that country still has.

No, it wasn't a 'good' war, but I'm glad we won.

[JoFerret]

12. Plenty of secrets

in Anglo-American relations (treaties sealed for decades.) Who knows - maybe they can explain why the UK spanielled Bush into Iraq.
That war has many stories and long shadows yet to be revealed.