Stump grinder versus German tank shells.

[Guss109]

I'm sure 70 year old shells ain't as dangerous as people like to make out..

 

all the chemicals must of deteriorated in all those years...

 

Its like that peter Kay Joke about the swans, has anyone ever seen a broken arm..

 

Still, fascinating story none the less...

 

 

Think what you want but the older they are the more unstable things become if they became inert why would we waste time being careful to not trigger the old fuse. Have a quick search online at some of the jobs the uk EOD still get called to might make you see things differently. In my time in the army I served in the EOD and have been called to a few real time jobs and had enough training to realise you need to treat them with respect. There is a big difference between a projectile and a bomb etc but unless you know how to tell the difference you can be forgiven for panicking and getting them mixed up

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Arbtalk

Edited April 9, 2017 by Guss109

[matelot]

Had an update email from my customer yesterday. Bomb disposal still haven't arrived since Wednesday and the neighbour has shown them another shell down in their paddock that still has the fuse in. She's going to go to the Gendarmerie again on Monday to try to get some idea of what's happening.

 

Since the Gendarmerie haven't done anything about the shells maybe it means they don't think them that dangerous?

 

In Europe they collect tens of thousands of pieces WW2 ordinance each year. I bet farmers disturb hundreds of thousands of pieces of ordinance each year while ploughing fields etc.

 

Since we very rarely hear about WW2 ordinance exploding it seems fair to say that they are relatively inert....

[matelot]

Sorry Dan, I didn't mean You! I was referring to the two Herbert's who said that old ordinance wasn't dangerous.

 

Perhaps you could stop insulting others? You're the one that's been telling everyone that old ordinance is dangerous.... after moving the ordinance yourself for no reason...

 

If you really thought the shells were dangerous you'd have left them in place for the bomb disposal team to dispose of.

 

To clarify I think old ordinance should be treated with respect and left for the proper authorities to deal with. However I don't think a bomb etc buried in soil for 70 years is likely to have much explosive charge...

[skyhuck]

Perhaps you could stop insulting others? You're the one that's been telling everyone that old ordinance is dangerous.... after moving the ordinance yourself for no reason...

 

If you really thought the shells were dangerous you'd have left them in place for the bomb disposal team to dispose of.

 

To clarify I think old ordinance should be treated with respect and left for the proper authorities to deal with. However I don't think a bomb etc buried in soil for 70 years is likely to have much explosive charge...

 

Have you not seen the pictures posted of the shredder?

[matelot]

Have you not seen the pictures posted of the shredder?

 

I did....

 

In France 900 tonnes of WW2 bombs are recovered a year. Since we don't hear about many French getting killed by WW2 bombs it seems fair to say that most of the bombs are "safe".

[matelot]

15,000 pieces of ordinance were found in a 2 year period in the UK. Has anyone heard of many deaths in the UK due to unexploded ordinance?

 

 

"Most WW2 bombs stumbled across in the 21st Century are discovered by builders digging foundations.

 

A guide on dealing with unexploded devices was released by the Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) in 2009.

 

An estimated 15,000 items, ranging from unexploded bombs to small mortar rounds and grenades, were removed from UK construction sites between 2006 and 2008, the association said."

 

"The bombs are unlikely to explode, Mr Brosnan said, but their threat should not be underestimated."

 

How much of a threat are unexploded bombs? - BBC News

[Khriss]

Only figure I can recall from Royal ordinance Factory Leeds ( ohhh thats going back some ! ) was HE degrades by abt 50% every 4 yrs or so - dependent on storage , so over three or four decades - it's a much lower Bang ! Hence army / navy liking a good range weekend now n again to get rid of it - wouldn't touch an old bugger tho' K

[matelot]

Only figure I can recall from Royal ordinance Factory Leeds ( ohhh thats going back some ! ) was HE degrades by abt 50% every 4 yrs or so - dependent on storage , so over three or four decades - it's a much lower Bang ! Hence army / navy liking a good range weekend now n again to get rid of it - wouldn't touch an old bugger tho' K

 

I went to an explosives course. The explosive world expert taking the course said that modern explosives used in civil engineering deteriorated quite quickly. Civil engineering explosives lose something like 10% of their kick every week.

 

OK the explosives in WW2 ordinance will be a different type. However I'd imagine after 70 years in the ground a lot of them no longer have any real explosive power left.

[Mick Dempsey]

Do stop digging Matelot.

[josharb87]

Surely it only takes one not to be "safe" to be the last thing you do?