BS: WW2 U.X.B. in Sunderland.

Subject: BS: WW2 U.X.B. in Sunderland.
From: C-flat
Date: 16 Oct 02 - 01:26 PM

The recent discovery of a large, unexploded bomb in Sunderland has been causing chaos to the local authority service deliverers this week.
My partner, as a senior officer of the authority, has been organising and coordinating the feeding and shelter for over two thousand evacuated residents from the Hendon area of Sunderland.
Amongst this number are a couple of hundred assylum seekers who have to be segragated from the main body and amongst those two hundred are various other groups who need to be kept apart for their own safety.
People who have nowhere else to go (relatives,friends) are being given sleeping bags in nearby school halls and, aside from the obvious problems of feeding and adequate toilet facilities, there are dozens of folk with dogs and cats, all requiring food, then there's people needing nappies, nappy sacks, tampax, (just about anything you can think of has been requested) and the staff are run ragged sourcing and supplying their needs.
To top it all, the discovery of dozens of used needles yesterday morning in the school toilets was, to say the least, worrying.
The high point of last night was the couple who, despite an audience of a large number of fellow evacuees and their children, were unable to control their passions and insisted on indulging in noisy sex, albeit from the privacy of their sleeping bag!
I won't make the same mistake tonight, as I did last night, when I asked my partner Julie "How was your day?"
There's no real point to this thread, other than to say, if you think you're having a bad day, there's usually someone who's had it worse!
C-flat.

Subject: RE: BS: WW2 U.X.B. in Sunderland.
From: C-flat
Date: 16 Oct 02 - 01:34 PM

For anyone who's interested the story is here.

Subject: RE: BS: WW2 U.X.B. in Sunderland.
From: DougR
Date: 16 Oct 02 - 03:03 PM

Thanks for posting that story C-Flat. I haven't seen anything in my newspaper about this potential tragedy. Keep your and your SO's heads low, and I hope they can defuse and destroy that thing very soon.

Keep us posted, okay?

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: WW2 U.X.B. in Sunderland.
From: C-flat
Date: 16 Oct 02 - 05:15 PM

Julie arrived home tonight with the news that the bomb squad have made the bomb safe enough to travel the short distance to the sea front where it will be exploded.
Amazingly, a handful of evacuees were reluctant to return to their homes as they had been enjoying the hospitality of the local authority a little too much. A number of pieces of school equipment have mysteriously disappeared along with most of the toys bought in to occupy the little ones.
At least the danger has passed without incident or injury!

Subject: RE: BS: WW2 U.X.B. in Sunderland.
From: Cllr
Date: 16 Oct 02 - 06:03 PM

thank goodness for that Cllr

Subject: RE: BS: WW2 U.X.B. in Sunderland.
From: DougR
Date: 17 Oct 02 - 12:24 AM

That's good news, C-Flat, I'm sure you and your wife will rest easier tonight, and I'm glad.

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: WW2 U.X.B. in Sunderland.
From: DougR
Date: 17 Oct 02 - 12:26 AM

C-Flat: How common is it to find old WWII hardware stuck in soil in Great Britain? How could somebody possibly overlook such a thing when building things over it?

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: WW2 U.X.B. in Sunderland.
From: C-flat
Date: 17 Oct 02 - 04:22 AM

Many thousands of tons of ordnance were dropped both here and in Germany and a good number didn't explode because of faulty fuse mechanisms. This article is one of many on the subject.

Subject: RE: BS: WW2 U.X.B. in Sunderland.
From: GUEST,Keith A o Hertford at work
Date: 17 Oct 02 - 04:36 AM

The ones that did not explode would often bury themselves with little sign on the surface. Thousands have been turned up since, but much rarer these days.

Subject: RE: BS: WW2 U.X.B. in Sunderland.
From: Hrothgar
Date: 17 Oct 02 - 05:10 AM

Interesting book about UXB disposal during the Second World War - "Softly Tread the Brave," Ivan Southall, Angus and Robertson, Sydney. No ISBN - too long ago.

Subject: RE: BS: WW2 U.X.B. in Sunderland.
From: GUEST,Ard Mhacha
Date: 17 Oct 02 - 05:27 AM

C-Flat, I worked in and around the Hendon area some fourty years ago and it was considered a tough district then, seems like it hasn`t changed much.
Up to the mid50s it wasn`t unusual to come across unexploded bombs in urban areas of Britian. Ard Mhacha

Subject: RE: BS: WW2 U.X.B. in Sunderland.
From: Gareth
Date: 17 Oct 02 - 07:19 AM

No only Bombs - unexploded AA Shells turn up from time to time, and in the Sea, old mines, torpeados, depth charges turn up in trawls with monotaneous frequency.

And the less said about the old Liberty Ship "Richard Montgomey" on the Grain Spit between Sheerness and Southend the better. Its still full of ammunition ! Rotting away.

Gareth

Subject: RE: BS: WW2 U.X.B. in Sunderland.
From: DougR
Date: 17 Oct 02 - 07:19 PM

Thanks for posting that article C-Flat. Interesting and a bit scary.

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: WW2 U.X.B. in Sunderland.
From: Teribus
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 04:00 AM

One turned up in Portsmouth not so long ago, same sort of scenario.

The USAF and RAF had a group tasked with tracing where bombs went in Germany and on the continent. Perhaps Wolfgang can tell us if these things still turn up in Germany.

The Navy inspect the USS Richard Montgomery every three months, as the wreck decays, ordinance onboard falls out, these are then taken away from the wreck and "rendered safe".

The B&MD teams have some very funny stories about disposal, most centre around WWII German ground mines. Two types were almost identical from the outside but one held 50% more explosive than the other - Navy's paid for a lot of windows in their time due to mistaking which was which.

Subject: RE: BS: WW2 U.X.B. in Sunderland.
From: Bernard
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 04:22 PM

Oh...

I'd heard that the thing went off and caused millions of pounds worth of...

...improvements!!

Subject: RE: BS: WW2 U.X.B. in Sunderland.
From: Gareth
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 04:39 PM

No thats what will happen to Sheerness if the "Richard Montgomery" goes off.

Subject: RE: BS: WW2 U.X.B. in Sunderland.
From: Lanfranc
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 07:01 PM

Thread drift alert!

Could there not be a song in the "Richard Montgomery" to rival "Mary Ellen Carter" (or maybe just a parody)?

"Rise again, rise again
Must her ordnance be lost
To the memory of men
Will Sheerness survive?
Is it the end of Southend?
Will the Richard Montgomery rise again?"

Ammo ammas ammat!

Alan