How many unexploded Second World War bombs are yet to be removed from sites in Britain?
TA Smith, Basingstoke AHundreds, but probably
not thousands – if you’re just talking about unexploded bombs (UXBs) dropped by enemy aircraft.
During the heaviest raids of 1940 and 1941, German bombers typically carried high explosive (HE) and incendiary bombs. Payloads usually included a higher tonnage of the latter, though few unexploded firebombs, being small and light, are still to be removed.
Most bombs fell on urban areas: one figure claims that 48,000 HE bombs fell on London alone. Roughly 10 per cent of these failed to explode and, though most UXBs were soon found and neutralised, some became buried deep in the ground.
There are probably some hidden in the countryside, too, released as a result of navigational error, jettisoned by damaged aircraft trying to get home, or dropped on rural ‘Starfish’ decoy sites that used lights and fires to mimic target cities and fool German bombers into dropping their loads.
The Ministry of Defence has dealt with an average of 60 German UXBs each year since 2010. A few are also removed by specialist firms that undertake site surveys and risk assessments for the construction industry. However, most of the items dealt with by these companies are bullets, mortar bombs, shells, grenades and other similar items of UK origin. There’s a surprisingly large amount of this stuff still lying around from before, during and after the Second World War.