Wartime shell gave me a terrible shock

DRIVING back to Calais after a holiday in France, we stopped in a layby that happened to be the site of a concrete bunker built by the Germans during World War II. To stretch my legs, I took a walk around to see if I could find any bits of wartime evidence such as shrapnel or empty ammunition cases. I could hardly believe my luck on seeing a 15in shell, about 10ft from the edge of the layby in the adjacent newly ploughed field, and I picked it up. The inch-long firing pin at the pointed end of the shell was protruding and bent over — indicating the shell was still live. Had it made full contact on hitting something, the firing pin would have been knocked into the shell, thus causing the dynamite in it to ignite. My immediate thought was simply to brush the soil off this live, and possibly unstable, shell, put it in the boot of our car and take it home to display proudly on a shelf as a war-time souvenir. And then I suddenly realised what a stupid, idiotic idea it was to even consider doing such a thing. I did the more sensible thing and left it to be sorted out by the people who know the routine for reporting such dangerous objects.

Des Thorpe, Worksop, Notts.