CALL THE BOMB SQUAD!
Family heirloom stored a home on this quiet Bridgend street turned out to be an unexploded wartime bomb
WHEN Gerwyn Miles brought back a memento from his time in the war, he never would have thought that 70 years later it would spark a major police and Army operation.
The heirloom that he had picked up on a beach while he was serving in Japan and Asia had been passed around the family, moved around different houses and was even taken to school for showand-tell.
But when his daughter Lynis Jones and her husband Lyn, from Bridgend, were having a clear-out it was discovered to be a live World War II bomb that had not exploded.
An Army bomb disposal unit was scrambled from Hereford and the live device was blown up on Heol y Cyw Common.
Lynis said: “It was a huge shock when we realised that this device that had been in the family for years was actually a live bomb.
“We were having a bit of a clear-out and decided to get rid of it, but we weren’t sure what to do. We phoned the nonemergency police line and I think at first they thought it was a wind-up.
“They sent out two police officers and then a chief inspector arrived. They sent a picture to the Army headquarters in Hereford, who said they were going to send someone straightaway.
“The unit arrived around 11pm and I was really worried about the neighbours because it was very noisy at that time of night. They looked at it and said it looked live because it was in such good condition. They took it out to the van and X-rayed it, which confirmed that it was live.
“The decision was made to blow it up. They said if it had not been moved around as much as it had they would have evacuated the whole street, but because we had handled it so much the decision was made not to. If it had been lying in an attic for years and years, they definitely would have evacuated everyone in the area.”
South Wales Police confirmed they were called to an address in Westfield Avenue at 8pm on Monday.
A spokeswoman said: “South Wales Police received a report of what appeared to be an old explosive device from World War II which had been found in a garden shed in Bridgend.
“An ordnance disposal team inspected the device and plans were put in place to dispose of it safely.”
The device was taken to Heol y Cyw Common on Tuesday morning and blown up, as they needed a 200m clear area for it to be destroyed.
Lynis’ daughter Jessica said the family found the whole thing hilarious and that her grandad, who died 12 years ago, would have loved the story.
She said: “I remember bringing it into school with grampa to show off to all my friends when I was seven.
“I uploaded the story on social media and have had a lot of friends telling me they remember getting to hold it and stuff when they were with me.
“My grandad must be laughing so hard at all of this.”