World War II bomb disposal in Europe

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Technicians inspecting a British bomb unearthed in Koblenz, Germany in 2011

The US Army Air Force and Royal Air Force dropped 2.7 million tons of bombs on Europe during World War II.[1] Every year, an estimated 2,000 tons of World War II munitions are found in Germany, at times requiring the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents from their homes.[1] In Berlin alone, 1.8 million pieces of ordnance have been defused since 1947.[2] Buried bombs, as well as mortars, land mines and grenades, are often found during construction work or other excavations, or by farmers tilling the land.[3]

Germany

  • June 2010: 7,000 people were evacuated in Göttingen after a 500 kg bomb was found. Three members of the bomb-disposal unit died after the bomb exploded.[4]
  • January 2014: a construction worker in Euskirchen was killed and two critically wounded after hitting a buried bomb with an excavator.[5]
  • September 2017: a bomb dropped by the US during World War II led to the evacuation of 21,000 people in Koblenz.[6]
  • September 2017: 70,000 people had to leave their homes in Frankfurt after a British bomb was discovered.[6]
  • April 2018: a 1.8-ton bomb found in Paderborn forced the evacuation of 26,000 people.[7]
  • April 2018: 12,000 people were evacuated in Berlin after a bomb was discovered just north of Berlin Hauptbahnhof.[2]
  • August 2018: the discovery of a World War II bomb required the evacuation of 18,500 people in Ludwigshafen.[8]
  • April 2019: 600 people were evacuated when a bomb was discovered in Frankfurt's River Main. Divers with the city's fire service were participating in a routine training exercise when they found the 250 kg (550 lb) device.[9]
  • July 2019: 16,500 people evacuated in Frankfurt when a 500 kg bomb was found during construction.[10]

Italy

  • March 2018: 23,000 people were evacuated in Fano after a British-made bomb was discovered.[11]
  • July 2018: 12,000 were forced from their homes after a 250 kg bomb was discovered in Terni.[12]
  • December 2019: 10,000 evacuated in Turin upon discovering a 65kg bomb, Mayor Chiara Appendino commented that it needs defusion.[13]
  • December 2019: 54,000 evacuated in Brindisi in a radius of 1,617m after discovering a bomb.[14][15]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Public Safety Bomb Disposal in Germany.
  1. ^ a b Higginbotham, Adam (January 2016). "There Are Still Thousands of Tons of Unexploded Bombs in Germany, Left Over From World War II". Smithsonian. Archived from the original on 2018-09-24. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Thousands Evacuated in Berlin After World War II Bomb Is Found". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2018-08-17. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  3. ^ Landler, Mark. "60 Years Later, Buried Bombs Still Frighten Germans, and Kill Some". Archived from the original on 2017-05-19. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  4. ^ "WWII bomb kills three in Germany". BBC News. 2 June 2010. Archived from the original on 2018-01-21. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  5. ^ "WW2 bomb kills German digger driver". BBC News. 2014. Archived from the original on 2017-09-09. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  6. ^ a b "Koblenz residents move out as World War Two bomb made safe". DW.COM. Archived from the original on 2018-04-09. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  7. ^ "Germany: World War II bomb removal forces mass evacuation in western city". DW.COM. Archived from the original on 2018-09-20. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  8. ^ "World War II bomb defused in Germany after 18,500 evacuated". The Straits Times. 26 August 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-10-20. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  9. ^ "World War Two bomb detonated in Frankfurt river". 2019-04-14. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  10. ^ "US bomb from WWII defused in Germany after mass evacuation". Retrieved 2019-07-08.
  11. ^ "Mass evacuation in Italy over WW2 bomb". BBC News. 14 March 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-04-01. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  12. ^ Yedroudj, Latifa (26 July 2018). "Italy WW2 bomb THREAT: 12,000 people evacuated after bomb discovered in Terni". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  13. ^ https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50622518
  14. ^ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/15/italy-more-than-50000-evacuated-in-brindisi-after-ww2-bomb-found
  15. ^ https://www.reuters.com/article/us-italy-evacuation-brindisi/italian-city-evacuates-54000-people-to-defuse-ww2-bomb-idUSKBN1YJ08R
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