45,000 people to be evacuated after WW2 bomb found in river

[Lighthawk]

Almost half the German city of Koblenz is under evacuation orders as experts prepare to defuse a two-ton ‘Blockbuster’ RAF bomb in the Rhine.

The 10ft bomb, one of the biggest in the wartime arsenal of Bomber Command, was discovered after 65 years when the river level dropped during the driest November on record.

The fuse is badly corroded, and the authorities are evacuating 45,000 of Koblenz’s 120,000 population to leave a security zone of a mile around the bomb - which is capable of destroying an entire city block.

The evacuation - the biggest in German postwar history - will involve fleets of buses and 1,000 volunteers helping police and firemen.

It is due to take place on Sunday so as not to disrupt Saturday Christmas shopping.

Some 700 patients at two hospitals will have to be moved, as well as the residents of seven old people’s homes and prisoners in a local jail.

The city’s main train station will also have to be emptied as well as several hotels.

Authorities this week built a temporary dam of some 350 sandbags around the bomb which is covered by just 16 inches of water.

The plan is then for bomb disposal teams to pump the water out and get to the bomb proper to begin the delicate job of removing the detonator.

It is expected to take several hours to make the bomb safe. Should it show signs of going off, experts

The low level of the Rhine has already exposed four other unexploded bombs.

Police closed a road and a stretch of railway near Rhein bei Vallendar near Koblenz on Saturday so that three smoke bombs found in the river could be blown up.

An artificial traffic jam was created on a nearby autobahn to slow traffic while the explosion work was underway.

Fire department boss Manfred Morschhäuser told the German news agency DAPD said the area will be pumped free of water at the weekend so the bomb can be detonated.

In the meantime, the fire department has established a telephone hotline.

Morschhäuser said: 'Several hundred callers are getting in touch each day with their questions and problems.

'Each household included in the evacuation will be notified via flier.

'And on Sunday we'll go ringing from house to house.'

A day later and just a few kilometres downriver in Neuwie a 500-kilo aerial bomb was spotted in the river. This required the evacuation of around 1,000 people living in the nearby area.

Koblenz was a German operations centre during the Second World War and was hit repeatedly by air raids carried out by RAF and U.S. bombers.

While it had heavy industry producing ball bearings and tank parts, it was also the home of Army Group B which oversaw the conquest of France.

Later in the war the city was the hub for defensive operations for German forces following D-Day. Eighty-seven per cent of Koblenz was eventually destroyed in more than two dozen air raids.

German newspaper The National reports 'an estimated 2,000 tonnes of American and British aerial bombs and other munitions are still found every year.'

Source

[McAvoy]

It is due to take place on Sunday so as not to disrupt Saturday Christmas shopping.

Well this is certainly odd. But I guess the bomb isn't THAT unstable to wait one more day.

[IanKennedy]

Should it show signs of going off, experts

"experts" what? Enquiring minds want to know?

[Lt. Staplic]

Should it show signs of going off, experts

"experts" what? Enquiring minds want to know?

I assumed that was they're creative way of saying that the experts near the bomb site will no longer exist.

[Captain Seafort]

Gives a whole new meaning to this ->

Should it show signs of going off, experts

"experts" what? Enquiring minds want to know?

You weren't seriously expecting decent editing I hope?

[Griffin]

Well, this could turn into a real blast from the past.

[IanKennedy]

Gives a whole new meaning to this ->

Should it show signs of going off, experts

"experts" what? Enquiring minds want to know?

You weren't seriously expecting decent editing I hope?

No, not really. I just can't think of a way of finishing the sentence without referring to one "filling ones pants" to put it politely. Gosh, one appears to have come over all posh there.

[Graham Kennedy]

Should it show signs of going off, experts

"experts" what? Enquiring minds want to know?

Should it show signs of going off, experts will promptly shat themselves and run screaming "GET AWAY!!!! FOR GOD'S SAKE RUN!!!!!!"

[McAvoy]

Should it show signs of going off, experts

"experts" what? Enquiring minds want to know?

Should it show signs of going off, experts will promptly shat themselves and run screaming "GET AWAY!!!! FOR GOD'S SAKE RUN!!!!!!"

Perfect oppurtunity to wear the T shirt that says "I am a bomb techinican. If you see me running, try to keep up."

[Graham Kennedy]

[Mikey]

Excuse my ignorance, but exactly what signs does a bomb show of exploding save for... well, exploding?

[Deepcrush]

Ticking, or random sparks near a fuse.

[Mikey]

Ah. Well, if I had heard a bomb ticking, the only other evident signs would be the dust left by my hasty departure.

[McAvoy]

Ticking, or random sparks near a fuse.

Movement too.

[IanKennedy]

High velocity shrapnel and a blinding flash of light?