Someone gave me a book called "Danger UXB", about the teams that removed unexploded bombs across the UK during and after WWII, which was unexpectedly fascinating. Incredibly dangerous and painstaking work.
What will happen to all the unexploded ordnance just lying in the ground since ww2? Will they eventually decay and dissolve, or will they just get more and more volatile over time?
Or WW1, which happens in Flanders/Belgium regularly. I think both. Farmers die from time to time plowing or handling old bombs. If you travel around there you may see bombs left by the front gates for a regular pickup service.
Also Flanders: There is this article avfew months ago about kids going on a youth camp, and bringing grenade parts home in their backpack. Turns out, they thought: nice stones, dug them up, and kept them as souvenirs
This seems like it has to vary significantly depending on a number of factors.
Unexploded ordnance refers to ordnance that was deployed but failed to explode. E.g. the bomb was dropped from a plane and just didn't explode.
Deployed mines that haven't exploded are just waiting for someone to interact with them. This seems like it must be the highest risk.
This article appears to be about a cache of unused bombs. They would not ordinarily explode on their own, but if everything is decaying then the safety mechanisms are also decaying so there must be some risk.
Well, you'll be glad to know that people like my dad (ATO/EOD) sorted quite a lot of it out back in the day. However, they could only demolish what they were pointed at and as this article notes, there is more that keeps on turning up.
I think that, when undisturbed, the risk is pretty low. The real danger if someone inadvertently disturbing an old bomb with a corroding casing. Take the SS Richard Montgomery, for example. We are basically just letting nature do its thing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Richard_Montgomery?wprov=sf...
My assumption is that it will always be a problem.
There was a case in Virginia where a man was killed by a US civil-war era artillery round in his garage. Granted, he was in the process of making it safe at the time, but this was ~2010 from memory - so ~150 years after the conflict occurred.
Given that, we can obviously expect that some ordnance from WW2 will still be dangerous in 2095.
Over geological timespans, everything decays. Over many decades things can remain unstable or volatile. Even if most of it becomes ineffective, some may be volatile so disturbing anything will be dangerous for many lifetimes.
> generations of children have had a blast
Thankfully not!
I don't like puns in articles.
Someone gave me a book called "Danger UXB", about the teams that removed unexploded bombs across the UK during and after WWII, which was unexpectedly fascinating. Incredibly dangerous and painstaking work.
Danger UXB (1979) the miniseries was also very good at portraying the bomb disposal procedures.
loved it!
The costs of UK munition dumping are quite high and varied.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaufort%27s_Dyke
There's also this sunk ship just off the coast of Kent that might blow up one day:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Richard_Montgomery
The constant delay would laughable if it wasn't for the fact that it might end up being tragic.
The UK government really does love to stick it's head in the sand when it comes to problems.
What will happen to all the unexploded ordnance just lying in the ground since ww2? Will they eventually decay and dissolve, or will they just get more and more volatile over time?
In many countries, that ordnance is still found and disposed of more or less regularly. The decaying involves lots of nasty chemicals. It's happening at sea as well, by the way (because they dumped their leftovers after the wars there). Here's a short info piece by the German environment ministry about the issue: https://www.bundesumweltministerium.de/en/topics/marine-cons... and here's a European map: https://ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/atlas/maritime_atlas/#l...
Or WW1, which happens in Flanders/Belgium regularly. I think both. Farmers die from time to time plowing or handling old bombs. If you travel around there you may see bombs left by the front gates for a regular pickup service.
More info about the explosions and the pickup service: https://www.flanderstoday.eu/content/iron-harvest
Also Flanders: There is this article avfew months ago about kids going on a youth camp, and bringing grenade parts home in their backpack. Turns out, they thought: nice stones, dug them up, and kept them as souvenirs
https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2025/07/31/ouders-in-leuven-vin...
This seems like it has to vary significantly depending on a number of factors.
Unexploded ordnance refers to ordnance that was deployed but failed to explode. E.g. the bomb was dropped from a plane and just didn't explode.
Deployed mines that haven't exploded are just waiting for someone to interact with them. This seems like it must be the highest risk.
This article appears to be about a cache of unused bombs. They would not ordinarily explode on their own, but if everything is decaying then the safety mechanisms are also decaying so there must be some risk.
Well, you'll be glad to know that people like my dad (ATO/EOD) sorted quite a lot of it out back in the day. However, they could only demolish what they were pointed at and as this article notes, there is more that keeps on turning up.
This is a bit of a worry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Richard_Montgomery
I suggest you don't buy property or go swimming nearby to that. I'm going to stick in Somerset.
Fascinating. Amazing they don’t just evacuate the town and detonate it. Seems like a matter of time before it goes.
1 reply →
I think that, when undisturbed, the risk is pretty low. The real danger if someone inadvertently disturbing an old bomb with a corroding casing. Take the SS Richard Montgomery, for example. We are basically just letting nature do its thing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Richard_Montgomery?wprov=sf...
My assumption is that it will always be a problem.
There was a case in Virginia where a man was killed by a US civil-war era artillery round in his garage. Granted, he was in the process of making it safe at the time, but this was ~2010 from memory - so ~150 years after the conflict occurred.
Given that, we can obviously expect that some ordnance from WW2 will still be dangerous in 2095.
Over geological timespans, everything decays. Over many decades things can remain unstable or volatile. Even if most of it becomes ineffective, some may be volatile so disturbing anything will be dangerous for many lifetimes.
Was paddling in a beach in Scotland at the weekend and found a .303 bullet. Some research said it’s a US made one from 1915-1917.