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WW2 bomb blows corn field in Halbach, Germany, Monday, June 24, 2019.

Edward

Well-Known Member
I’m putting this in “related gear” :p

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B-Man2

Well-Known Member

Edward

Well-Known Member
Agreed. I hope that scanners of some kind can be used to find other potential dangers in that field. Boy talk about delayed reaction. I would have shit my shorts if it went off while actually working the field!
 

B-Man2

Well-Known Member
Agreed. I hope that scanners of some kind can be used to find other potential dangers in that field. Boy talk about delayed reaction. I would have shit my shorts if it went off while actually working the field!
Not to mention the concussion damage to your body .
 

B-Man2

Well-Known Member
A little easy forensic work will tell you whether it was a US or British Bomb, High Explosive or Fragmentation, and the weight 250 or 500lbs
All interesting stuff to nerds like us, but not so much to the guy who owns the field and is concerned about his ass during next planting season!!
 

B-Man2

Well-Known Member
New detail: Police were sent to inspect the hole, which measured 33 feet wide and 13 feet deep, they said. :eek:

BTW......I wonder what might have been in that area and why the bomb was dropped. If it was part of a string there was probably another bomb not too far away. If it was a single drop by a fighter bomber the area might have been a German strong hold and I'd bet a metal detector would find a some other stuff as well.
Get packed up Ed.......We're movin out!! Time to do a little travel and historical digging! ;)
 

Edward

Well-Known Member
BTW......I wonder what might have been in that area and why the bomb was dropped. If it was part of a string there was probably another bomb not too far away. If it was a single drop by a fighter bomber the area might have been a German strong hold and I'd bet a metal detector would find a some other stuff as well.
Get packed up Ed.......We're movin out!! Time to do a little travel and historical digging! ;)
"With the former railway depot, we were quite a bomb target at the end of the Second World War," city spokesman Johannes Laubach told the German news website Hessenschau. "We can be glad that the farmer was not in the field."
 

B-Man2

Well-Known Member
"With the former railway depot, we were quite a bomb target at the end of the Second World War," city spokesman Johannes Laubach told the German news website Hessenschau. "We can be glad that the farmer was not in the field."
If that’s the case then there’s probably another little “surprise “ in that area somewhere. As you already know, railroad yards were a prime target for allied bombers and time delayed fuses did always go off as planned.
 

Smithy

Well-Known Member
Railway stations, depots and marshalling yards were top tier targets because if you knock them out then you severely disable the enemy's ability to support and supply their front lines and to distribute resources within their territories.

There's probably no way of knowing but it would be interesting to know if this bomb was dropped during Operation Clarion, one of the Allies biggest coordinated assaults on German communication and transportation targets.
 

B-Man2

Well-Known Member
Could also have been a single bomb from a fighter bomber, who knows... If it'd be my field, it would take a thorough search and inspection before I'd accept to go there again!
Might just be a good thing to hire a company with the technology to do a little ground penetrating radar. It would no doubt cost a fortune but the cost would be insignificant considering what’s at stake.
 

Silver Surfer

Well-Known Member
unexploded ordiance have been and continue to be found all over europe, especially germany, as well as the uk. in german cities, when digging for building foundations, street work, transit work, the explosives crews are never far away. most of the time the bomb is found and neutralized, but every now and again, bang, one goes off. and....not to mention nam, or areas in the former czechoslovokia , and areas in the mid east. they find ahmed jr and the goat he was chasing plastered on the side of tree 50 meters away from where he was last seen. through out history, armed forces are sent to do the job of fucking things up to the best of their ability. thats the job requirement. who cleans up the mess is another story.
 

Edward

Well-Known Member
According to the BBC, explosive ordnance demolition teams concluded the explosive device was a 250 kilogram (551 pound) aerial bomb dropped by the Allies during World War II. The bomb was likely a M43, AN-M43, or AN-M64 500 pound general purpose bomb. General purpose bombs at terminal velocity will penetrate 3-4 building stories before detonating, so it’s not surprising this bomb buried itself so well.
The M65 was five feet long and 14 inches wide, and carried a payload of 280 pounds of TNT. The bomb casing, designed to produce fragment into lethal shrapnel, was .3 inches thick. An explosive ordnance disposal guidebook describes their purpose as to destroy “steel railway bridges, underground railways, seacraft such as light cruisers, concrete docks, medium sized buildings, etc.” https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a28170164/crater-germany-world-war-ii/
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