Battlefield Digging Safety - Aircraft of World War II

Bill G. · 02-20-2009, 09:08 PM

A very important safety message!!!!

I have been watching a few You Tube Videos showing people digging up stuff from WWII battlefields. This can be a super way to find lost stuff and to get yourself KILLED!

I saw one person handling a WWII anti-tank mine. Then he tossed it a side. He is lucky it didn't blow up!

The explosives in bombs, mines, grenades, and even bullets becomes more UNSTABLE with age. Any handling can cause these items to explode. And ruin your your future!

Handling these munitions is best ONLY left to experts. If you find any munitions, no matter how old or new, mark the area, note the location, GPS will work great, but use any means you have. Then notify the local police civilian or military. They will have the proper people go out and safely dispose of these explosives.

There has to be tons and tons of very dangerous explosives still left on the battlefields of WWII. These explosive don't know the war is over. They are still waiting to do their duty and explode.

Yes it is nice to have some nice souvenirs. But are any worth your life?

Bill G.

GrauGeist · 02-20-2009, 09:37 PM

Great advice, Bill!

Could add to that, any munitions/ordinance from any era must be considered unstable and unsafe, including underwater sites.

Bill G. · 02-20-2009, 09:47 PM

Thanks GrauGeist!

And you are correct about the any era. I was attempting to stay in the WWII theme.

I did find WWII munitions when I was stationed in West Germany at Pruem AS. I did report what I saw to the Station Security Police. He said that he would pass the word to notify the German EOD folks.

Also during warm nights, I would heave the window open. I did hear a few booms in the late night. The speculation was that a deer had found a mine!

No one "policed up" the battlefield after the war. Much was left.

Bill G.

Airframes · 02-21-2009, 12:59 AM

You're quite right, Bill and Dave. Ordnance or munitions of any era, if discovered, should be marked, reported, and left well alone!
A few years ago, I had reason to do some business with the Mines Advisory Group, a UK-based organisation that provides training and support to those groups that are tasked with locating, and removing/neutralising abondoned land-mines, often in un-marked minefields, some of which had been 'laid' by aerial delivery.
I can't quite remember the exact figures I was given, but, around the world, there are/were, somewhere in the region of 13 million land-mines and similar devices, unaccounted for! That does not include other, air-dropped ordnance, and is only reflective of that ordnance 'sowed' over the last two or three decades!
A month or two back, there was a thread on this forum about recent discoveries of yet more unexploded bombs being found in Germany, and the ongoing work required to render these growlingly frequent discoveries safe.

BombTaxi · 02-21-2009, 04:25 AM

There are still several folks killed each year in Belgium by the left-overs from WWI, and thats just people (mainly farmers) going about their business. There was a British Army officer killed on Vimy Ridge about 6 or 7 years ago who was part of a volunteer team trying to make the site safe for tourists - 93 years after the battle, most of it is taped off and you take your life in your hands leaving the path

02-20-2009, 09:08 PM	#1
Bill G. Banned Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Plainwell, MI Posts: 460	Battlefield Digging Safety A very important safety message!!!! I have been watching a few You Tube Videos showing people digging up stuff from WWII battlefields. This can be a super way to find lost stuff and to get yourself KILLED! I saw one person handling a WWII anti-tank mine. Then he tossed it a side. He is lucky it didn't blow up! The explosives in bombs, mines, grenades, and even bullets becomes more UNSTABLE with age. Any handling can cause these items to explode. And ruin your your future! Handling these munitions is best ONLY left to experts. If you find any munitions, no matter how old or new, mark the area, note the location, GPS will work great, but use any means you have. Then notify the local police civilian or military. They will have the proper people go out and safely dispose of these explosives. There has to be tons and tons of very dangerous explosives still left on the battlefields of WWII. These explosive don't know the war is over. They are still waiting to do their duty and explode. Yes it is nice to have some nice souvenirs. But are any worth your life? Bill G.

02-20-2009, 09:37 PM	#2
GrauGeist Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Redding, California Posts: 3,357	Great advice, Bill! Could add to that, any munitions/ordinance from any era must be considered unstable and unsafe, including underwater sites. __________________ "Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future." - Marcus Aurelius, Emperor of Rome > I Support Doug Gillis <

02-21-2009, 12:59 AM	#4
Airframes Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 9,064	You're quite right, Bill and Dave. Ordnance or munitions of any era, if discovered, should be marked, reported, and left well alone! A few years ago, I had reason to do some business with the Mines Advisory Group, a UK-based organisation that provides training and support to those groups that are tasked with locating, and removing/neutralising abondoned land-mines, often in un-marked minefields, some of which had been 'laid' by aerial delivery. I can't quite remember the exact figures I was given, but, around the world, there are/were, somewhere in the region of 13 million land-mines and similar devices, unaccounted for! That does not include other, air-dropped ordnance, and is only reflective of that ordnance 'sowed' over the last two or three decades! A month or two back, there was a thread on this forum about recent discoveries of yet more unexploded bombs being found in Germany, and the ongoing work required to render these growlingly frequent discoveries safe. __________________

02-21-2009, 04:25 AM	#5
BombTaxi Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Brownhills, W. Mids, UK Posts: 1,189	There are still several folks killed each year in Belgium by the left-overs from WWI, and thats just people (mainly farmers) going about their business. There was a British Army officer killed on Vimy Ridge about 6 or 7 years ago who was part of a volunteer team trying to make the site safe for tourists - 93 years after the battle, most of it is taped off and you take your life in your hands leaving the path __________________ Good generals think about tactics. Great generals think about logistics. "If freedom is to be saved and enlarged, poverty must be ended. There is no other solution." - Nye Bevan "Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to ask for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee" - John Donne, Meditation XVII

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02-20-2009, 09:47 PM	#3
Bill G. Banned Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Plainwell, MI Posts: 460	Thanks GrauGeist! And you are correct about the any era. I was attempting to stay in the WWII theme. I did find WWII munitions when I was stationed in West Germany at Pruem AS. I did report what I saw to the Station Security Police. He said that he would pass the word to notify the German EOD folks. Also during warm nights, I would heave the window open. I did hear a few booms in the late night. The speculation was that a deer had found a mine! No one "policed up" the battlefield after the war. Much was left. Bill G.