World War II bomb disposal in Europe

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]

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

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
  1. 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. "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. "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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