# Finding old unexploded WWII era bombs: preferred to defuse it in place or move it first? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 14, 2014, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308 "2014-02-14T05:57:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/41 "2014-04-10T10:31:11Z")
Anecdotal, but there’s an old test firing range from World War 2 not far from me. Every now again a mortar shell is found - it’s always blown up on site in a controlled demolition. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/42 "2014-04-10T10:39:19Z")
I just had to comment on a thread about UXOs. Had a Real World report of one on base today, we did the whole EOD thing, turns out it was a plastic bottle cap. … … _What…:smack:_ ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2021, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/43 "2021-03-28T15:14:41Z")
Bumped. > **[Bomb squad safely detonates Civil War cannonball found in Maryland | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/28/us/maryland-cannonball-civil-war-detonate-trnd/index.html)** > > Bomb squad technicians have safely disposed of a Civil War-era ordnance found in Frederick County, Maryland. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2021, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/44 "2021-03-29T01:08:28Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > and on the other you’re trying to cause the smallest possible bang. 🙂 I was remotely connected to a man who was responsible for disposing of things. Which were, as it happens, always fairly small things. Which they added bigger things too, to make a bigger bang, for whatever reason, but specifically to impress those watching and listening that _“stuff goes off with a big bang, and you shouldn’t mess around with it.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2021, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/45 "2021-03-31T15:55:45Z")
Preparing to “Return to Sender” ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/46 "2021-04-01T08:45:59Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > I have heard it also has caused a strain on international relations at times when say the Germans find a British or American bomb under what was then a residential area or vise versa. It doesnt take long for old memories to come back. I’m German, and I have my doubts about this being a strain on international relations at least on our side. Defusing old WW2 bombs is a common occurrence in Germany; it doesn’t happen exactly all the time, but certainly several times a year you have news reports of some unexploded bomb being found in construction works in a major German city. The usual protocol that follows is to evacuate the surrounding area (the radius of evacuation being dependent on the size of the bomb, obviously) and defuse the bomb, most of the time on the spot where it was found. By the way, the defusion does not necessarily happen on the same day; typically it will take place on one of the following weekends, when there’s less traffic in the streets to be disturbed. The whole thing is a nuisance if you live in that city and have to leave your home for several hours during the defusion before you’re allowed to return, and such incidents always get news coverage that also mentions the provenance of the bomb - typically British or American, simply because those were the air forces that bombed German cities in the war. But that provenance is always simply mentioned as part of the overall story. I wouldn’t say that it leads to any kind of rising anti-American or anti-British sentiment. Germans are very well aware of the reasons why the British and American air forces carpet-bombed German cities in the 1940s. As for the other side in those international relations: I doubt that the defusion of a British or American bomb in a German city gets much attention in the country of the bomb’s origin. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/47 "2021-04-01T09:44:50Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > I’m German, and I have my doubts about this being a strain on international relations at least on our side. Defusing old WW2 bombs is a common occurrence in Germany; it doesn’t happen exactly all the time, but certainly several times a year you have news reports of some unexploded bomb being found in construction works in a major German city. As you noted, these incidents are a minor and temporary inconvenience, and not a major cause of ill-ill between nations. OTOH… [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-laos-clusterbombs/laos-still-paying-the-price-of-vietnam-war-idUSTRE4AQ0HD20081127](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-laos-clusterbombs/laos-still-paying-the-price-of-vietnam-war-idUSTRE4AQ0HD20081127) > The war ended 35 years ago, yet the civilian casualties continue. According to aid agency Handicap International, as many as 12,000 civilians have been killed or maimed since, and there are hundreds of new casualties every year. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/48 "2021-04-01T09:57:38Z")
Oh, I don’t doubt that there are cases where legacy bombs kill people even today. I was simply responding to a post that was specifically about Germany, and about an alleged rise in anti-British or anti-American sentiment in Germany as a result of old WW2 bombs, which is certainly something I do not see from a German perspective. Incidentally, I wonder how they would do it nowadays, under COVID-19 conditions. The usual approach of German city councils, converting school gyms or similar public facilities into temporary shelters where the residents of the evacuated areas can gather to while away time and have a free meal, is probably not going to work under such circumstances. Have there been any defusions since March 2020? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/49 "2021-04-01T17:19:13Z")
Not that I’m aware of. And FWLIW, BTW, I think most Americans would say “defusings” and not “defusions.” ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/50 "2021-04-02T13:04:43Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > Have there been any defusions since March 2020? April 2020 in Bonn during the first lock down. Almost exactly one year ago… [Germany: WW2 bomb forces hospital evacuation – DW – 04/03/2020](https://www.dw.com/en/germany-ww2-bomb-forces-hospital-evacuation/a-53002846#:~:text=A%20hospital%20in%20Bonn%20was,nearby%20residents%20were%20also%20evacuated.&text=Local%20authorities%20also%20ordered%201%2C200%20local%20residents%20to%20evacuate). ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/51 "2021-04-02T13:28:19Z")
Gottingen January 31. 4 bombs exploded in situ. The article does address the Covid19 thing about visiting or congregation in a group too large… they gave exemptions to people who were evacuated, so that if the group was only too large because of them, then exempt. Well you know, police can work out when something is a weak excuse not a reason. [Göttingen: 4 World War II bombs prompt evacuation – DW – 01/31/2021](https://www.dw.com/en/germany-4-world-war-ii-bombs-prompt-evacuation-in-g%C3%B6ttingen/a-56393748) ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/52 "2021-04-02T16:54:14Z")
Here’s a recent detonate-in-place: [An Unexploded WWII Bomb Was (Safely) Detonated in England | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/unexploded-bomb-wwii-was-safely-detonated-england-180977146/) ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2021, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/53 "2021-04-04T17:08:38Z")
It’s reasonably common here, they find about 60 a year. Not usually a major news item. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2021, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/54 "2021-04-08T03:38:08Z")
Do those bombs ever self-detonate from age or corrosion? So there’s just a sudden explosion out of the blue? ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2021, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/55 "2021-04-08T05:04:23Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/28/us/maryland-cannonball-civil-war-detonate-trnd/index.html) > > > > ### [Bomb squad safely detonates Civil War cannonball found in Maryland](https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/28/us/maryland-cannonball-civil-war-detonate-trnd/index.html) > > > > Bomb squad technicians have safely disposed of a Civil War-era ordnance found in Frederick County, Maryland. If it had a fuse and was full of explosive material, it wasn’t a cannonball. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2021, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/56 "2021-04-08T06:15:34Z")
The ones that were spherical in shape were balls, fired from a cannon. “Cannonball” seems to be a common description, which seems reasonable to me. It’s interesting that mid century cartoons still used the trope of spherical explosive ‘bombs’. Evidently the concept lingered on long after artillery changed. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2021, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/57 "2021-04-08T15:51:11Z")
If they explode, they’re shells. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2021, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/58 "2021-04-08T16:05:26Z")
Technically correct, the best kind. But most folks will never make the pedantic distinction, no matter how much ~~you carp at them~~ attempt to enlighten them. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2021, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/59 "2021-04-09T02:01:48Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > If they explode, they’re shells. Here’s a picture: [24695d1280095451-ot-civil-war-exploding-cannonball-img\_3033.jpg (993×993) (practicalmachinist.com)](https://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/attachments/f38/24695d1280095451-ot-civil-war-exploding-cannonball-img_3033.jpg) There are things called ‘civil war artillery shells’ which _aren’t_ cannonballs, so as well as being correct and descriptive, the term ‘cannonball’ allows you to discriminate between the different kinds of artillery projectile. Also, ‘explode’ is a bit misleading, since most of the cannonballs pictured on youtube are “spherical case shot”. HE/fragmentation shells only became common during WWI. ‘Bombs bursting in air’ really are just bursting: they are fused to burst so that the shrapnel spreads out before it hits. Case shot has better range than canister shot. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2021, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/60 "2021-04-09T04:02:34Z")
Everything you wanted to know about exploding cannonballs,shells,etc… Go to the Field Projectiles - cross-section portion for detailed pictures of recovered shells. (Don’t try this at home).[http://www.civilwarartillery.com/](http://www.civilwarartillery.com/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308.md?page=4)