# 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:** 18\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2025, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/161 "2025-06-08T10:50:18Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > That’s certainly true of POTUS Did you intend to post this in a different thread? ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2025, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/162 "2025-06-08T12:47:17Z")
> [@Mops](#): > > (German: chemical or clockwork delay; British/US: chemical delay). Nominal delay was 1 to 144 hours, i.e. it was not long term bomb disposal that was targeted but rather firefighters and other short term rescue work. Ahh yes, I remember the clockwork fuse. I had an instructor one tell me that, “If you start to hear it whirring and buzzing, you have _the rest of your life_ to get it off [the bomb]!” (They were designed to be ‘tamper’/‘removal’ resistant). Tripler Wow, this thread takes me back in time . . . ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2025, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/163 "2025-06-08T15:38:54Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > (Bombing runways was never particularly effective in the long term as they were easier to repair than to blow up.) This is still quite true. There are now some pretty advanced munitions specifically for wrecking runways. But it’s always only temporary because a) repairs are pretty easy, and b) given the importance of runways, the runway owners will have invested heavily in rapid repair equipment, supplies, & manpower. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2025, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/164 "2025-06-08T15:46:53Z")
Sometimes, denying the use of an airfield for a couple of days is all you need. And you can always restrike if repairs are advancing. Or attack the aircraft trapped on the ground after runway denial. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2025, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/165 "2025-06-08T16:00:56Z")
'Zactly. It’d be nice (_very_ nice) to put an airfield “permanently” our of commission, like until after the war has ended. But that’s the perfect becoming the enemy of the good enough. A couple days now and again may be all you really need. With the flipside that because airfields are vital, they tend to be heavily defended. Striking one hard enough to shut it down for a couple days is unlikely to be a loss-free operation for the attacker. At least until we start considering pure missile- or long range standoff weapons-based attacks. Which may become the wave of the future, but today are either ineffective or unduly escalatory for most scenarios. ---
**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:** [June 9, 2025, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/166 "2025-06-09T01:26:28Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > > > That’s certainly true of POTUS > > Did you intend to post this in a different thread? No. Read the last sentence of the post just before mine. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/167 "2025-06-09T23:23:32Z")
**Moderating** > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > No. Read the last sentence of the post just before mine In that case, keep the political pot-shots out of FQ. Save that type of commentary for other forums. ---
**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:** [June 10, 2025, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/168 "2025-06-10T01:31:59Z")
My apologies. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2025, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/169 "2025-06-10T01:57:33Z")
Has anyone seen Youtube videos of people finding UXO while magnet fishing? There are a few of them out there. Here’s one that might be nightmare fuel for how the UXO is handled before they realize what it is: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/JeyVRSqxz6Y/maxresdefault.jpg "US Military Explosives Recovered While Magnet Fishing (Army Bomb Squad Called)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeyVRSqxz6Y) ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2025, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/170 "2025-06-10T02:17:23Z")
There are places in Europe where metal detecting and magnet fishing are just banned. The justification used is the danger of unexploded ordinance. Some people I know think that is just an excuse, like “patient benefit” in hospitals, but whatever: it is the justification offered. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2025, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/171 "2025-06-15T03:26:56Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Or attack the aircraft trapped on the ground after runway denial. Why wait? A good Prime BEEF team can fill a crater and drag a fiberglass mat to get an airfield back to MOS in a matter of hours (depending on size, of course). Taxiways can be used as emergency runways in the meantime (I had an O-6 do this once, overseas). If you _can_ attack the can attack the parked aircraft, your getting a couple of steps ahead… But I get it–airfields are easier targets. You _ **really** _ want to foul up air operations? “Slime it” with persistent chemical agents. You. Will. Slow. Sortie. Generation. Down. To. A. Snails. Pace… Tripler Doing things in MOPP gear? That adds some extra time. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2025, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/172 "2025-06-15T03:29:59Z")
Modern runway denial weapons heave hardtop around the crater for several meters around and tens of centineters high. So you’d have to deal with unplanned speed bumps that the runway matting won’t be able to flatten. And no sane operator is going to advocate WMDs as a mere area denial weapon. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2025, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/173 "2025-06-15T03:41:28Z")
Its not that hard to deal with… just plow what you can back into the crater, identify what won’t, and haul it off with front end loaders, compact everything, and drag your mat across. SOP for expedient repair. The mat is just a cover for the compacted, repaired hole until you can replace the slabs with fresh concrete. No sane operator, true. But the DPRK isn’t known for its adherence to sanity . . . Or “rules”. But WMDs, specifically persistent chem weapons, are capable of being used as an area denial weapon (like minefields). Tripler Kill people, or channel them where you want them to go! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2025, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/174 "2025-06-15T14:45:22Z")
Agree w Tripler. Soviet doctrine _was_ to slime NATO airfields rather promptly. They never believed in the hard firebreak between “normal” weapons and "WMD"s. To them that was an artificial distinction NATO came up with to handicap the Soviet side and simplify NATO’s planning. ---
**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:** [October 18, 2026, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/175 "2026-10-18T03:46:02Z")
Bumped. There’s now a partial closure of the Antietam, Md. battlefield to remove live ordnance from a postwar monument: [https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1664074608420351&set=pb.100044534825272.-2207520000](https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1664074608420351&set=pb.100044534825272.-2207520000) ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2026, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/176 "2026-10-18T04:56:26Z")
I like the comments, we want a realistic experience for the guests. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2026, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/177 "2026-10-18T10:38:14Z")
Incidentally there was an interesting article a few weeks back about the UK bomb disposal squad and how and why they make the decisions they do. Note, someone upthread mentioned a big bomb being found in Plymouth; that was in 2024, _this_ one was this year: [https://www.theguardian.com/news/ng-interactive/2026/oct/06/it-could-knock-a-whole-street-down-the-art-of-defusing-a-second-world-war-bomb](https://www.theguardian.com/news/ng-interactive/2026/oct/06/it-could-knock-a-whole-street-down-the-art-of-defusing-a-second-world-war-bomb) It’s still such a frequent situation that it rarely makes the news unless it’s unusual or in a really dangerous situation; my former university dug up a smallish unexploded bomb on site while I was there and it got just a few lines in the student newsletter and a passing mention in the local newspaper, to the bewildered horror of some of the international students. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2026, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-old-unexploded-wwii-era-bombs-preferred-to-defuse-it-in-place-or-move-it-first/681308/178 "2026-10-18T19:17:22Z")
There was one found down the coast in Falmouth a few weeks ago as well. There’s a lot of construction going on at the moment, and that always digs a few up. [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=8)