# I live in a former (WWII) warzone. How likely is it that those old bombs are going to explode? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 17, 2013, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-a-former-wwii-warzone-how-likely-is-it-that-those-old-bombs-are-going-to-explode/663741 "2013-07-17T11:10:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Crazier\_Catlady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Crazier\_Catlady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazier_Catlady)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-a-former-wwii-warzone-how-likely-is-it-that-those-old-bombs-are-going-to-explode/663741/1 "2013-07-17T11:10:31Z")
I live in Arnhem, the Netherlands, which some of you may know from the movie A Bridge Too Far. The bridge from the movie is only a 15 minute walk away from my house. We regularly hear news of old explosives from WWII being found whenever someone is digging up a site for whatever reason. Which leads me to wonder: how likely is it that one of those things are going to explode after all this time? And would it take something like a digging machine jarring it a bit too much or could they explode spontaneously? ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-a-former-wwii-warzone-how-likely-is-it-that-those-old-bombs-are-going-to-explode/663741/2 "2013-07-17T11:31:11Z")
From what I read in German papers in the last few years bombs going off even now is reasonably common, but these are mostly aerial bombs with delayed fuzes (designed for delays of hours to max. days) used in the strategic bombing of Germany as a sort of double-tap tactic - I rather suspect the Allies eschewed this for political considerations when bombing targets in the occupied Netherlands. It seems contact fuzes had a much lower failure rate. One example of a WWII bomb going off: an explosion in the Danube at Vienna on August of last year (German-language article [http://diepresse.com/home/panorama/wien/1282897/Wien\_Heftige-Explosion-in-der-Donau?from=gl.home\_panorama](http://diepresse.com/home/panorama/wien/1282897/Wien_Heftige-Explosion-in-der-Donau?from=gl.home_panorama) ) Would the UXO in your area be aerial bombs or artillery shells? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-a-former-wwii-warzone-how-likely-is-it-that-those-old-bombs-are-going-to-explode/663741/3 "2013-07-17T12:00:37Z")
Friendly note: I have nothing for answering your questino, but if you’re going to stick around, you’ll probably want to email a mod/admin to change your name. There’s already a ‘crazycatlady,’ and they prefer having names not be so closely matching. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-a-former-wwii-warzone-how-likely-is-it-that-those-old-bombs-are-going-to-explode/663741/4 "2013-07-17T12:03:19Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Friendly note: I have nothing for answering your questino, but if you’re going to stick around, you’ll probably want to email a mod/admin to change your name. There’s already a ‘crazycatlady,’ and they prefer having names not be so closely matching. Like LocoGatoDama or just Loco CatLady. And yes, those bombs are still very much active and [can still be set off](http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/28/13523220-experts-blow-up-550-pound-wwii-bomb-found-in-munich?lite). ---
**Author:** ![Crazier\_Catlady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Crazier\_Catlady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazier_Catlady)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-a-former-wwii-warzone-how-likely-is-it-that-those-old-bombs-are-going-to-explode/663741/5 "2013-07-17T12:07:22Z")
There was heavy fighting around here in 1944, so whatever would go boom in that era can probably be found here. ---
**Author:** ![Crazier\_Catlady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Crazier\_Catlady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazier_Catlady)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-a-former-wwii-warzone-how-likely-is-it-that-those-old-bombs-are-going-to-explode/663741/6 "2013-07-17T12:08:37Z")
I’m considering Crazier Catlady. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-a-former-wwii-warzone-how-likely-is-it-that-those-old-bombs-are-going-to-explode/663741/7 "2013-07-17T12:45:58Z")
> [@Crazy Catlady](#): > > I’m considering Crazier Catlady. Good, that still leaves **Craziest Catlady** for when I have a sex change, and get some cats. I’m already crazy, though. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-a-former-wwii-warzone-how-likely-is-it-that-those-old-bombs-are-going-to-explode/663741/8 "2013-07-17T13:21:37Z")
> [@Mops](#): > > From what I read in German papers in the last few years bombs going off even now is reasonably common, but these are mostly aerial bombs with delayed fuzes (designed for delays of hours to max. days) used in the strategic bombing of Germany as a sort of double-tap tactic - I rather suspect the Allies eschewed this for political considerations when bombing targets in the occupied Netherlands. It seems contact fuzes had a much lower failure rate. > > One example of a WWII bomb going off: an explosion in the Danube at Vienna on August of last year (German-language article [Wien: Heftige Explosion in der Donau – DiePresse.com](http://diepresse.com/home/panorama/wien/1282897/Wien_Heftige-Explosion-in-der-Donau?from=gl.home_panorama) ) > > Would the UXO in your area be aerial bombs or artillery shells? I’m guessing artillery shells, grenades and probably a small number of things like anti-tank rockets, based on what was going on at Arnhem in 1944. ---
**Author:** ![colonial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@colonial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colonial)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-a-former-wwii-warzone-how-likely-is-it-that-those-old-bombs-are-going-to-explode/663741/9 "2013-07-17T15:23:52Z")
Many years ago I read a Smithsonian article about still very hazardous buried rounds in France from WW ONE. A significant public safety issue, and killing people on a yearly basis, they commanded the attention of squads of I think full-time disposal experts. One problem France has that Arnhem does not have is that the front line did not vary much for years, so there was a much longer and denser concentration of fire. Also consider that if France has a problem arising from WW1 then Eastern Europe must have a similar one arising from WW2, although in Eastern European the concentration of unexploded rounds would have to be much more diffuse, since the front lines were not nearly as static there as they were in the WW1 West. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-a-former-wwii-warzone-how-likely-is-it-that-those-old-bombs-are-going-to-explode/663741/10 "2013-07-17T15:56:42Z")
> [@colonial](#): > > Many years ago I read a Smithsonian article about still very hazardous buried rounds in France from WW ONE. A significant public safety issue, and killing people on a yearly basis, they commanded the attention of squads of I think full-time disposal experts. Yup - the Département du Déminage, “Department of Mine Clearance,” responsible for the clearing of the yearly [Iron Harvest](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_harvest). ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-a-former-wwii-warzone-how-likely-is-it-that-those-old-bombs-are-going-to-explode/663741/11 "2013-07-17T16:02:14Z")
> [@Crazy Catlady](#): > > I’m considering Crazier Catlady. How about “Cattier Crazylady”? Unfortunately, “More Ladylike CrazyCat” just doesn’t roll off the tongue very well. ---
**Author:** ![Blakeyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blakeyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blakeyrat)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-a-former-wwii-warzone-how-likely-is-it-that-those-old-bombs-are-going-to-explode/663741/12 "2013-07-17T23:04:03Z")
> [@colonial](#): > > Many years ago I read a Smithsonian article about still very hazardous buried rounds in France > from WW ONE. A significant public safety issue, and killing people on a yearly basis, they commanded > the attention of squads of I think full-time disposal experts. > > One problem France has that Arnhem does not have is that the front line did not vary much > for years, so there was a much longer and denser concentration of fire. Also consider that if > France has a problem arising from WW1 then Eastern Europe must have a similar one arising > from WW2, although in Eastern European the concentration of unexploded rounds would have > to be much more diffuse, since the front lines were not nearly as static there as they were > in the WW1 West. There’s an [unexploded mine from WWI on Messines Ridge](http://www.1976design.com/blog/archive/2004/04/18/largest-unexploded-bomb/). 22 tons of explosive. A similar unexploded mine went off in 1955 when struck by lightning, so it is by all means still very dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-a-former-wwii-warzone-how-likely-is-it-that-those-old-bombs-are-going-to-explode/663741/13 "2013-07-18T00:58:27Z")
“Bodac” is one company that does bomb removals in the Arnhem area. See > **[Den Ouden](https://denoudengroep.com/en/den-ouden-bodac)** > > Den Ouden Germany is still removing 2000 tonnes of WW II bombs each year. They said the bombs are “increasingly unstable”. Not sure if that is to say they are becoming more likely to explode, or the explosive chemicals are degrading and becoming less explosive… but releasing poisonous gases and materials. (ammonia and nitrates .) ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-a-former-wwii-warzone-how-likely-is-it-that-those-old-bombs-are-going-to-explode/663741/14 "2013-07-18T10:40:04Z")
> [@colonial](#): > > Many years ago I read a Smithsonian article about still very hazardous buried rounds in France > from WW ONE. A significant public safety issue, and killing people on a yearly basis, they commanded > the attention of squads of I think full-time disposal experts. Yep. I vaguely remember having heard once that they expected that it would only take a mere 100-150 more years to get rid of mostly all WWI unexploded ordinances. A similar example is North Africa. There are still not simply mines but whole uncleaned WWII minefields in Egypt. ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-a-former-wwii-warzone-how-likely-is-it-that-those-old-bombs-are-going-to-explode/663741/15 "2013-07-18T11:09:28Z")
Lest we forget: > [@](#): > > During the Vietnam War, the US used cluster bombs in air strikes against targets in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.[7] According to The Guardian, of the 260 million cluster bomblets that rained down on Laos between 1964 and 1973, particularly on Xieng Khouang province, **80 million failed to explode** .. for which locals must mostly thank, that most deserving recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, Henry Kissinger. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-a-former-wwii-warzone-how-likely-is-it-that-those-old-bombs-are-going-to-explode/663741/16 "2013-07-18T13:27:34Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I’m guessing artillery shells, grenades and probably a small number of things like anti-tank rockets, based on what was going on at Arnhem in 1944. Did any of those British “Tallboy” "earthquake bombs not go off? You would not like one to explode near a building! ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-a-former-wwii-warzone-how-likely-is-it-that-those-old-bombs-are-going-to-explode/663741/17 "2013-07-18T15:26:46Z")
> [@BrokenBriton](#): > > Lest we forget: > > .. for which locals must mostly thank, that most deserving recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, Henry Kissinger. He designed them so they wouldn’t explode? ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-a-former-wwii-warzone-how-likely-is-it-that-those-old-bombs-are-going-to-explode/663741/18 "2013-07-18T17:13:46Z")
I wonder how much those unexploded WWI mines, bombs, and shells (of which there must have been much more of 70+ years ago) affected military operations during WWII? ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-a-former-wwii-warzone-how-likely-is-it-that-those-old-bombs-are-going-to-explode/663741/19 "2013-07-18T20:31:48Z")
The iron harvest has already been covered, but I did want to add [a bit on the dumping of chemical weapons immediately off the shore](http://www.greatwar.nl/frames/default-knokkee.html) of Belgium/the Netherlands. It’s amazing to me that there evidently hasn’t been a serious accident yet from these munitions. As the article notes, some chemical weapons payloads, especially [mustard gas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfur_mustard), are still very lethal after all of this time. An interesting article (.pdf) by Mark Hiznay of UNIDIR on the failure rates of cluster munitions may be found [here](http://mercury.ethz.ch/serviceengine/Files/ISN/46922/ichaptersection_singledocument/64093545-8f6d-4e26-8e55-4a851e2706f9/en/4_Operational+and+technical+aspects+of+cluster+munitions.pdf). The Congressional Research Service [paper](http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/weapons/RS22907.pdf) (also pdf) on cluster munitions cites heavily from it. This [page](http://www.ddasonline.com/qa_ERW_and_accidents.htm) is one demining company’s opinion on the relative dangers from different UXO types. Finally, the following [page](http://uxoinfo.com/blogcfc/client/includes/uxopages/download2.cfm?X=1&Y=999999) is a vast list of various publicly-available documents relating to UXO and AXO (Abandoned explosive ordnance. Simply, UXO’s been fuzed or otherwise armed, and then usually shot at somebody; AXO’s the stuff that got abandoned/dumped at the end of hostilities.) From it, in a partial answer to **SirRay** ’s question, is the 1994 Field Manual 21-16, [_Unexploded Ordnance Procedures_](http://64.78.11.86/uxofiles/enclosures/2116complete.pdf) (.pdf). Basically, if a Soldier or Marine sees UXO, don’t touch it, mark where it is, and get an Engineer to deal with it. Just another trade-off between it being easier to dispose of the ordnance, or just finding another spot to place the fighting hole, bunker, etc. I am unaware of any large-scale disasters or other operational impediments during WW2 military operations from WW1 UXO, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there wasn’t an accident or two. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-a-former-wwii-warzone-how-likely-is-it-that-those-old-bombs-are-going-to-explode/663741/20 "2014-01-03T22:22:03Z")
A digger driver was killed when his machine accidentally hit an unexploded bomb in Germany–and 8 others were injured. > **[WW2 bomb blast kills digger driver in Germany](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25594000)** > > A digger driver is killed in a blast at a construction site in Germany after he accidentally struck a World War Two bomb, police say. So maybe you should keep your distance when digging is going on. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-a-former-wwii-warzone-how-likely-is-it-that-those-old-bombs-are-going-to-explode/663741.md?page=2)