OT: One tonne German bomb detonated in Exeter

Even you whooshed by your own 'joke'?

Cheers, T i m

oh right

Very wise. I remember my father describing seeing a first time user of a Sten or Stirling panning round through a 90 degree arc while firing, until the burly Sergeant Instructor made a skillful interception.

Fascinating! I can only make the excuse that I am "unacquainted with artillery usage".

Damn. I should have made the excuse of being an Oxford man instead of grovelling!

They were good fun. I was trying one out and only panned it a bit. I cut the target (the usual evil looking charging soldier) in two.

Many years ago I was out in Taipei, Taiwan.

I went for a walk one day, and what should I see lying in the street but the used cartridge case from a .50 caliber machine gun...

In the middle of a city?

Andy

Video now online

Andy

I wonder if this was merely to ensure there's a clear public record in case his constituents insurers start playing silly buggers and try to blame the MOD for needlessly blowing the bomb up (and therefore shifting liability) ?

You may well be right, so it's CYA time...

Some video of the inside of the student accommodation block nearest the bomb showed extensive damage to the interior - windows and doors blown out, a hole in the roof letting in rain, debris everywhere, although there was no mention of structural damage to the building fabric.

Presumably the UK agreed to suck up such costs as part of the German surrender ?

ISTR the time limit for War Damage Claims was up in 1960, and in any case it was limited to £500 - the price of a substantial pre-war semi-detached house.

The story I heard back in the days when we used film was that if they saw something they couldn't see through - an X-ray proof film bag for example - they just turned up the juice until they could see through it.

Andy

And that was just the late night party, *before* they detonated the bomb...