Runway explosion in Japan

[zenrat]

Reminds me of the tale of the Grand Slam that the 21st century 617 Sqdn, then flying Tornado GR4s,  wanted to display outside their hangars at Lossie, to go alongside the Tallboy and Upkeep bombs they already had.

Apparently a Grand Slam was found stored away somewhere in the RAF's vast number of maintenance and storage areas and was duly trucked all the way up to Scotland and then stood on its nose alongside the other two. Sometime later the Squadron Armaments Officer came by and thought he'd just give the 'unarmed' bomb a cursory look over. To his horror he found it was not only still full of Torpex but it still had all three fuses in place!

A team were rounded up to 'de-arn' it rather quickly while activities at Lossie came to a rather abrupt halt for a while................

Do you mean it was found in "The Back of a Hanger"? 

[PR19_Kit]

Do you mean it was found in "The Back of a Hanger"? 

Probably.

Rumour had it that they put a word out that they were looking for one, and lo and behold. someone just 'found one'. Quite how they missed something THAT big I've no idea.

[Rheged]

I really must get round to writing up  "Tales from 14 MU"..................stories I have gathered from stores supervisors and clerical staff at RAF 14 Maintenance Unit; Carlisle.  Somewhere I have a list that a senior civilian  officer gave me of  what he called "  Unexpected items in the bagging area"   when the final stocktake/audit was done as the unit closed down.   I can remember that among the items were six crates of  WRAF bloomers, size XXL  and three RR Griffon propellors suitable for the Shackleton MR3..  More to follow when I find the list.

[Mossie]

Being an ex-Disposal man my advice is not to touch anything, no matter inviting it might look.  Bombs in particular can often still function decades after being dropped and are often equipped with boobytraps to catch the unwary.  Shells are also dangerous due to decay of explosives.  Just DO NOT TOUCH things and tell the local police upon discovery, they alert the army and they'll deal with it.  I occasionally read of kids finding something and playing with it to their destruction.  Just do not touch anything you don't understand.     

So very true.  During Range Orientation at Warren Grove bombing range, we were advised that as well as being reminded to not drive over the tail assemblies of BDU-25s.  They also reminded us that 177EOD usually makes a day out of disposing any ordinance still live...and that there were at least a couple of undetonated Mk13 torpedoes somewhere within the impact area the Navy dropped to see if they could also be used as bombs.

There's a legend around here that sometimes after WW2, a group of young lads found an unexploded bomb. Being curious sorts, they carried it to a nearby rail bridge to see what would happen if they dropped it. A dog walker spotted them and got them to gently lower it to the ground, then run like hell! No idea if it's true, but it's persisted.

Also, the nearest stretch of coast was home to an offshore bomb range at RAF Cowden it was closed in the 90's. Bits of rusty metal still get washed up now, there's big placards warning to leave them alone and call the Police.

[Rick Lowe]

Do you mean it was found in "The Back of a Hanger"? 

Probably.

Rumour had it that they put a word out that they were looking for one, and lo and behold. someone just 'found one'. Quite how they missed something THAT big I've no idea.

Likely it was known about, but the person in charge of all the 'stuff onsite' kept listing it as something that was too big to be gotten rid of easily, so 'We'll just keep listing it in the annual inventory and ignoring it thereafter.'
Letting it become his replacements' problem.

Mr Rheged, that list would make interesting reading.

[killnoizer]

Bomb founds are daily Business here in germany,  Hannover with his Industrial areas is a hot spot for that. Two of my friends working with that.
We often had local evacuations for the recovery
 ( last one was one week ago ) .

[kerick]

Lots of stories like the guy who wanted to weld the supposedly empty hand grenade to his hot rods gear shift handle. Bad idea.

[Nick]

A sudden and rather worrying thought.  Can the RAF give assurances that every Tallboy and Grand Slam that they dropped actually detonated.....................otherwise, someone somewhere might  one day find that their afternoon has been ruined.

There was this one found in a canal on the Poland-Germany border from 2020 - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-54522203

Also, the nearest stretch of coast was home to an offshore bomb range at RAF Cowden it was closed in the 90's. Bits of rusty metal still get washed up now, there's big placards warning to leave them alone and call the Police.

Cowden, you say?  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-humber-53692104
Check the tache on the Royal Engineers EOD Sergeant!

[Rheged]

Check the tache on the Royal Engineers EOD Sergeant!

It's an aerodynamic shielding device.  As a blast wave reaches the moustache,  turbulence is created by the 'tache which deflects particulate matter from the explosion away from the eyes.   Some years ago, we had a similar discussion on this forum about the aerodynamic downforce created by formula one driver Graham Hill's moustache.

[Rick Lowe]

Check the tache on the Royal Engineers EOD Sergeant!

It's an aerodynamic shielding device.  As a blast wave reaches the moustache,  turbulence is created by the 'tache which deflects particulate matter from the explosion away from the eyes.   Some years ago, we had a similar discussion on this forum about the aerodynamic downforce created by formula one driver Graham Hill's moustache.

    

[Mossie]

That's a thing of beauty, although I thought taches like that were outlawed after 1985.  My Dad carried one until he died in the noughties, although he had a special permit since he'd grown it since the 60's. You must also get dispensation as a sergeant, although I thought you had to be RSM.

[rickshaw]

That's a thing of beauty, although I thought taches like that were outlawed after 1985.  My Dad carried one until he died in the noughties, although he had a special permit since he'd grown it since the 60's. You must also get dispensation as a sergeant, although I thought you had to be RSM.

Downunder the regulations stated that facial hair could be worn by all ranks.  Taches could no extend below the mouth or beyond a line straight down from the outer corner of the eyes.  The exception for some obscure reason was the Sergeant of the Assault Pioneers of a Battalion who had permission to wear a full beard and paraded carrying a axe on his shoulder in case he was required to put down an officer's horse.  Apparently a axe is surer than any other means.   This is despite officers not riding horses for decades.  tradition is a strange beast.   

[Mossie]

I was just being a tad flippant, more relating it to old images of Victorian Sergeant Majors. Still I enjoy the paradox of militaries constantly evolving to meet New threats and carrying on some of the bizarre traditions lost to history

[Gondor]

This discussion has just made me realise that the Colour Sergeant in the film Zulu swapped roles with the chap who was his boss in Zule in the film The Ipcress File and became the Boss of the person who played his Boss in Zulu.

Gondor

[PR19_Kit]

This discussion has just made me realise that the Colour Sergeant in the film Zulu swapped roles with the chap who was his boss in Zule in the film The Ipcress File and became the Boss of the person who played his Boss in Zulu.

I THINK I follow what you're saying there Alastair. 

And in turn that reminds me that Richard Todd played his real world military boss, Major John Howard, in 'The Longest Day'.