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Kippers for breakfast !

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POTR
"Only birds and fools fly and even the birds don't fly at night"

Yeah, pretty much like my experience, Pappy.

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Barry

ASUS P5N32-E-SLI; Core2 Extreme QX6850(3GHz, 1333MHz FSB); 2xNVIDIA 8800 Ultra 768MB SLI; 2GB RAM PC6400 DDR2/800; Vista SP2; DX10; TIR5; mod MSFF2; Saitek Pro Flight - Quadrant, Pedals & Headset; TFS2; VAC; Dell 30"(2560x1600@60 hz)

In 1988 I was the police sergeant on duty when we had a call to a UXB near the small town of Severn Beach in the Severn estuary near Bristol. The bomb had been exposed in the mud flats by tidal action. As it was near the shoreline it was the Royal Navy's responsibility to deal with it.

The first thing that happened was that the Navy Land Rover got stuck in the deep mud and had to be winched out by tractor. I was about half a mile away keeping the nearest road clear of the public. The R.N. officer came up and said "We have got rid of most of the explosive and you will hear a small bang from the controlled explosion".

When the "controlled explosion occurred my first impression was of a vertical column of mud followed by a thump in the chest followed by a very large BOOM that ricocheted and zig zagged up the opposing shores of the Severn!

The officer said "Oh there was a bit more left in there than we thought"

I remember thinking if that what a partially empty bomb felt like then how did my poor old mum put up with them falling all around her in the centre of Bristol while she sat under the stairs!

Apparently there are several UXBs in the Severn mud flats because at night the Luftwaffe used the Severn to navigate. They could then turn east toward Bristol or west toward Cardiff. If for some reason the could not find their target then they would dump their bombs in the estuary on their way out.

f.b.

One was found in a quarry on The Isle of Portland, south coast of Dorset. I was stuck on the island for two days before it was defused, it was a thousand pounder if I recall correctly. Discovered whilst digging up an old football pitch, I think.

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~ Make love to the sky, don't shag it.