How to cause a traffic jam, using a British 500 kg bomb…

Time delay fuse bombs were known to cause more trouble than the ones exploding on impact.[/QUOTE]

hi,
surely fit for purpose then..

regards
jack…

Amazing it still went off with such a big bang and could do so much damage after 70 years. Makes you think there are still a lot of WW2 UXB’s just waiting to be discovered. Time delay fuse bombs were known to cause more trouble than the ones exploding on impact.

They had to detonate it on place because the bomb was equipped with an unstable chemical delay detonator… Estimated repair time is tomorrow or Friday.

Kesha

Only 2 days? here in the UK it would be 3 months minimum, average speed camera 3 miles either side, HGV’s up your backside trying to force you over the 50mph limit and no workers seen 4 days out of 7.

Jason

I feel for the poor sods that was on the receiving end during the war.

Not only during the war. In 2006 a worker on the same Autobahn, some kilometers further down the highway, was killed when he hit a UXB with his digger. Unfortunately, there have been others as well injured or even killed by these remnants of war, in recent years.

seeing just one of these go off, its beyond any realm of imagination what it must have been like to be under one of the hundreds of big raids during WW2, whichever side you were on!

Obviously this doesnt apply to the people that lived through and survived. but for the generations that are fortunate enough not to have lived during those times, how terrifying would it have been to feel and see things like this surrounding you night after night after night, wondering when its your turn to be the crater….

I feel for the poor sods that was on the receiving end during the war.

Well, Frankfurt was heavily attacked by the RAF in Dec. 1943… 42 losses on that day:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19431222&id=wf1hAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GpUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7169,6795160

Kesha

I can’t help wondering about the crew that dropped it. Did they make it through the war? Are any still alive now? Rookies or second-tour?

We’ll never know

Moggy

Indeed, I just used Google translate… though even I can translate Heilige Scheisse!

Adrian

454.545454… kg, actually.

No, 500. Everything is bigger in Germany 😉

Unfortunately these things are a quite common occurence. There’s two 1,000-pounders sitting next to the railway line I took to work this morning, waiting to be dismantled later this month. Covered in 6 metres of sand to be sure. They found ‘m during ground works near a bridge that attracted quite a lot of RAF interest in WW2.

Oh & a 500 kg bomb would be a British 1000 pounder.

454.545454… kg, actually.

Indeed – ubiquitous mistake!

In my extensive travelling and working in Germany I don’t think I ever heard “fick mich”. It just sounds like the translation from the commonly used English expletive. Now Heilige Scheisse, that’s quite another matter……..;)

Funny thing I could of been killed by a Luftwaffe bomb in the UK, in 1976.

…or even could have?

Funny I lived there for 12 years, & drove through “Offenbacher Kreuz” daily, although maybe I should contact “The Guinness book of records” for delivering the last RAF WWII bomb to Germany, but that,s another story.
Oh & a 500 kg bomb would be a British 1000 pounder.
Funny thing I could of been killed by a Luftwaffe bomb in the UK, in 1976.
Funny old world.

“Mein Gott!” Closely followed by “Heilige Scheisse!” I would think. :angel:

I think the most appropriate thing to say to a bang of that size is “Fick mich!”

Adrian

This term is not very common over here… I`d use “Heilige Scheisse!” instead! :very_drunk:

Kesha

I don’t think the RAF used 500 kilo bombs during WW2. It would be either 500 pounds or 1,000 lbs.

If the explosion left a hole 60 feet wide that would suggest a 1000 pound H.E. (high explosive)

Germans are using the metric system, thanks to Mr. Bonaparte… even for British bombs. 😎

You`re right, though… 500 kg = 1000 (german) pounds, or more usual “a 10 centner bomb”, aka 10 x 50 kg.

Kesha

I think the most appropriate thing to say to a bang of that size is “Fick mich!”

Adrian

I don’t think the RAF used 500 kilo bombs during WW2. It would be either 500 pounds or 1,000 lbs.

If the explosion left a hole 60 feet wide that would suggest a 1000 pound H.E. (high explosive)

Video of explosion / German TV:

http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek#/beitrag/video/2221762/Fliegerbombe-auf-A3-gesprengt

Kesha