KeshaWell, Frankfurt was heavily attacked by the RAF in Dec. 1943… 42 losses on that day:
Kesha
KeshaI 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
KeshaI 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
KeshaVideo of explosion / German TV:
http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek#/beitrag/video/2221762/Fliegerbombe-auf-A3-gesprengt
Kesha
KeshaThey had to detonate it on place because the bomb was equipped with an unstable chemical delay detonator… Estimated repair time is tomorrow or Friday.
Scary thing is that this part of the A3 was constructed in the 50’s… seems the just paved the Autobahn through the landscape without looking for old craters or probing the ground.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]231136[/ATTACH]
Kesha
KeshaIn the course of my day to day business activities, working frequently in London on excavations we always carry out a detailed ground scan before excavations commence. Any suspected ordnance immediately halts work and the area sectioned until confirmation of the suspect is confirmed. One assumes a similar practice takes place in Germany?
Yes, indeed… here`s a quote from an other article:
Experts say the problem will get worse before it gets better. For decades, bombs turned up during postwar building projects, sometimes with deadly results. That’s why construction projects in Germany today often require a Kampfmittelfreiheitsbescheinigung, or a permit certifying that the area is bomb-free, before work begins. Consultants pore over aerial photos from U.S. and British army archives for signs of unexploded ordnance.
Here, in the western Rhine/Ruhr area, it`s really awful.
Last year, a guy here in Wesel planned to build a garage in his garden. Bomb.
2010 – 2013, constructing a bypass road. Bomb, bomb, bomb…
And that`s only our small city.. I`m working in Essen! Just ask me how often I`m
stuck in a traffic jam because someone dug a hole in the ground, followed by the
usual bomb alarm, 1000 meter exclusion zones… etc.
But we are used to it…
KeshaThe speculation about it possibly being a cookie makes me wonder. They were very thin-cased and unlikely to penetrate deeply into the ground.
That`s right, Moggy.
It also makes me wonder… but it has happened before. That`s the Cookie they found in Dortmund, exactly 2 months
ago:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]224195[/ATTACH]
KeshaCould it have been dropped or dumped enroute to another target by flak or fighter damaged aircraft, if it was a cookie….?
Of course… just take a look:
Cologne, the Ruhr in the north, or enroute to Frankfurt, Nürnberg, etc. All usual RAF targets.
I once did a war cemetery research for a member of this forum. His uncle was on a mission
to Nürnberg and shot down near Bonn, just 20 km away from Euskirchen. Therefore, it would be
possible.
KeshaDifferent frequencies of sound can be felt/ heard for miles.We had a jet fighter break the sound barrier over our way last year and that was heard in an audio corridor for many miles http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/sonic-boom-heard-in-three-counties-broke-windows-and-prompted-deluge-of-emergency-calls-8660951.html
You can`t compare a stationary explosion with a sonic boom…
It is a common misconception that only one boom is generated during the subsonic to supersonic transition, rather, the boom is continuous along the boom carpet for the entire supersonic flight.
KeshaEnglish language video:
http://www.euronews.com/2014/01/03/wwii-bomb-kills-german-worker-in-euskirchen/
Judging on this pic, the blast was enormous, but predominantly went upwards. All blast,
“only” damaging windows and roofs within a 1 ml radius. Newest reports say it could be
heard as far as 30 km away.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]224188[/ATTACH]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25594000
I`d tend to agree that it indeed was a cookie. 1.8 tons… my *ss!
Question is how it got there, as the RAF didn`t attack Euskirchen, at least
not on such a large scale. It`s somewhat frightening to imagine that it was
really found somewhere else, maybe Cologne… misleadingly identified as
“hot water boiler”… and then put on a truck for disposal and transported
through cities, villages, over bridges… My god. After all, we`ve been very lucky.
KeshaLooks like a low order detonation given that the digger is still there.
A low order detonation which could be heard & felt 20 km away? Hmm…
Addendum:
Explosive Ordnance Disposal experts (Kampfmittelräumdienst) now think it was indeed a “Luftmine”,
an Aerial Mine, aka Blockbuster:
The USAAF didn`t use them, am I right?
As far as I know, their biggest one was 2000 lbs, used for submarine bunkers and such.
KeshaMust of been a big bomb to do that much damage!
Indeed… Euskirchen has been bombed several times by the 8th AF in late 1944 (rail junctions, Battle of the Bulge),
but this must have been a much bigger bomb than the usual 500 kg/1000 lbs stuff the 8th used to drop on cities.
It could even be a British Blockbuster. The site were it exploded is used for demolition works, so media is speculating
if the bomb has been delivered by a truck, hidden under rubble.
However, as I`m living in the same Rhein/Ruhr area in a city which has been devastated by 97%, this is my worst
nightmare. The house we`re living in was rebuilt in 1953 on a bomb-damaged site. The possibility of a 70 y/o cookie
hidden in my backyard is… ehmm… somewhat scary.
KeshaSeconds after:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]224185[/ATTACH]
English language report:
A World War II bomb exploded in western Germany on Friday afternoon killing the digger driver who unearthed it and and injuring at least eight people.
A construction worker operating a digger in the town of Euskirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, hit a bomb left over from WWII and accidentally detonated it at 1.30pm.
The blast broke windows up to six kilometres away, a police spokesman told Spiegel news site and it could reportedly be heard in Bonn – almost 20 kilometres away.
The vehicle burst into flames with the driver still inside, killing him. Eight others at the building site were injured, including two seriously.
Initial reports suggest that the effect of the blast could be felt for kilometres around Alfred-Nobel-Straße, where it took place.
“There was a huge blast wave. In the vicinity of the accident site and surrounding streets, home windows shattered and garage doors were pushed in,” a police spokesman said.
The ground below many Germany cities still contains unexploded ordnance dropped by Allied and Soviet forces in the Second World War, but most is safely defused when found.
Police have cordoned off the area and are surveying the damage.
http://www.thelocal.de/20140103/digger-driver-dies-after-hitting-wwii-bomb
KeshaFirst pics coming in… just click on the first one in the arcticle:
Windows blown in within 1km radius, explosion could be heard as far as Bonn.
Some more pics:
http://www.bild.de/news/inland/explosion/explosion-in-nrw-baggerfahrer-stoesst-auf-fliegerbombe-tot-34063884.bild.html
KeshaAs a new participant in the forum, I have read much good information and some myths. Neither the British nor German government admit to the fact that the Luftwaffe was NOT completely disbanded but kept in readiness for re-establishment fully in the early ’50’s. Nor was the German Navy.. and units of the Army were kept full equipped under various guises. And when you push beyond a certain point in historical research, doors close rather abruptly.So we must rely on aging RAF and Luftwaffe personnel, hoping their memories are still good. An interesting fact confirming what happened is that German military pensions include WWII uninterrupted!!
The part marked in red is the only true fact… as described in “Churchill`s German Army” in the 1977 book:
…during the summer of 1945. That`s all. :rolleyes:
Kesha
Sign In
