Military base, probably army. There was an internment camp there during WW2 and they committed war crimes against the civilian POWs including starving elderly, women, and children to death. The nuclear plant accident has washed the entire region's history down the drain.
back in the late 1970's they used to find bombs all over West Berlin when I was there. seem like every time they worked on a subway or water line they "found" something.
After the second world war, both the Germans and the Japanese used our bomb damage assessment photo's to determine were unexploded bombs (UXO) might be, like crater, crater, no crater, crater, crater. Worked quite well in areas that were less developed. Not so well when there was a great deal of rubble, like in cities. Don't know what they did in Japan, but in Germany, the Krauts handled all UXO from 1946 back, the U.S. rendered safe and disposed of everything newer. Lots of UXO still being located even today. Army EOD had a great working relationship with our German counterparts and had several get togethers every year. At Christmas, we'd give them Butterball turkeys and they would give us lead cookies. The cookies sucked, but they came in cool metal cannisters. Eod1sg Ret
When I was stationed in Germany 1979-81, they found 3 unexploded bombs in downtown Heilbronn. They'd close off a 4 or 5 block area, defuse the bomb, and open the area back up within a couple days.
Some stuff from that era is so rusted up it’s difficult to even recognize as ordnance, other items still have all the correct painting and markings. The Germans often used waxed sewing thread on the fuze threads and when disassembled would look like the day it was made. Not that I would ever recommend disassembly. Most of our bomb tail fuzes from WWII were anti- removal . We had a procedure to hold the fuze stationary and roll the bomb. That’s pretty hard to do with a thousand pounder. You only get to fuck it up once. Eod1sg Ret
The British had a TV program once, "Danger, UXB" about the teams removing unexploded bombs in Britain during WWII. PBS aired it here in 1981. I still remember the opening line of the series, spoken after showing one team accidentally blow themselves up, "They say the birds are the first to find all the pieces."
UXBs from both wars are still a regular occurrence in the UK and NW Europe. I don't know the current numbers for Europe but there's around a thousand incidents per year in the UK, from small arms ammo up to large aerial bombs. If you're really unlucky something containing chemical weapons will turn up, with mustard gas of phosgene.
I'd add that for Europe, during the summer they're still digging out booby-traps and everything else from the WW1 trench systems on both sides of the conflict.
Like what would been there during the war that was bomb-worthy?
ReplyDeleteMilitary base, probably army. There was an internment camp there during WW2 and they committed war crimes against the civilian POWs including starving elderly, women, and children to death. The nuclear plant accident has washed the entire region's history down the drain.
Delete"The Fukushima area was previously home to a Japanese military base."
Deletehttps://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40886169
back in the late 1970's they used to find bombs all over West Berlin when I was there.
ReplyDeleteseem like every time they worked on a subway or water line they "found" something.
Wonder if they have a call before you dig system in Germany?
DeleteSo why were the Americans bombing Japanese nuclear power plants in WWII?
ReplyDeleteHahahaha... that was actually hilarious. Thanks
DeleteFuck around, more than 80 years later still finding out.
ReplyDeleteI had an absolutely brilliant comment, tried to post it from my phone and just then my VPN decided to change servers, aaaaaaaand - it's gone.
ReplyDeleteAfter the second world war, both the Germans and the Japanese used our bomb damage assessment photo's to determine were unexploded bombs (UXO) might be, like crater, crater, no crater, crater, crater. Worked quite well in areas that were less developed. Not so well when there was a great deal of rubble, like in cities. Don't know what they did in Japan, but in Germany, the Krauts handled all UXO from 1946 back, the U.S. rendered safe and disposed of everything newer. Lots of UXO still being located even today. Army EOD had a great working relationship with our German counterparts and had several get togethers every year. At Christmas, we'd give them Butterball turkeys and they would give us lead cookies. The cookies sucked, but they came in cool metal cannisters. Eod1sg Ret
ReplyDeleteWhen I was stationed in Germany 1979-81, they found 3 unexploded bombs in downtown Heilbronn. They'd close off a 4 or 5 block area, defuse the bomb, and open the area back up within a couple days.
Delete
ReplyDeleteExcellent video description of the bomb rack and arming system: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i1VGEXtP_8Q
I see the rust on the bottom, but does that look like its been in the ground 75 years?
ReplyDeleteSome stuff from that era is so rusted up it’s difficult to even recognize as ordnance, other items still have all the correct painting and markings. The Germans often used waxed sewing thread on the fuze threads and when disassembled would look like the day it was made. Not that I would ever recommend disassembly. Most of our bomb tail fuzes from WWII were anti- removal . We had a procedure to hold the fuze stationary and roll the bomb. That’s pretty hard to do with a thousand pounder. You only get to fuck it up once. Eod1sg Ret
DeleteThe British had a TV program once, "Danger, UXB" about the teams removing unexploded bombs in Britain during WWII. PBS aired it here in 1981. I still remember the opening line of the series, spoken after showing one team accidentally blow themselves up, "They say the birds are the first to find all the pieces."
ReplyDeleteUXBs from both wars are still a regular occurrence in the UK and NW Europe. I don't know the current numbers for Europe but there's around a thousand incidents per year in the UK, from small arms ammo up to large aerial bombs. If you're really unlucky something containing chemical weapons will turn up, with mustard gas of phosgene.
ReplyDeleteI'd add that for Europe, during the summer they're still digging out booby-traps and everything else from the WW1 trench systems on both sides of the conflict.