Yes, one of those very rare 70 year delayed reaction fuse.

...kidding aside, lucky that it was found without too much impact from the heavy equipment. I imagine that this is not all that unusual, considering that this was a war zone at one time, much like that recent "bomb find" in London.

They need to send it to the Smithsonian. It's an antique from WWII.

duuug - I lived in Germany 20-some years ago and heard all about how often these kinds of things were found for decades following WWII... Fortunately in this case, it was not found with an accompanying big boom.

Tricky device to defuse...rare mechanism...meanwhile Dieter stands next to it for a photo!

Surprise he wasn't sitting on it while waving a cowboy hat over head, yee haw!

THis is really a non-event. When I was growing up in germany (air force brat) we used to have "bomb days" from school. Think snow days but being released because they found un-exploded ordiance from WW2 within half a mile from us. it was normal and happened at least twice a year. The allies dropped a bunch of junk on Berlin and a good portion of it never exploded.

Dieters photo is one inch away from being on the 2012 Darwin Awards

It's a little difficult to accurately guess Dieter's age. I'm betting white hair comes early for people in his profession?

Industrial Strength
Tricky device to defuse...rare mechanism...meanwhile Dieter stands next to it for a photo!

Surprise he wasn't sitting on it while waving a cowboy hat over head, yee haw!

The rest of the team didn't want to get in on it for a group photo? Go figure.

Mark,

"Dieters photo is one inch away from being on the 2012 Darwin Awards"

While Dieter is a common German name, I think the man's name was actually Diethard.

And who was it that left these there? (correct all over EU, not just in Germany?)

I am joking off course, but it is kind of funny I was just asked to go to Germany again and learn the microchip Nano technology building tools, never mind they came here in the sixties and built the worlds biggest computer/memory chip factory.

Oh ja, then there was Verner and Albert etc etc.

I wonder what we will get from Vietnam (600,000 babies made by US boys now mostly in their fourties) or Iraq (oil), and even the towels from Afghanistan-----but all we can give all of them are bombs--seems a little old, but yet we continue all over with much the same stupidity, yes, Hitler was bad, but so was George Bush killing over a million in today's world in just one country for no reason at all-----

We need to have a few here who can actually see the entire world unlike our USA limited (selfish) interest.

More like Die-tard!

Bundgaard,

"I wonder what we will get from Vietnam"

Tre gio. Have you ever eaten tre gio? Mmmm. Delicious!

2,000,000tons of bombs must have poisoned the soil.

The Germans are funny the man standing next to the bomb has a Polish name.

fred,

"The Germans are funny the man standing next to the bomb has a Polish name."

That's true, but there has long been a historical connection between Germany and Poland. Large numbers of Germans lived in Poland, and apparently, the opposite is also true.

Who's dumber, Dieter or the photographer? A case of Dumb and Dumber.

fred-1005493
The Germans are funny the man standing next to the bomb has a Polish name.

Where do you think a lot of Poles headed for before the Iron Curtain slammed shut.

Also from a web page on the Kaiserslautern Dept:

In addition to the military personnel at the depot their were also a large number of local nationals and labor service personnel. The LS personnel were from eastern Europeon countries including Albania, Poland and Latvia. These personnel performed guard duty and did other work at the depot. They wore military uniforms and were quartered in nearby barracks. They were getting along in age and it was not uncommon for one of them to pass on while in service.

Better yet there were smoke generator companies manned by Poles that were augmentees to NATO in Germany. LOL, yes Polish smoke generators.

Unt!

There are 13 million unexploded bombs that Mexico planted in the US.

Bombs like that do not explode when you just touch them with your fingers. There is nothing wrong with taking such a photo. In US they would have called in 10 robots and deliberated for 10 days what to do, including a few phone calls to the White House. In Germany they handle such incidents quickly and efficiently. Oh, and they should have sent a bill for this job to England and US, which indiscriminately bombed German civilian targets using piss poor ordinance that far too often failed to detonate as intended.

Max^108: regardless, the bomb is still unstable and is now exposed to the open environment. In another unexploded ordnance case, a team tried to disarm the UXB and 2 died in the ensuing explosion. This time around, this team decided to blow it up in place.

The name "Diethard Posorski" is rich with anagrams: "O, diehard stop risk." "Road risk: Stop, Hide." "Stop. Dare I risk? Doh!" "Idiot drops shaker." "This poor kid dares." "Died, roast his pork." "Poor dare, kid sh!ts." ...

I served in Europe during the height of cold war and had my share of direct exposure to unexploded ordinance from WW2. Most of the time it was handled without incident. At that time there were still sections of German cities truly littered with that crap. Looks like this bomb was bulldozed with a bunch of debris into one of many fill pits that were made everywhere in German cities.

I'd rather have that job than be a mortician. It's a good thing there's always someone who will do what we won't, right?

Hummmmmmmmmmmmm .... Imagine the the crew that was digging in the area that struck it and were probabally to young to remember ... if it was still armed & ready to explode .... BOOOOOM ... must not have been to sensitive ...

You would think that after 67 years the explosives would have deteriorated to the point that it would be less dangerous. I guess not.

Mickey, unfortunatly just the opposite occurs, the nitro seperates frrom it's bonding, like sawdust, that makes it possible to be handled easily. Whenit seperates you get a puddle of liquid Nitro that is very unstable, to movement and temperature, as I'm sure you are aware.

Geeez! You couldn't even get me to stand next to that thing. If that were me in the picture, I'd be covering up a wet spot. Kudos to the guys that go in there and diffuse these things....

Several decades ago there was a fine TV series, British I believe, about the bomb disposal units of London and the games they would play with the German bomb makers... fusing, melting the TNT, etc. I can't remember the name, but would love to see it again. It may have disappeared but would be a great addition to a DVD collection.

6dogs,

Thanks for the info. I did not know that. I thought it would just deteriorate over time to the point where it could not explode anymore.

For those who think Chemistry here, Yes, they are totally unpredictable, and impossible to estimate, unless you actually take a sample, but one can hope the reason it was still intact, must be due to malfunction when it was dropped, but the chemicals in there will without warning go off due to many outside disturbances, like temp, shock etc. even electric currents in the ground or adjacent cables.

Even the crystallization of nitrates, can set itself off after this long if shaken)

Your right my uncle worked with EOD in london during the blitz. the british EOC were taught how to defuse the bombs the germans dropped. Course every now and then the germans would change the fuzes and so a telephone would be put with the guy diffusing the bomb and he would tell the guy on the other end what he was about to do. If it blew, then next guy would be told what to do and then what not to do and try something else. they were also told that since the human body takes 1 second to realize pain and that in a millesecond they would be dust particles to not worry about if the bomb went off. Real comforting there. LOL.

wje37fcsm:

The British TV show was called UBX.

Munich was specifically targeted 11 times during World War II, seven times by the British and four times by the USA. Both used the 500-lb bomb.

QUOTE: "seven times by the British and four times by the USA."

Well that proves it was a British bomb... But we'll probably pay for the damage as usual.

Americans primarily used 500 lb bombs. The Germans used 550 lb/250 Kg bombs and I believe the British did as well. I could be wrong. Not sure what poundage/kilograms the Russians used in their ordinance.

Ed-NavDoc:

The British used larger heavier bombs, about 2000lbs, called the Blockbuster, delivered by Lancasters on night raids.

WallStFatCat, you are correct. The British also used the 10,000lb Tallboy bombs carried by specially modified Lancasters on hardened targets such as the concrete reinforced flak towers known as the "Zoo". (only scratched the outside a bit) These bombs were also used to sink the German battle cruiser Tirpitz in Norway.

Why would the Germans drop a bomb on their own city?

The Germans were not our Allies. Google WWII Allies and click on the first link for more details.

Nice to see the young posting, the rest of us just knew.

@Midnightridr

Why would the Germans drop a bomb on their own city?

Try reading the comment again

If it is actually a German bomb rather than one dropped by the Allies, that is certainly interesting. Perhaps a German plane went down and the unexploded bombs fell with it?

I'm guessing a local community organizer was stashing it in his basement and forgot about it. Rheinhold Hussein Obomba.

Dagoth Ur

If it is actually a German bomb rather than one dropped by the Allies, that is certainly interesting.

Nobody said it was a German bomb guys.

The Allies dropped 500 pound bombs, of which that appears to be one.

What the OP was trying to say (quite successfully I thought) was that is has been misidentified in the article, it is not a 550 lb bomb because those were used by the Germans. What it actually appears to be is a 500lb bomb which was used by the allies, meaning the US and UK.

I still say it was fired from a submarine, why else would the nose be pointed up?

Hey, come on guys, don't bicker. Why don't you settle it like gentlemen. You all go help Dieter dig it up and you guys can drag it onto scales and weigh it. And after you settle your argument Dieter can disarm it. Deal?

PS. If weighing is not conclusive enough to settle the argument, you can always hold an impromptu on-site pissing match. [hint: point away from the wind, and away from the WWII unexploded bomb].

@Robert in Oregon

Hey, come on guys, don't bicker.

Who's bickering?

btw, do you think posting in bold somehow makes your post seem relevant or do you just want people to think you're shouting at them?

No, Backcountry164 you are mistaken. It is a 550 pound bomb. All other news articles even from different countries claim this. Therefore, the bomb was from Germany but also fell on Germany. Which makes it interesting. Although OP may think it is a 500 lb bomb, the people who have actually seen it claim it is 550 lbs. OP is either claiming it is 500 lbs because that would be more the more likely scenario under normal circumstances or he is trying to judge from the picture, which does not even show that much of the bomb.

@Backcountry164

Who's bickering?

btw, do you think posting in bold somehow makes your post seem relevant or do you just want people to think you're shouting at them?

Just having a little fun, and chosing my own method of self-expression (in this case, at your expense; also fun). Sorry you disapprove, but that's life, huh? No, I don't think it makes my post more relevant. And no, it's not shouting.....

BUT THIS IS SHOUTING !!!!!!!!!

;-) Feel better? Good, glad I could clarify that.

So cynical and yet hyper-sensitive these youngsters, no Robert : P

Con-science

So cynical and yet hyper-sensitive these youngsters, no Robert : P

HA! Well, to tell you the truth, I just didn't want to admit that I often switch to boldface text so that my almost 60-year-old eyes can actually read it on my notebook monitor while I'm spell-checking! While it is true that with age comes "less sensitivity to insults" (we learn to first look at the source), with age also comes "presbyopia." (sigh)

@Robert in Oregon

Sorry you disapprove, but that's life, huh?

Who said I disapprove? Do you always insert your own baseless assumptions before posting?

So the purpose of posting in all bold was what again? To be extra sure you get the attention you crave?

@Backcountry164 Ignoring author

"btw, do you think posting in bold somehow makes your post seem relevant or do you just want people to think you're shouting at them?" ...

"Do you always insert your own baseless assumptions before posting? ...

So the purpose of posting in all bold was what again? To be extra sure you get the attention you crave?" ...

Wow, how does a person get themself so disproportionately worked-up over another person's choice of a text type option? I'm sure glad I didn't try to use the Italics option; who knows what angry rhetoric that would have unleashed? You might want to dial down your hostility a bit.

You can now have the final word. I'll never see it, of course (having chosen the "ignore this author" option for you). But I suspect having the final word will give you "the attention you crave." Have fun.

;-)

@Robert in Oregon

Wow, how does a person get themself so disproportionately worked-up over another person's choice of a text type option

Worked up? Sorry I was asking questions that you didn't like but I was just curious as to your motivation. Do you always assume someone who questions you must be hostile?

You can now have the final word. I'll never see it, of course (having chosen the "ignore this author" option for you).

You're ignoring me? And you think I'm the one with the disproportionate reaction?

But I suspect having the final word will give you "the attention you crave." Have fun.

Ah yes, the ol' "I'll goad you about having the final word so you'll leave it for me" tactic. A classic to be sure. LOL!

Dagoth - this is the Internet, check Google before you type stuff you don't know anything about.. There are plenty of images of the types of bombs dropped in WWII.

The profile of the nose of a German 250kg bomb and an US 500 lb bomb are different. German 250kg bombs are pointed, British 500 pounders are pointed, the nose of US 500 pounders are ROUND, as in the picture.

Its a US 500lb bomb, the 250kg is wrong, and the wire services just didn't catch the error before that was the way it was reported world-wide.

BTW - I have a History degree, and I focused on modern history. My primary interest is WWII history. I didn't have to Google for images of bombs, just knew what it was first time I saw the picture.

A European reporter wouldn't know what 500 pounds was, for the most part, but they sure know what 250kg are.

Somewhere along the line, a reporter who did not know much about WWII history probably just reported it as they knew it, in metric (and probably in German, too), and someone further along the way converted it. Its a pretty esoteric bit of historical knowledge for most people, can't fault the reporter for trying.

Answer:
In Germany the word "Pfund" is taken for half a kilogram or 500 grams.
500 grams are:
17.63698 ounces (oz)
1.10231 ponds (lb)
0.0393676 quarters (qu)
7716.21477 grains

They would get the idea.

The odds are approximately 1:3 that it was dropped by Americans, 2:3 that it was dropped by the British.

And a 0% chance it was dropped by the French.

Don't forget the chance of being an undetonated bomb from an axis bomber. Quick to put the Americans at fault of an age old bomb,when you forget that the United States tried to stay out of the war. For most of the natural english speaking world without the U.S. involvement you would be apart of the "mighty" Third Reich.

Seite leider nicht gefunden.

Try

A contest over who dropped it doesn't matter as it was War. Munich was heavily bombed becase of the facrories there. A fact here is we, the US, sent a lot of bombs to England.

Well, the like to the TZ web site doesn't work, here's a current one for those who can read German:

www.tz-online.de/aktuelles/muenchen-zentrum/250-kilo-bombe-unter-schwabinger-2477433.html

They are not able to defuse the bomb due to the nature and state of the chemical fuse, they intend to blow it up in place and increased therefor the security perimeter.

The article in the TZ states that the same type of bomb exploded two years ago in the city of Göttingen during the attempt to defuse them, killing the two EOD technicians working on that bomb.

Have had EOD training in the Bundeswehr and worked on removing live ordinance on the former "death strip" between East and West Germany and on a UN mission in Cambodia, but you won't get me anywhere near THAT thing. These guys that are working on that have some serious big "cojones"

Dear Mimi Jacques, it seems you are grossy misinformed.

Firstly, the bomb is not located in the pub named Schwabinger 7, as that building was pulled down some time ago.

Secondly, the bomb was not found "while making repairs in the ages old tunnel", but on the construction site that was formerly "Schwabinger 7" and will become an office building.

Thirdly, electricity, water, gas, etc. were not cut off, since leaks and damages after an (accidental or controlled) detonation can only be found if the pipes are active.

EXBOSTON - thanks for your service!

I've known and worked with many Navy EOD-types in my 29 yrs of Navy-civilian service, and I never met a more professional group (EOD, not necessarily just Navy) anywhere.

Lets hope its 'well hung'.

If I'm not mistaken here, England still find one of the unexploded German bombs every once in a while still.

I hear you can find French WWII rifles on E-Bay...dropped only once, and never fired.

LOL< BMCM>

Is that Master Chief Botswains Mate? Humor is consistant with a well-hung deck-ape. :)

You do realize that if it wasn't for the french you would still be a British colony right?

France almost bankrupted itself providing aid (gunpowder, weapons and officers) during the American revolution.

And don't forget the French Navy.

I am very grateful to the "Boots on the Ground" and "Sailors at the mouth at the Chesapeake" type Frenchies....comrades in arms.

HOWEVER: The French government did not aid us for altruistic reasons. They were already at war with Britain and that is why they were bankrupt.

They finally figured out after stalling for a year that we were a good way to split British resources.

Don't ever mistake: The French are never into anything for other than their own interest.

Another thing, AUSSIE:

You would be speaking Japanese were it not for the US Navy and Marines.

J in Cinci- I have not forgotten WWII- what I was trying to portray in today's world- whereby Americans/Europeans unbeknownst to them are in harm's way due to unexploded bombs. BTW- the bomb has not beedn defused/ There's pictures/video on http://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen

Don't fret Mimi... We'll get that Britt to defuse it; the one from 'UXB.' That guy could run like the wind.

Doesn't sound like anyone's going to try and defuse it. They're setting up for a controlled detonation sometime this evening. It's about 4pm in Munich now.

I read somewhere that the US will be paying for WWII (one way or another) until somewhere around the year 2045, and that is just benefits.

Yes we do. At least some of us.

I understood them. No problem.

Sure we do. At least some of us.

OOhhh, there are soooo many ways to recognize who has REALLY served in the military.

AFU, FUBAR, CHIT, JOHN WAYNE, BMCM E-9, EOD, DOD, COD, CO, XO, PO, CRAT KRAT ARTY we could fill a book.

you left out sos and I don't mean the signal

that made me laugh, "how much is in there, make it stop !"

"I got the poo on me!!" haha

I'll take this here ball peen hammer, I'll do it!!!

PBgeorgia99

I'll take this here ball peen hammer, I'll do it!!!

If you can't fix it with a hammer, you have an electrical problem.

Occasionally unexploded ordnance still turns up not only in the World War One trenches of Verdun and the Somme (where one would expect) but... in England!
Heck, there are (ready?) 190,000 mines hanging around the British Isles left over from both World Wars.

http://www.scotsman.com/news/scottish-news/top-stories/21-000-unexploded-bombs-buried-underneath-britain-1-2362302

No wonder that surfing is not popular in Britain.

HSART: Braveshield 16, desert warfare training, 29 stumps Mojave Desert. 1978.

Marine on a bulldozer, not so lucky, hit a 500lb bomb (they think) they found a boot and a few pieces of the bulldozer.

Any Nam or WWII vets here? Tell 'em what it feels like from a half mile away. Not many around to say what it's like up close.

That sucked as bad as our Marine that got bit in the neck by a sidewinder in his fartsack. And the one that got run over by an M-60 while sleeping. This here war stuff is a dangerous business...even the training.

that stuff stays around for about 200 years. Thats how long it takes for the ordinance to disintegrate totally. I was in germany 84-87 and we got a report of a french farmer who had a farm that contained land where the old WWI trenches were at. There was a tree that he kept plowing around and finally got tired of the tree and took a saw out and cut the tree down. Somebody finally went out to see why he had not came home and he was dead laying next to the downed tree. not a mark on him. later they identified that he died of a chemical agent either chorine or mustard. Seems the shell went into wet ground and years later the tree grew into the shell releasing the agent in the tree. Never came out till he cut the thing. Part of some of the weird training we got. there is so much crap laying around there. Recently the rhein river was low and tanks, vehicles and bombs were noticed where the germans ran em into the river to try and keep allied boats from using the river for resupply.

And then theres the old bunkers probably numbering in the thousands all over. The records were destroyed and every now and then they find one. Probably was 86 and one was found in berlin. it was opened and all uniforms equipment rifles ammo was found to equip a nazi SS company.

Must have been chlorine, but that made 'em foam at the mouth.

Mustard would have left burn marks externally and had the same effect as chlorine when breathed.

Sounds like a sea-story to me. Once these two agents are released from containment they disipate rapidly.

It was part of my field medical training....but don't doubt the story was told to you.

Responsibility for the bombs lies with the idiots like Hitler and Hirohito who were committing atrocities. The Americans who used force to liberate their victims are ultimately not responsible for the wreckage that they were compelled to create. My Uncle was a gunner on a bomber in WW2. He was there to bomb Hitler into submission and END the aggression!

What about all the wreckage left by German Nazis Blitzkreig assults on the British Isles, concentration camps filled with non-arians, and losses of art and literatue. The United States getting involed to help right the wrong that was being done to humanity and without AMERICAN involvement would have led to millions of more lives lost. But your right like always AMERICA is the bad guy...

If only some people understood history and the way that hotile action leads to an equaly hostile reaction. In which the more unified nations, not better armed come out on top.

The ends don't always justify the means. Nobody disputes that the 3. Reich was an evil empire that needed to be brought to its knees. However, "morale bombing" of German cities would have been considered a crime against humanity if commited by the Axis powers, simple as that. We can't kid ourselves that by 1944 both sides were fighting a war of anihilation and the only reason the bombings were not considered atrocities is because history is written by the victors.

If the allies were specifically "morale bombing" like the Germans did to England during the several weeks of the Blitzkrieng (57 days... cities were well destroyed and these bombing were to keep the people down). While large cities have more dense populations they are also home to manufaturng of the war machine. Which then become more important targets such as Munich and St. Petersberg then the capitols such as Berlin and Moscow. Theres a difference in "Morale Bombing" and removing industrial manufaturing.

We didn't start the fight but damned if we didn't finish it. Wear the uniform of this nations armed services then see what you think of the comment you made. Veterans and People Serving deffend those who can not defend themselfs!

"speakthetruth" seems to assume that the conflicts we have been involved in were Americans invading other countries, this is the farthest from the truth. All of the conflicts that you mentioned were actions that America had taken to Liberate these places that had been invaded by Axis, that you say were "left behind". Have you forgotten why we were involved in France and Omaha Beach ? or Japanese occupied China ?

In fact, if you were educated in history, you would also know that we are still digging up Japanese bombs on the west coast right here in America. Have you ever heard of the Fu-Go or "Balloon Bombs" that Japan sent over to the American west coast ?

Google it, there are many cases of these bombs being found and dismantled, there has even been civilian American deaths when people found these devices in the wilderness or mountains and didn't know what they were.

here are some links:

http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/May-June-08/On-this-Day--Japanese-WWII--Balloon-Bomb--Kills-Six-in-Oregon.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_balloon

Whadaya say we load SPEAKSTHETRUTH and FUNFACTS in a B-52 and drop them on Tehran from 60,000 feet.

:)

Hell, I was taking a leasurely stroll with 2/5 at Camp Pendleton when I tripped and found myself on hands and knees over a 60mm mortar round. Took the toilet paper from a dozen C-Rats to clean myself.

American warplanes dropped far more bombs and more explosive by weight, on Vietnam than the entire allie air bombing campaign of WWII. Nearly one million Vietnamese civilians were killed. Women, children, and men. Nobody in USA cares, though. After all, they're subhumans.

Only if you fu#k with them.

Damn straight Archie.

And to Otto1:

I'm sorry the free world fights for what it believes in. If I would have known you were into oppresion and socialism I personally would have invited you to leave. Even the former axis powers eventually joined the free world. So on behalf of all of us "We invite you to leave this country in search for a more socialistic nation, goodbye."

Germany today is much more "socialist" than the United States, but I have a sneaking suspicion they wouldn't be very receptive to Otto's philosophy.

The "National Socialist" component of the NAZI acronym had a very different meaning than the way conservatives use the word today.

Damn, Otto......

I know I shot you at Normandy. Guess I should have given you a coup-de-gras through the SS insignia on your helmet.

You bet there are. The British still find bombs dropped by the Germans in London and other parts of England.

Leroy,

• They're called "Dirty Bombs" WMD's. Mustard Gas etc...

Actually not. It just means that the delay fuse was chemical rather than mechanical (like a clockworks).

thanks Creek Dog, Leroy must not be a Vet.

EOD27&144:

Doesn't EOD mean "Expect Obliteration Death"??

Only the beginning of the end will be ugly. The "end" will be very peaceful.

Yes meanman we are too dumb to protect eachother. To protect in the first place means that one is being attacked, in which the only to protect is through force. Unless you believe in stopping bullets with your mind or another event which seems popular is to confront the criminally insaine (or governmentally insaine... most historical cases) with signs. Tiananman Square rings a few bells. Hitler and his NAZIs wouldn't have been stopped without force.

Human race actually seems to be chugging along quite well. Have you ever heard of Thomas Malthus?