European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 03, 1967, Darmstadt, Hesse It is do War s lethal by Howard Tyner up staff writer rusted but still lethal Block Buster hoisted from ground in Paderborn Germany where it was uncovered 22 years after end of world War ii. More than two decades after the end of world War ii a lethal legacy remains throughout Europe unexploded bombs and ammunition. It s a rare week that somewhere i Europe a fully armed Aerial bomb in t found or a floating mine or live shells. All too often careless handling usually but not always by children results in death or maiming. The problem of these explosives re Mains acute even 22 years after the last bomb was dropped and the last Shell fired. In some aspects the problem worsens As trained demolition Crews be come More scarce. In France mines or bombs already have killed 17 people this year five More than in All of 1966. Nine other were hospitalized with serious injuries from wayward ammunition explosions. Austria s 25-Man bomb disposal squad up to aug. 1 found and destroyed More than 75 tons of War explosives virtual Lyall from world War ii. Officers of the British Royal Engi neers bomb disposal unit say it will take at least 10 More years to Clear an Esti mated 130,000 acres of British beaches and Farmland still considered danger Ous. Throughout the heavily bombed areas the records bulge with deaths due to postwar bomb or ammunition explosions. Since 1945, approximately 100 Ger mans have been killed and More than 400 wounded by bombs and mines. The austrians suffered 1,600 fatalities and 3,000 injuries in the first eight years after the War easily the highest toll i Europe. The worst single disaster 1948 when a danish passenger ship sailed Over a British magnetic mine off the danish coast. The ship took 52 persons to the Bottom. In France not even demolition experts have been immune. Records show that 491 experts have perished while trying to disarm unexploded ammunition. Surprisingly enough Britain has re corded one of the lowest fatality counts from postwar bomb explosions aver aging less than one per year since 1950. Eight bomb experts have been killed i that time. He most recent British disaster occurred Early this Spring when two children found an unexploded bomb near an army test Range in South England and died when it went off while they were playing with it. Dutch belgian scandinavian and ital Ian authorities say their fatality and in jury rates have been surprisingly there is tendency to think this is partly Luck. Bizarre finds Are not uncommon among unexploded bombs and age has Little relation to destructive capability. In mid August French demolition teams scouring Utah Beach on the French invasion coast found a 1,000-Toncache of unexploded German shells never marked on maps captured from the wehrmacht. The week before on the West British coast a diver happened across a 20-foot super torpedo. Most spectacular however was therase of a norwegian who built his sum Mer Home of bricks he found in the nearby Woods. He later discovered that the bricks were camouflaged German land mines. Bomb fuses apparently age slowly so when British demolition men were continued on Page / by John Reese staff writer . Army experts guide lift of defused bomb at Kassel housing project. Arm on the american Side usar eur bomb disposal men Are aver aging about one Call a Clay to handle dangerous munitions. Most of the work done by the army explosive ordnance disposal Eod detachments is on munitions on . Mili tary posts and reservations. However it is not uncommon for the americans to be called in by Host nation authorities for off Post jobs especially when the ordnance involved is suspected of being of . Origin. According to capt. Henry c. Engel Hardt commander of 168th ordnance detachment Eod control at Mann Heim Germany the 100-Odd officers and enlisted men tagged with this ticklish Job have not had a casualty in More than five years. In that line of work this is something of a record but according to ordnance men it Speaks Well for the training of the men involved. The 168th controls the activities of eight detachments scattered through out Germany. However when needed army experts will take on jobs All the Way from Ethiopia to Calls for inactivation of bombs and shells left Over from world War ii Are becoming less frequent Engelhardt said. Now such jobs turn up Only about once a month. During the period immediately follow ing the War a great Many More Eod experts were kept on the run pulling the Teeth of duds Over a wide Section of Western Germany the local authorities Are responsible for the disposal of All dangerous explosives found off . Mili tary controlled areas. However when the ordnance gives the local men difficulty which they feel the americans Are better equipped to handle a Call is made to Mannheim. The americans according to Engel Hardt usually go out when invited whether or not the danger stems . Explosives or not. Typical of the Type work occupying the . Teams was a recent incident in Hanau Germany in which ammunition trailers blew up scattering dangerous explosives Over a wide area. The .Eod men moved in and policed up the recent ticklish Job turned up at Grafe Woehr when a truck carrying honest John missile was in an Acci Dent and burned. The heat from the fire threatened to ignite the rocket propel Lant. But the Eod Crew moved in an neutralized the missile hauled it off to a Safe area and disposed of it. We Are equipped to handle any thing from ,45-caliber pistol ammunition to nuclear warheads commented Engelhardt. How much extra pay do the Eod me draw the officers get $110 and the enlisted men get $55. There s a catch though that makes this seeming in equity not quite so inequitable. The officer in charge of each detachment is required to do the actual work on the Duel. If he is not present a no May be called upon to de fuse the item but the specialists maintains a similar Eod set up but it is More limited to operational bases according to a spokesman. It operates under the supervision of the directorate of munitions. Tuesday october 3, the stars and stripes Page 11
