Largest ever evacuation set to take place in Frankfurt after WWII bomb found

Largest ever evacuation set to take place in Frankfurt after WWII bomb found

Some 70,000 people will have to leave their homes in Frankfurt on Sunday, after an unexploded bomb from the Second World War was found in the city. It is set to be the biggest ever evacuation due to a bomb disposal.

The British-made bomb, which weighs 1.8 tonnes and is two metres in length, was found during building work on the Wismarer Strasse in the Westend district, according to the Frankfurter Rundschau. German media said the bomb was nicknamed "Wohnblockknacker" (blockbuster) during the war for its ability to wipe out whole streets or buildings.

A police spokesperson said on Wednesday that 70,000 people will likely have to leave their homes, meaning that almost one in ten of the city's 717,000 inhabitants will be affected. Officers are guarding the site and there "is currently no danger".

Blockbuster? I sure hope not.

Must be quite a gig to be evacuating everyone - but it doesn't sound like it should take long? I hope.

I wonder if Germany will bill the UK for the recovery, evacuation and disposal of the bomb?

Police said the bomb in question was a HC 4000, a so-called high capacity bomb used in air raids by British forces.

"Due to the large size of the bomb, extensive evacuation measures must be taken," police said.

The Wismarer street where the ordnance was found is close to the city centre and just some 2.5 kilometres north of the main Zeil shopping area.

Among the affected buildings are the German Federal Bank and two hospitals.

Sounds like a good idea to get them out but my God what about the hospitals, etc?

Good luck to Germany for the removal and destroying of Blockbuster!

peace

a reply to: silo13

It's amazing after so long these munitions are still being found, goes to show how much was dropped in WW2. Makes me wonder how long they will continue to be unearthed across Europe.

I'm pleasently surprised Silo, this isn't your normal style of thread.

originally posted by: silo13
Largest ever evacuation set to take place in Frankfurt after WWII bomb found

Some 70,000 people will have to leave their homes in Frankfurt on Sunday, after an unexploded bomb from the Second World War was found in the city. It is set to be the biggest ever evacuation due to a bomb disposal.

The British-made bomb, which weighs 1.8 tonnes and is two metres in length, was found during building work on the Wismarer Strasse in the Westend district, according to the Frankfurter Rundschau. German media said the bomb was nicknamed "Wohnblockknacker" (blockbuster) during the war for its ability to wipe out whole streets or buildings.

A police spokesperson said on Wednesday that 70,000 people will likely have to leave their homes, meaning that almost one in ten of the city's 717,000 inhabitants will be affected. Officers are guarding the site and there "is currently no danger".

Blockbuster? I sure hope not.

Must be quite a gig to be evacuating everyone - but it doesn't sound like it should take long? I hope.

I wonder if Germany will bill the UK for the recovery, evacuation and disposal of the bomb?

Police said the bomb in question was a HC 4000, a so-called high capacity bomb used in air raids by British forces.

"Due to the large size of the bomb, extensive evacuation measures must be taken," police said.

The Wismarer street where the ordnance was found is close to the city centre and just some 2.5 kilometres north of the main Zeil shopping area.

Among the affected buildings are the German Federal Bank and two hospitals.

Sounds like a good idea to get them out but my God what about the hospitals, etc?

Good luck to Germany for the removal and destroying of Blockbuster!

peace

Was it in storage or was this a bomb that was dropped and didn't go boom?

a reply to: Badams

Unreal isn't it these things are still popping up. No matter how many times I see it come up I'm still suprised.

Oh - and I have hosted a lot a great threads - you just have to look for them. The 'feel good' ones never hit the front page anymore it seems.

peace

a reply to: Vasa Croe

From the link:

It is relatively common for unexploded bombs to be found during building work in urban areas in Germany.

Strange, huh?

peace

a reply to: silo13

I wonder if Germany will bill the UK for the recovery, evacuation and disposal of the bomb?

...

a reply to: Domo1

Wellllll, I'm just asking.

dot dot dot

peace

a reply to: Vasa Croe

Usually those are bombs that were dropped but didn't go off. Aparently they got it mostly secured though, otherwise they would have to disarm it right were they found it and evacuate everyone living within a certain distance right away.

That happened where I live a bit ago, when they found a much smaller bomb about 500m from my apartment some time in the afternoon. I don't listen to radio or watch TV, so I only heard about it when the police was anouncing it, driving through the streets.
Evacuation and making sure that everyone was gone in a 2 or 2.5 km radius took a while and they started disarming the bomb around 1 a.m. I think. They were done around 2 a.m. and everyone could get back home.

Im pretty sure that anyone living within 5 miles or so of those citiies that were bombed during the war, both UK & EU, will nearer than know to several large lumps of unexploded ordnance. Bomb loads were often dropped prematurely due to weather obscuring the target, weather conditions etc.

My home town of Glasgow had several locations that were targetted for bombing, plane factories, shipbuilding & engineering, massive storage of shipping along the Clyde down onto the coast, several ships deep in places.

tick-tock-tick-tock.......t?

a reply to: silo13

Between unexploded ordinance and landmines, there's way too much stuff out there to find.

a reply to: silo13

I'm just glad we could find common ground for discussion!

I also find it amazing when people go "magnet fishing" in locations where battles occurred, and pull out all sorts of historical war relics. Super interesting to me, makes me wonder what is still out there waiting to be found.

Wow, if that fuse failed because of a stuck spring or something...
I would think they would attempt to defuse it before it was moved... but they are experts, and probably know why it failed.
Hopefully!

a reply to: silo13

Okay. I've been to Frankfurt. It's a like a venus friggin' fly trap. They're screwed.

I kid. I kid. Sort of. I'm sure resident Frankfurters are better at navigating that spiraling mess than I was, but still...

Easy to get in, almost impossible to get out.

I wish the bomb disposal unit the best of luck I think it was 2010 where they had several killed trying to disarm a ww2 bomb. If I remember correctly they didn't even start it just went off.

Why would Germany bill the U.K. They brought it upon them selves as to why the bomb is even there.

They will still be finding these bombs in Europe 500 years from now.

In places they use ground penetrating radar before digging any ditches or new construction so that a backhoe operator does not hit a fuse and set one off.

originally posted by: Domo1
a reply to: silo13

I wonder if Germany will bill the UK for the recovery, evacuation and disposal of the bomb?

...

it is covered with mud so

Looks like they already moved it onto a platform before the evacuation. Something not adding up.
a reply to: silo13

a reply to: gimcrackery

Ya know I wondered what it was about that pic that bothered me.

Now I know. Good spot!

Begs some answers doesn't it.

Thanks!

peace