Posted on 01/01/2013 5:59:51 PM PST by Hojczyk
A seven-year-old boy sparked a major security scare after discovering a buried WWII bomb – with a metal detector he got for Christmas.
Sonny Cater was exploring fields near his house when the National Geographic metal detector, worth £30, led him to a mud-caked metal capsule.
He took it home but his father Jem, 37, became suspicious as he washed it under a tap and contacted a relative who is a former RAF armourer. The family were told to immediately call the police
Experts identified the device as a 10lb British practice bomb from WWII and it was removed for safe disposal.
Yesterday his mother Tracey said that, despite the drama, the incident proved that Sonny's Christmas present worked.
She said: "We are dumbfounded that he discovered this on his first go. "We are going to go out again to see if he can find something Roman. It has made our Christmas.
He dug up the treasure but couldn't make out what it was – so he hurriedly bundled up the muddy object and took it home to wash down. Mr Cater contacted his partner's father, Steve Wood, after uncovering the pointed end.
Mr Wood, who had served more than 20 years in the RAF armoury, advised him to call 999 and place it in a bucket of cold water. This was a precaution in case it was a German phosphorous bomb, which would ignite if dry.
Bomb disposal experts from RAF Wittering in Cambridgeshire rushed to the family home and identified the item as a 10lb British practice bomb head. T he bomb head still contained internal wiring and was taken away for disposal.
It is believed to have been used in practice World War II bomb runs. Luckily the 10lb bomb head did not contain any explosive material.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Well, I hope his 2nd find is a mideval treasure trove — under adult supervision, of course. I think I’d have a stroke i my 7 year old dug up a bomb!
The family was then arrested for possession of a weapon.
I found part of a cannon ball when I was about 6 or 7.
Problem is I can’t find were there was ever a cannon that size in the state of Texas.
The cannon would have about 10 inch bore. That’s a massive cannon and would have only been used on a ship, not on land.
A friend and I found an intact 22-mm shell on the beach at Wheelus Air Base in Libya, back when the U.S. had a presence there. Hard to believe, but we had the good sense to leave it there and not fiddle with it. I think I was eleven or twelve years old at the time.
Siege mortars were plifered from Federal armories during the Wah of Northun Agresshun. 8 inch, 10 inch, 13 inch...perhaps a relic from one of these?
There was a fort which was used to block boat traffic on the Trinity river, but I don't think they had anything that size. They wouldn't be able to move it to keep up with the boats movement, it would pretty much be a one shot deal.
Sandy hook beach in NJ was loaded with ordinance...it was shut down cause someone found a grenade of some sort and took it off the beach...
When I was stationed in Germany(1959-1962)we found unexploded ordinance all the time. Most of us would leave it alone and report it. Some idiots would pick them up and take them to an officer.
As much stuff as was lying around at that time, I don't know how many German of that time didn't get blown to hell just walking in the woods.
WWII INERT MK23-MOD 1 NAVY PRACTICE BOMB
When I was in the first or second grade, I found one of
these under the living room window. The center is hollow
and it's obviously harmless. I used it as a doorstop
decades.
Used to camp at Sandy Hook as a boy. We found some ordinance on the beach one time. Climbed to the top of the bunkers and dropped it - to see if it would go off. After a few failed attempts, we told the scoutmaster what we found, and he promptly gave it to the authorities...
The 12 inch Columbiad was available in those days. A giant among field pieces, usually used in shore batteries along the ocean or navigable rivers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbiad
There were land-based cannon and mortars used in the Civil War that had 10-inch and larger bores
If there was anything that size in Texas, which I don’t believe there was, it wasn’t anywhere near me.
The Trinity river couldn’t handle large boats, and it would take a large boat to handle something that size, so I doubt it was fired from a boat.
Just to get over the banks of the river and the trees you would have to fire it almost straight up from a boat on the river. I found it almost 3 miles from the river, so I don’t think it came from a boat on the river.
I doubt seriously they would commit a canon that size for small river boats they would use a smaller canon they could move.
I’ve wondered if the one leg Mexican Santa Anna had anything that size.
Both GingisK and I said that the large cannons we mentioned were LAND based. The cannon that GingisK mentioned was used in "shore batteries", meaning it was on land and used AGAINST boats, not ON boats.
I said canon not mortar.
You are mixing up canon with mortars.
Two different things.
No, neither of us are mixing the cannons and mortars. Follow my link to the Columbiad article. Those big guns were definately cannons, not mortars. They had a range of over six miles, so it is resonable that the shell you found was fired from across the river. Remember that the sights on artillery in those days were just overgrown rifle sights. Indirect fire was not used until the Spanish-American war. It is possible that the half shell you have resulted from it bouncing off its target in the river after smashing whatever it hit.
Try to find the exact diameter of the shell. I'm sure there are archives that provide detailed movements of guns during the war. You have a nice artifact. Try to find out more about it.
Anything that size in Texas during the CW would have been on the coast, probably at the mouth of a river to take out the ships offshore unloading troops to the smaller boats, probably row boats, to come up the river.
There were small paddle wheelers that traveled the Trinity, but they would be sitting ducks no matter what was used. Only the smallest of boats could turn around. Take one out and the rest would be dead in the water because they probably couldn't get around it.
Once in the river the small boats could be taken out with small artillery pieces which are quicker to load.
The more I've looked into it the more I believe it's not from the CW but was Mexican. Santa Anna had the army to move and man a piece this size.
It probably wasn't as heavy as the CW pieces since it wouldn't need to be used at long range, Texans didn't have but a few cannon to fire back with and they were small.
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