We lost a Lynx helicopter near Halle yesterday,the pilot got it down away from houses,and the crew of three walked away with just a few bruises.
Due to the record low water three WW2 bombs came to light in the Rhine near Koblenz,the biggest,an 1.8ton mine I sailed over TWICE on cruises,however,this was a whopper,and so far 40,000 people have been evacuated.It is hoped to defuse the thing on Monday,the other two were just normal "bombs" and have been dealt with.
The wife and I with friends have been along that stretch of the Rhine a few years back, you never know what is lurking in that stretch of water, (but for the grace of God)
ReplyDeleteJohn Atkins
AGREE! With that thought jn mind, you have wonder what is still in the River Thames. We know that there is a sunken ammo ship still in the Thames Estuary.
ReplyDeletePixie191
Remember the Star Fighter that crashed into some houses in 66 the pilot was killed and some others I believe. The Band was playing there a week later and I went with Pete Watts to see what was left of the house.
ReplyDeleteI used to trawl in the Thames b4 I came out here. Often we used to pick up bits of planes and occsionally a bomb.It was good practice to put it in an old net,lower it to the sea bed and claim for a new net after the Navy had blown it up.The Ship you are talking about Pixie,is the Richard Montgomery. It was a US Munitions ship which went aground on a sand bank just of Sheerness. They got a lot of the explosives off but there is still tons that they cannot move. If it ever went off it would destroy houses on Sheppey and smash windows in Southend,7 miles away. There are still remains of a Dornier on the Buxey Sands at low water. There are also live amunition on the Maplin sands off Shoeburyness where the experimental base was. I believe some of the Royals tankies were there.
ReplyDeleteThey have now evacuated 45,000 people - the bombs have yet to be de-fuzed.As I remember the Starfighter pilot was showing his Mum the tricks of the trade - with drastic results!
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Don
Re 1.8ton mine. What was the point of mining the Rhine when in fact there were no war ships on it during WWII ? ...I'd of thought it particularly difficult to drop a mine with such precision i.e. not warrant the effort! As for the Star Fighter, I'll bet it wasn't as dramatic as the Canberra Bomber that landed on the housing estate in Huntingdon - despite the crew having time to get out they stayed with the aircraft to try and get it away from the houses below. I was only a mile away at the USAF base Alconbury time that time. Another sad reminder, thanks to the cold war.
ReplyDeleteThe bombs and mine were successfully defuzed,bomb No 3 turned out to be a container dumped full of poison,its now been moved too.I think the Rhine during the WW2 was used as a very important transport means - therefore the mines!Despite rain the rivers are still running very low!
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Don
Local communities in Koblenz were evacuated after unexploded WWII bombs uncovered by receding river.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2070636/Danube-drought-Fears-cruises-shipping-river-levels-drop.html