ferrettkitt Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2497732/The-iron-harvest-Meet-soldiers-tasked-clearing-hundreds-tonnes-deadly-World-War-I-shells-mines-beneath-fields-Flanders.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RattlesnakeBob Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Staggering story ....brings the figures to mind to ...and estimated 300 million duds lying out there somewhere.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Grundy Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Thanks for posting but the daily Mail Article is riddled with errors..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RattlesnakeBob Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Thanks for posting but the daily Mail Article is riddled with errors..... true...a terrible newspaper but...even given they may have jazzed the figures up a bit to make a good story?.. that's still a lot of old ordnance I reckon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Grundy Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Staggering story ....brings the figures to mind to ...and estimated 300 million duds lying out there somewhere.... They are speaking of the Ypres Salient and recovery by the Belgians. Fact; 170 + million artillery rounds were fired during the whole course of the war by the British Army so it is quite reasonable to assume that there were not 300 million duds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 They are speaking of the Ypres Salient and recovery by the Belgians. Fact; 170 + million artillery rounds were fired during the whole course of the war by the British Army so it is quite reasonable to assume that there were not 300 million duds. About 300million of the billion projectiles launched between the British and Germans were duds and most have not been recovered A billion?????? :wow: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RattlesnakeBob Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 a billion ? a million ? a hundred thousand? ..I don't have a clue how many were lobbed back and forth ...but ! ... I 'll say this .........If I was a French or Belgium farmer anywhere in that general area ???? even knowing there might be only 3 or 4 un-exploded shells in one of my fields would certainly cause me to worry a bit come ploughing time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 I was luck enough to attend a lecture by a DVLO Operator at Ipers. He reckoned it would take about another one hundred years to clear all the Unexploded Ordanace. As an unusual fact which country has the largest stock of Chemical weapons? Belgium, courtsey of our good selves and the German's. As for ploughing, the guys seem to just take it as read. The ploughs are reinforced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RattlesnakeBob Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 reinforced plough Tony?...if you gave one of those old massive artillery shells a good enough 'clang' to set it off.. I reckon you'd need the tractor cab seriously reinforced too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 reinforced plough Tony?...if you gave one of those old massive artillery shells a good enough 'clang' to set it off.. I reckon you'd need the tractor cab seriously reinforced too Seen that done as well! Harvesting potatoes is considered almost an extreme sport. Apparently Mils Bombs go through the system very effecintly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RattlesnakeBob Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Hadn't thought of that aspect of it Tony !...crikey !..I guess they would !...perfect King Edward size Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Does anyone know how many actually do explode a year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ploughman Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 There was a documentary sometime last year that featured a small piece on UXBs etc. It mentioned that the farmers tended to gather any old ordnance they found and placed it in a clump and waited for the regular Ordnance disposal unit to come along and dispose of it. From my own experience in Canada in 82 while on road construction at Meaford. I hit this shell with a road grader while doing a final skim on a dirt rd. I was doing about 30 - 40 mph at the time it knocked a hole out of the graders mouldboard blade. No idea what it was but we knew we were likely to meet stuff as we were working just at the end of a tank live fire range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferrettkitt Posted November 11, 2013 Author Share Posted November 11, 2013 Thanks for posting but the daily Mail Article is riddled with errors..... True very true they don't let a good story get in the way of writing the article. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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