Suspected Land Mine Found at Woolacombe Seafront
A suspected American land mine was found on a building site near the seafront at Woolacombe in North Devon. A 100m safety cordon was put in place by the Police before an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team arrived. The EOD team was able to remove the device for safe disposal.
During WWII Woolacombe became the base for the US Army Assault Training Centre. Infantry troops practiced amphibious landings on Woolacombe Beach as part of the preparations for ‘Operation Overlord’, the D-Day invasions of Normandy in June 1944. The beach was considered to be comparable to the famous Omaha Beach that formed one of the main Allied invasion sectors.
