The History Behind the Paris WW2 Unexploded Bomb
On Friday 7th March, Eurostar and French rail services in Paris were halted after the discovery of a World War Two (WWII) Unexploded Bomb (UXB) in the suburb of Saint Denis, approximately 2.5km north of Gare du Nord Station.
The 500kg bomb was discovered in the middle of a set of tracks during overnight maintenance work, at a depth of around 2m. The French authorities managed to defuze the bomb after a day of disruption at one of Europe’s busiest railway hubs.
The railway yards around German-occupied Paris were targeted by Allied bombers on several occasions during WWII. On the 21st April 1944 a raid by 400No. British aircraft was undertaken on the marshalling yards at La Chapelle and La Plaine Saint-Denis.
More than 2000No. bombs were dropped during the attack. The raid caused significant damage to the yards at Saint-Denis, completely destroying the western end of the yard, along with an engine depot and several signal boxes. Nearby residential housing was also hit.
Historic photographs taken after the raid show the scale of the damage caused: https://shorturl.at/9WdFn The traffic on these lines was interrupted for more than 10No. days.
France’s Interior Ministry says that 700,000 air-dropped bombs have been defuzed by disposal teams since the end of WWII.
At Zetica we have extensive experience assessing UXO hazards on sites both within the UK and overseas. For examples of our international project work, visit: https://zeticauxo.com/detailed-risk-assessment/international-projects/
*All photos from Wikimedia Commons
