Cologone 4

The History of the Cologne WWII Unexploded Bombs

On Monday 2nd June, 2No. 1000kg and 1No. 500kg United States (US) Unexploded Bombs (UXBs) dropped during World War Two (WWII) were discovered on the right bank of the River Rhine during construction works near the Deutz shipyard in Cologne.

Following the discovery of the 3No. UXBs, 20,000No. people were evacuated from the surrounding area.  The UXBs were defuzed on the morning of Wednesday 4th June.

Colgone 2During WWII, Cologne was one of the most heavily bombed cities in Germany.  The Allies carried out 262No. separate air raids, dropping an estimated 35,200-tons of bombs across the city.

Cologne also experienced the first allied ‘thousand-bomber raid’ on the 30th – 31st May 1942.  Codenamed Operation Millenium, more than 1,000No. bomber aircraft were dispatched in a narrow “bomber stream” formation in the space of 90 minutes to overwhelm the city’s defences.

868No. bomber aircraft made it through the defences and dropped an estimated 1,400-tons of bombs, predominantly Incendiary Bombs (IBs). The raid caused significant damage to shipyards along the Rhine, where the 3No. UXBs were discovered.

Historical aerial photographs taken after the raid show the scale of the damage caused: https://shorturl.at/v6Rtn

Cologne

In Germany it is not considered unusual to discover a UXB, with 31No. bombs being discovered over the course of 2024 in Cologne alone.  This places the risk of encountering UXBs in the UK in context.

Whilst a potentially significant hazard exists in some parts of the country, the Allied bombing of Germany (and parts of occupied Europe) was on a scale incomparable with that of the Luftwaffe air raids on the UK. That is why there is direct legislation for managing UXO hazards in Germany and not in the UK.

Zetica UXO has extensive experience assessing and mitigating UXO hazards on sites both within the UK and overseas.

For examples of some of our international project work, visit: https://zeticauxo.com/detailed-risk-assessment/international-projects/

[Photos from Wikimedia Commons and Australian War Memorial]