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UXO News Roundup, January 2025

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After a brief hiatus, we’re back with our regular monthly news feed – and January has been a busy month for UXO discoveries…

North Sea

An investigation is currently underway by Shell into an item of ‘suspected unexploded ordnance’ which was discovered near a North Sea gas pipeline. The device – believed to be historic – was discovered during a routine inspection back in December of the Far North Liquids and Associated Gas System (FLAGS) pipeline, approximately 80km east of Shetland. A guard vessel has been posted at the location as investigations continue.

See: ‘Suspected unexploded device’ discovered near North Sea FLAGS pipeline | UK News | Sky News

Ireland

On Wednesday 15th January, an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit was called to the discovery of a reported ‘suspected unexploded shell’ by council workers excavating land on the Gardamus Road, near Murrintown, in Co. Wexford. A cordon was established and the device was safely removed – its exact nature has not yet been confirmed.

See: Bomb squad called to Wexford as council workers find undetonated shell | Irish Independent

Kent

On the 12th January, a father and son magnet fishing off the bridge at Aylesford in Kent pulled a WWII-era Mills Bomb from the River Medway. The body of the grenade was stamped ‘JPS’ – the mark of Josiah Parkes & Sons, a Staffordshire based locksmiths, contracted for munitions work during the Second World War.

The grenade was safely detonated in a nearby field by an Army EOD team.

Allington father and son pull up Second World War Mills hand grenade while magnet fishing in the River Medway at Aylesford

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Above: No. 36 Mills bomb – similar in type to the grenade recovered from the River Medway (©Zetica Ltd.)

Isle Of Wight

On the 17th January, an unexploded Second World War Incendiary Bomb (IB) was discovered off Main Road in Wellow, on the Isle of Wight. See our recent news article for more:

WWII Incendiary Bomb detonated on the Isle of Wight (17/01/2025) | Zetica UXO

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Above: Luftwaffe 1kg IB – similar in type to the device discovered on the Isle of Wight (©Zetica Ltd.)

Leeds

On the 19th January, officers of West Yorkshire Police were called to a bridge spanning the River Aire, in central Leeds, where a young boy magnet fishing had snared a suspected ‘unexploded artillery shell’. A police cordon was established and the device was destroyed later in the afternoon in a controlled explosion. Its exact nature has yet to be confirmed.

Magnet-fishing boy, 7, hooks artillery shell in Leeds river – BBC News

Cumbria

On the 26th January, divers who took part in the BBC Lost and Found in the Lakes show, and reunited after filming, recovered an unexploded hand grenade from the Ulverston Canal in Cumbria. The device – reported as a possible WWI-era rifle grenade, though unconfirmed – was safely removed by an EOD team out of Catterick in North Yorkshire.

South Lakes: ‘Unexploded hand grenade’ discovered at canal | The Westmorland Gazette