WWII Birmingham UXB Destroyed in Controlled Explosion

A WWII German Unexploded Bomb (UXB) has been destroyed in situ in a controlled explosion after an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team was unable to safely remove it from central Birmingham.

The Luftwaffe-dropped device caused chaos after being discovered on a building site in Aston, with lengthy road and rail closures, and evacuations of local residents.

An EOD spokesmen said that the extensive corrosion of the two fuzes had resulted in the leaking of explosive material, which ruled out the removal of the bomb to a more remote location. As such, residents within a several-mile radius of the discovery were treated to the noise of the blast on its destruction.

Birmingham was a major industrial centre during WWII, with many of its factories engaged in the war effort.  It was therefore a prime target for the Luftwaffe, which dropped more than 4,490No. High Explosive (HE) bombs on the city.

Despite the inconvenient location of the find, a considerable about of blast mitigation was put in place in the form of one-tonne sandbags to ensure the blast caused minimal damage nearby.

See: http://www.itv.com/news/central/2017-05-16/image-reveals-attempts-to-defuse-unexploded-wwii-bomb/