Crew Works To Defuse Half-Ton Bomb From World War Ii

An army bomb squad worked Sunday to defuse a half-ton German bomb dating to World War II as some of the nearly 4,000 evacuees were treated to music from the war years.

British media called the operation in Portland, on England’s southwest coast, the country’s largest planned evacuation since the war.

The 1,100-pound bomb, believed to have been dropped by a German bomber during a July 1941 raid, was buried beneath a soccer field. Diggers surveying for mineral deposits found the bomb two weeks ago.

Unexploded leftovers from the Luftwaffe’s blitz are regularly found in England, but they usually are smaller bombs or anti-aircraft shells.

Maj. Nick Clark, directing an eight-man bomb squad from the army’s Royal Engineers, said Sunday the work was expected to take another day.

The team used a remote-controlled robot Saturday to drill into the bomb shell. Capt. Mike Lobb removed the fuse cap and injected the fuse with a saline solution to prevent electricity from passing through the wire.

On Sunday, Lobb bored holes into various parts of the shell to “steam out” the 54-year-old explosives inside.

About 200 officers patrolled the evacuated area to prevent looting.