WAR Augsburg to evacuate 54,000 on Christmas morning as World War II bomb defused

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.dw.com/en/augsburg-to-ev...rning-as-world-war-ii-bomb-defused/a-36903431

Augsburg to evacuate 54,000 on Christmas morning as World War II bomb defused

In the largest such evacuation since the end of World War II, 54,000 people in Augsburg are to move out of their homes on Christmas morning. Police do not know how long it will take to make the bomb safe.

Date 24.12.2016

Authorities have ordered residents in the southern German city within a 1.8 kilometer (1.1 mile) radius to evacuate their homes on Christmas morning. A team has to disarm a massive 1.8-ton World War II era aerial bomb.

The impacted area covers much of Augsburg's central historic district, including the city hall and cathedral. On Saturday, patients at a hospital clinic were transferred to another hospital or allowed to temporarily go home.

Around 4,000 police, firefighters and emergency service personnel will be on hand to support the operation, which will impact 32,000 households. Peole without another place to go will be offered shelter in schools.

Seven decades on since WWII, finding unexploded bombs dropped by Allied forces on Nazi Germany is common.

Sunday's evacuation will be the largest since 45,000 people were obliged to leave their homes when a bomb was removed from Koblenz in 2011.

Large parts of Augsburg were destroyed in February 1944, when the city was attacked by hundreds of British and US bombers. A major raid had been organized against the city in April 1942.

cw/jm (AP, dpa)

 

[Dennis Olson]

Just call the muzloids. They'll be happy to remove it.


Just sayin.....

 

[Knoxville's Joker]

Just call the muzloids. They'll be happy to remove it.


Just sayin.....

But they might pull an Achmed and suffer from a case of premature detonation.

And no christmas is complete without Jeff Dunham singing Jingle Bombs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH1Zaef7XXA

 

[Illini Warrior]

1.8 tons - most likely one of those British blockbuster bombs ....

 

[ShadowMan]

That's a BIG BADDA BOOM!!!

 

[Fetz]

The British had a 12,000 lb bomb that could be carried by modified Lancasters. Was a good British TV series on bomb defusing teams. Think it was called "Danger UXB" late 1970's

 

[Illini Warrior]

The British had a 12,000 lb bomb that could be carried by modified Lancasters. Was a good British TV series on bomb defusing teams. Think it was called "Danger UXB" late 1970's

the Brits got ridiculous - they had a 22,000 pounder at the end ....

 

[Dennis Olson]

Well, having your cities bombed into rubble tends to make one mad enough to build really big bombs for some payback.

 

[Red Baron]

the Brits got ridiculous - they had a 22,000 pounder at the end ....

IIRC, those were made to attack the massive fortified U-Boat facilities on the French coast.

 

[mzkitty]

14m
Update: Explosives experts have defused large World War II aerial bomb in southern German city of Augsburg - AP
End of alert

 

[Millwright]

It has been there 75 years or so and they are going to f***-up 54,000 people's Christmas day.

What a bunch of douche bags.

Sounds like a whole lotta bureaucrats need to be fired for lack of common sense.

 

[Melodi]

Sadly there are still probably hundreds of hidden bombs both in the UK and Europe; especially near the large British cities and in Germany.

This was a terrible way for people to wake up on Christmas morning; herded out of their homes with 54,000 people with no place to go except away - it was handled as well as it could have been and I'm not sure 54,000 Americans would have moved as quickly and with as little physical trauma (and no violence or blow back that I know of). But then both Germans and the English know what these bombs can do and no on wants to be around if they blow.

It may have been 74 years, but they will probably occasionally be finding these things for at least the next 1,000 years and possibly longer; though I have no idea how long they would remain actively dangerous.

Both sides dropped these and both sides have left-overs; the US was just very lucky that at the time, the Atlantic and Pacific provided barriers to the technology of the day doing a lot of hands on bombing raids.

My father did tell me that as a young (14) year old air warden in Long Beach/Los Angeles he personally witnessed a Japanese plane in a "dog fight over my head with a US plane" on the night of the famous "Battle For Los Angeles."

My Dad was the head of the Jr. Astronomy club and had built his own telescope so he knew the difference between a Japanese plane and a UFO - however he also told me that the young air wardens were all rounded up afterwards and told what they had seen was a "wartime secret" and that if they ever talked about it - ever; they would be traitors and subject to a firing squad.

As far as I know, I'm the only person my Dad ever told - when I was 14 to show what 14 year old people had to do during wartime; my Mother told me he never even told her about this, but since he told me long before the movie or the story became well known, I totally believe him.

I have also heard - I think from a guest on John G's old show; that the Japanese had proto-types for planes that were taken apart and put in subs to cross the Pacific and it was his opinion that it was likely one or more such planes that my Dad saw - however obviously this type of attack was not really viable or considered effective enough for the Japanese to do it again and leave live bombs laying around the US West Coast; if they had then the US would have a similar problem.

 

[dogmanan]

It has been there 75 years or so and they are going to f***-up 54,000 people's Christmas day.

What a bunch of douche bags.

Sounds like a whole lotta bureaucrats need to be fired for lack of common sense.

That's what I thought to.

The Germany used to be so strong now they are pusseys.

 

[Millwright]

That's what I thought to.

The brits used to be so strong now they are pusseys.

It is in Germany...same-same tho.

 

[dogmanan]

It is in Germany...same-same tho.

Yep I saw my mistake and fixed it.

You wright the same same.

 

[Melodi]

So you guys think they should just have kept people at home, knowing their was a giant live-bomb found by a construction crew late on the Christmas Even shift instead of ordering an evacuation until the bomb could be disabled?

Sorry if I miss understood things here but why does that make Germans (or Brits) who evacuate when a big bomb is found, "pussies?" Sounds like a very intelligent response to me, but then as I said Europeans on both sides of the channel have a lot of experience with these left overs. There are still probably hundreds if not thousands; lying quietly under the earth where they buried themselves and were paved over and built on, little potential disasters waiting to be dug up like this one was.

 

[Millwright]

If that device didn't go boom when they hit it during excavation, it wasn't going to go boom in the next 24-48 hours either.

I'm guessing there is a federal type fund that pays for such operations and somebody saw it as an opportunity to soak this fund for a whole boatload of holiday double time for everybody involved.

They could give two $#its about the inconvenience for everybody else involved, it is a Christmas bonus for them.

 

[Melodi]

Millwright - do you have bomb disposal experience? I don't, but I do know that whenever these things are found the usual course is to evacuate right away - I've seen a couple of them on TV dramas (which may have been total fiction of course) that indicated that once they are exposed they are more likely to explode.

Someone with experience chiming in here would be useful; I only know what the policy is and it isn't about getting double pay on Christmas Day, because it happens pretty much every time they find a bomb; except that usually not that many people are affected - usually it is a few hundred to a few thousand.

 

[Fetz]

Actually both sides had delay fused bombs. The timer or chemical fuse would activate on the second or third "bump" after landing (making defusing very complex). No standard pattern or type of fuse. Several fuses on sides, front and back. See post #6. The delay fuses caused delay and evacuation, panic and terror, and disrupted life and production. Do an internet search if you are interested in further info. Merry Christmas everyone.

 

[SAPPHIRE]

after all this time they pick Christmas.............?????........yeah it sounds FF to me............... IMO

 

[Millwright]

Experience?...no, basic understanding of the materials...yes.

I bet you can't find an incident of any WWII ordinance accidentally exploding in the last 20-30 years.

The bombs then called Blockbusters were the RAF's HC (High Capacity) bombs. These bombs had especially thin casings that allowed them to contain approximately three-quarters of their weight in explosive, with a 4,000-pound bomb containing over 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg) of Amatol. Most General-purpose bombs (termed Medium Capacity—or MC—by the RAF) contained 50% explosive by weight, the rest being made up of the fragmentation bomb casing. Blockbusters got larger as the war progressed, from the original 4,000 pounds (1,800 kg) version, up to 12,000 pounds (5,400 kg).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockbuster_bomb

The colour of amatol ranges from off-white to slightly yellow or pinkish brown, depending on the mixture used and remains soft for long periods of storage. It is also hygroscopic, which complicates long-term storage.[4] To prevent moisture problems, amatol charges were coated with a thin layer of pure molten TNT or alternatively bitumen. Long-term storage was rare during wars because ammunition charged with amatol were generally used soon after manufacture.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amatol

Explosives considerably differ from one another as to their behavior in the presence of water. Gelatin dynamites containing nitroglycerine have a degree of water resistance. Explosives based on ammonium nitrate have little or no water resistance due to the reaction between ammonium nitrate and water, which liberates ammonia, nitrogen dioxide and hydrogen peroxide. In addition, ammonium nitrate is hygroscopic, susceptible to damp, hence the above concerns.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explosive_material

 

[Housecarl]

Looks like one of the "cookie" block busters....Think big "barrel bomb"....

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.kmbc.com/article/54000-evacuated-on-christmas-day-after-wwii-bomb-is-discovered/8536884

54,000 evacuated on Christmas Day after WWII bomb is discovered

Evacuation lasted from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m., no injuries reported

Updated: 11:17 AM CST Dec 26, 2016
By Associated Press

http://hips.htvapps.com/htv-prod-me...?crop=1.00xw:0.825xh;0,0.00478xh&resize=900:*
In this Dec. 25, 2016 picture, explosives experts stand next to a WWII bomb after the successful defusing in Augsburg, Germany. Explosives experts have defused the large World War II aerial bomb in the southern German city of Augsburg - clearing the way for thousands of evacuated residents to return and hold their Christmas celebrations at home. SOURCE: Stefan Puchner/dpa via AP

FRANKFURT, Germany — Explosives experts on Sunday defused a large World War II aerial bomb in the southern German city of Augsburg - clearing the way for thousands of evacuated residents to return to their Christmas celebrations at home.

City police tweeted that they had "good news at Christmas" just before 7 p.m. local time Sunday. They had earlier been unable to say how long residents would have to stay away.

Some 32,000 households with 54,000 residents in the city's historic central district were forced to leave by 10 a.m. Christmas morning so experts could handle the bomb.

They had to clean seven decades of muck off the bomb so they could find and disable its three detonators. The munition's large size - 1.8 tons - suggested it was a so-called blockbuster of the type dropped by British forces, with the aim of blowing surrounding buildings apart so that accompanying incendiary bombs could start fires more easily.

The bomb was uncovered last week during construction work in the city's historic central district. Police said Christmas Day was the best time to defuse it because there was less traffic and it was more likely that people could stay with relatives.

Police rang doorbells and used vans with loudspeakers to urge procrastinators to leave ahead of a 10 a.m. deadline. Schools and sports facilities were opened as shelters but most people appeared to have left on Christmas Eve.

Finding World War II bombs is not unusual in Germany. Much of Augsburg's historic center was destroyed on Feb. 25-26, 1944, when hundreds of British and U.S. bombers attacked the city.

 

[bw]

It has been there 75 years or so and they are going to f***-up 54,000 people's Christmas day. What a bunch of douche bags. Sounds like a whole lotta bureaucrats need to be fired for lack of common sense.

The bomb was uncovered last week during construction work in the city's historic central district. Police said Christmas Day was the best time to defuse it because there was less traffic and it was more likely that people could stay with relatives.

Perhaps that clarifies the thinking.

 

[NC Susan]

https://www.jihadwatch.org/2016/12/...n-bus-attack-paramedics-trying-to-treat-child

Germany: Muslim migrants kick baby on bus, attack paramedics trying to treat child

DECEMBER 29, 2016
5:50 AM BY ROBERT SPENCER
157 COMMENTS

The new masters of Germany are impatient with those who do not recognize their preeminence. But a few more lessons about how it’s “racist” to resist, and all will no doubt be well.



“Rampaging Syrian migrants KICK BABY on bus, then attack paramedics trying to treat child,” by Rehema Figueiredo, Express, December 28, 2016 (thanks to Blazing Cat Fur):

MIGRANTS kicked a one-year-old baby on a bus then attacked paramedics with BELTS as they tried to treat the infant.

The shocking attack happened at approximately 9pm on Sunday night in Augsburg, one of Germany’s oldest cities.

Residents were being evacuated following the discovery of a bomb from the Second World War and some had boarded a replacement night bus when a fight broke out.

Several Syrian migrants erupted with anger because of a pram taking up space on the bus.

Migrants hurled abuse at other passengers before a fight broke out, with four of the Syrian men using the handles on the bus to hoist themselves up and attack women and old people to try and drag them into the fighting, according to an eyewitness.

The migrants paid no attention to anyone in their way, at one point kicking a one-year-old in the face.

Paramedics were called and arrived on the scene to help the injured but the men began attacking them with belts – not letting up until the police were called….


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UK: 12 million more migrants will arrive in 25 years without hard Brexit Obama administration now bringing in 290 Muslim migrants every day