Explosion of WWII bomb in Munich injures 4, disrupts trains

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

BERLIN (AP) — A World War II bomb exploded at a construction site next to a busy railway line in Munich on Wednesday, injuring four people, one of them seriously, German authorities said.

A column of smoke was seen rising from the site near the Donnersbergerbruecke station. The construction site for a new commuter train line is located on the approach to Munich’s central station, which is a bit over a kilometer (about a half-mile) to the east.

Trains to and from that station, one of Germany’s busiest, were suspended but service resumed in mid-afternoon. A few local trains were evacuated. The fire service said there was no damage to the tracks.

Unexploded bombs are still found frequently in Germany, even 76 years after the end of the war, and often during work on construction sites. They are usually defused or disposed of in controlled explosions, a process that sometimes entails large-scale evacuations as a precaution.



Firefighters, police officers and railway employees stand on a railway site in Munich, Germany, Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021. Police in Germany say three people have been injured including seriously in an explosion at a construction site next to a busy railway line in Munich. (Sven Hoppe/dpa via AP)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/business-europe-explosions-germany-munich-3b9b8d79df2e2a2cefed95b0230955a4

[brooklynite]

1. Meanwhile in Belgium, they're still pulling out chemical weapons shells from WWI

https://www.chemistryworld.com/features/the-great-war-clean-up/3009456.article

[thenelm1]

2. And there are areas in France still unhabitable for the same reason. n/t

[GB_RN]

3. Damn. That Sucks.

I was wondering what size it was, then I read the full article: 250kg bomb (550 lb). Our bombers dropped 500 and 1000 lb bombs, and the British planes did the same. Whether the Brits made bombs in the same weight size because they tended to use bombers of US make (a few notable exceptions like the Lancaster bomber) or not, I don't know. But since we both dropped 500 and 1000 pounders (227.27 and 454.5 kg, respectively), I'm guessing that the Germans just rounded the weight up, or estimated it, since they actually DID drop 250kg bombs.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. Not sure where "tended to use bombers of US make" comes from

https://www.lancaster-archive.com/bc_stats6.htm

Bomber Command used mainly Wellingtons at first, then Lancasters, with Halifaxes also overtaking the amount dropped by Wellingtons - all British aircraft. The RAF did have 1900 Liberators (a mainstay of antisubmarine warfare), but that compares with over 11,000 Wellingtons built, 7,000 Lancasters and 6,000 Halifaxes.

[GB_RN]

7. Thanks For That

I misremembered information about early production B-17s going to Britain and had completely forgotten about the Wellington and Halifax bombers. I normally do much better with fact recall than that (WWII history is actually a bit of a hobby of mine, so that’s embarrassing). I do apologize, and no offense intended. Blame it on writing papers and studying for grad school midterms in middle age. 🤦?♂️

[Old Crank]

4. At least the second

Bomb that has been found in my town since I have been here.
A friend and her neighborhood were evacuated while they took care of another one.
No bangs or injuries.
Good thing it didn't damage tracks. That is the route all trains in and out of the Hauptbahnhof take.

[CTyankee]

9. How many raids over Germany were there by us and did we fly from Britain?

[EX500rider]

10. Mostly from Britain yes although some raids flown from Africa on southern targets (hence "Catch-22")

[CTyankee]

12. I have an old photo of my paratrooper cousin in his uniform on his return to his home in Texas.

His cap has a rather large button or insignia of some kind. Would that identify him as a paratrooper? I don't know if you have knowledge of this type of designation but maybe you could help me research it. Did paratroopers have some sort of designation on their caps?

[EX500rider]

13. They got paratroop wings, the cap would more likely be unit patch

jump wings:

[CTyankee]

14. Could you pm me with your address? I can photocopy the picture to send to you.

The patch looks round to me but it was not a close up shot. It also appears he was wearing boots.

[EX500rider]

15. That's usually something that works better with crowdsourcing online

I'd post a pic of it in a Facebook world war II group or a modeling forum or search here and see if any of these look familiar:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Division_insignia_of_the_United_States_Army

[Old Crank]

11. I hope that I can post this table.

While I was trying to post the table I found I noticed it was posted already.

Munich was 41% destroyed. By wars end.

[COL Mustard]

5. UXO Will Be An Issue In Europe

For a very long time (unexploded ordnance). There's a ship in the Channel that sank in 1944 with enough explosives to do serious damage today, if it blew up. At least now we have insensitive munitions to reduce the risk.

[The Jungle 1]

8. It may have been a German bomb.

The Jews working as slave labor sabotaged the production of bombs.
Gotta love that.