After four days of evacuation and disruption, a 500kg German World War Two bomb discovered in a garden on St Michael Avenue in Plymouth has been safely transported to sea for detonation. On Friday, police closed roads and rail and bus services were halted for the bomb’s transfer through the city’s streets. It was then taken by boat out beyond Plymouth’s breakwater to be lowered to about 46ft before detonation. Despite hopes that it might provide a Hollywood-style spectacle, Lieutenant Colonel Rob Swan, head of the disposal team, told the BBC that onlookers might see only a splash.
Over 10,000 people and 4,300 properties had fallen within a 300m (984ft) cordon that had been in place since the bomb’s discovery on Tuesday. Roads were closed, and trains and buses stopped during its transport through the city. Temporary rest centres had been set up for those affected; the Life Centre was used to provide emergency shelter. Residents who had left Plymouth during the operation expressed their relief at the bomb’s safe transfer.
The Ministry of Defence revealed that around 30 of its most experienced bomb disposal experts had worked throughout the week to minimise the risk of damage. Staff from the city’s cultural centre, the Box, using “bomb maps” from World War Two, identified the explosive as having been dropped during a heavy night of bombing between 22 and 23 April 1941. The city was hit by a total of 1,362 bombs during the war. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps commended the “bravery and fortitude” of both the public and personnel involved in the “highly complex operation
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