A BOMBSHELL has been dropped on Wyedean communities with the news that there could be hundreds of unexploded World War Two bombs still lying in our towns, villages and countryside.

An estimated 10 per cent of bombs dropped during the war failed to explode, and many are still thought to be buried up to several metres down in the ground.

Geophysics specialist Zetica Ltd says its investigations indicate that there could be as many as 116 unexploded bombs in the Lydney area and another 79 around Newent, including one incendiary device.

Around Chepstow, like Lydney a dock and railway target for Hitler’s Luftwaffe, it claims there are 141 high explosive bombs unaccounted for and one incendiary device, while Monmouth and surrounding areas has 82 unexploded bombs and one incendiary.

Zetica spokesman Mike Sainsbury said: “These bombs still pose a threat to activities such as piling, drilling, tunnelling and excavations in high risk areas.

“Unexploded bombs often entered the ground unnoticed at high velocity and penetrated to a depth of several metres.

“Here they remain, vulnerable to disturbances from construction work… a piling rig could repeatedly hit a UXB with considerable force before the crew realises an obstruction has been impacted, and it could then be up to 72 hours before the detonator activates.”

Despite the amount of unexploded ordnance, Zetica say the chance of a bomb going off in the Wyedean area is “low risk.”

The firm has now compiled UXB maps for the whole of the UK, including Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire, based on data from the Public Records Office, the Ministry of Defence and the Luftwaffe.

Typical Luftwaffe targets included military bases, roads and railways, factories, power utilities, docks and airfields, but bombs were also dropped in remote areas where beacons were lit and decoy runways created to fool enemy pilots.

The figures don’t account for discarded Allied ordinance, though, such as grenades.

In May this year, Highnam seven-year-old Macs Perrou and dad Jules Marchitti had the shock of their lives when they pulled up a live grenade on a magnet while fishing from a bridge near their home on the River Severn.

The police were called and bomb disposal experts from the Royal Logistics Corps arrived on the scene. The grenade was later taken to a nearby field and Macs was allowed to watch a controlled explosion.

For more information about UXBs, go to www.zetica.com/uxb_downloads.htm