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The Guardian (Long Read) ·Smart escape

‘It Could Knock a Whole Street Down’: the Art of Defusing a Second World War Bomb

by Samira Shackle

Published 2026-10-06 04:00:02+00:00

How do you defuse an eighty-year-old bomb when you can't tell if it's ticking?

0:00 / 37:03 · Narrator Gacrux

Context

Eight decades after the Blitz, thousands of unexploded bombs remain buried under British cities and harbours. When construction crews accidentally dig one up, the military response looks nothing like a Hollywood thriller. A Guardian feature published on 6 October 2026 rides along with the soldiers tasked with cleaning up these physical leftovers of the Second World War. The story captures the slow, tense reality of modern bomb disposal, where the greatest threat is simply the unpredictability of an eighty-year-old rusted fuze.

Show notes

An account of the British military units responsible for defusing unexploded Second World War bombs. Following a day when two large devices were discovered hours apart in Devon, the reporting tracks the disposal teams as they assess 80-year-old fuzes, manage civilian evacuations, and tow the explosives out to sea. It details the physical process of modern bomb disposal and why these discoveries are becoming more frequent on construction sites.

Read on The Guardian (Long Read) →