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Diluain, 02/Aug/2010
Islay has the Bigger BANG!!!
On Saturday I twittered Something going BANG on Islay with a link to video of a rather noisy explosion on Islay, the WW2 Bomb Detonation on Islay video to be precise. Back then I didn't know much more than what was written in the description and the reply dmnumber9 had written on my comment. Since then more information has come to light, I believe this to be the same event. Before we get to that here's the video in case you haven't seen it yet:
DirectWW2BombDetonationOnIslay
This afternoon I spotted a report on the BBC Scotland website titled Big Bang on Islay. It describes Lt John Keenan from the Canadian Navy (on exchange with the Royal Navy) dealing with the device, which is identified as a ‘500lb British Mk 17 mine’.
Now luckily these things are washed up very often, but at the same time the Royal Navy bomb disposal team is a regular visitor to Islay, I've seen their vehicles a couple of times. So the last quote from Lt Cmdr Jason White is something everyone should keep in mind should they ever come across anything like it, be it on Islay or anywhere else along the coast:
We are careful not to worry people but they shouldn't poke at things if they don't know what they are.
Now back to the beginning, why did I write ‘Islay has the Bigger BANG!!!’ in the title? Think back to 2007/2008, where a similar event took place on neighbouring Colonsay, I blogged about it in Kiloran Bay Bomb Disposal. The one on Islay seemed bigger to me, so I picked the title.
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