July 18, 2003

Legacy

World War II claimed two more lives yesterday, Thursday (17 July 2003) when a 250 kg dud bomb exploded while being defused at the Salzburg train station. It was discovered during construction work.

The bomb had a delayed-action chemical detonator, considered by bomb squad people, according to local newspaper articles I have read, to be the most dangerous to defuse.

There are 122 sites in and around Salzburg where more old bombs are suspected.

I live in a small village outside of Vienna. Several years ago the town built a new soccer/football field and turned the old one into building sites for single-family homes. But before people could build, authorities had to dig up a bunch of old shells and grenades the mayor (who had been a young man during the war) remembered had been buried there after the war.

For 50 years, they had been playing ball over live artillery shells.

Posted by Mig at July 18, 2003 11:42 AM
Comments

there we doing some defusing in a nearby town a couple months back... they had a sign on the exit on the freeway warning of road closures off that exit.

sometimes when we feel like taking advantage of the blue seaside and the glorious cool breezes, yet don't feel like facing huge crowds, we head up to the beachfront cliffs, where there are a few old concrete buildings that served as watch points during the war. There's one that is relatively easy to get on top of, and there we sit, with a few beers, a guitar, and a the gorgeous view.

somehow, I don't think the soldiers sixty years ago imagined us kickin' back atop their roof.

Posted by: kim at July 18, 2003 03:51 PM

Re Salzburg: I always thought that the most dangerous delayed action bomb in Austria is called Haider :(

Posted by: Stu Savory at July 20, 2003 05:31 AM

wow, that's a very sobering story...

Posted by: saul at July 21, 2003 09:39 PM