Professional Soldiers ® - View Single Post - German City to Evacuate as 2-Ton Bomb Is Defused .

Richard · 12-04-2011, 06:26

That article brought back some memories for an old 48C (West European FAO).

That's some bomb and most people do not realize that Central Europe, as a result of WW1 and WW2, is laden with unexploded ordnance (mortar and artillery shells, and bombs). In France, for example, there is an army engineer unit which is solely dedicated to disarming and disposing of the many such munitions found there. Farmers are especially susceptible to accidentally detonating an old shell or bomb as they plow, disc, and harrow their fields, and several are injured or killed annually because of them. An additional hazard the French face which the Germans do not is the problem of finding old, rusted, and sweating mustard gas shells left over from WW1.

As for Koblenz - I attended the BWs JugendOffizierAusbildungs in Koblenz (Deines-Bruchmüller-Kaserne) and used to take visitors to the Marksburg castle just south of there, the only castle along the Rhein which was never conquered by a marauding armed force and the seat of the DeutscheBurgenvereinigung (German Castle Association) - also, the view of the Deutsches Eck (the junction of the Rhein and Mosel rivers) from the Festung Ehrenbreitstein in the north side of Koblenz is one of the greatest views along the Rhein. Just up the Mosel from Koblenz is one of the best restored 'fairy tale' like castles of the region and one my sons loved to visit, the Reichsburg above Cochem.

Personally, I highly recommend a Rhein/Mosel river valley journey and a stop in Koblenz if you ever get the chance...just don't mess with any old bombs you may find lying around the area.

And so it goes...

Richard

12-04-2011, 06:26	#2
Richard Quiet Professional Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: NorCal Posts: 15,370	That article brought back some memories for an old 48C (West European FAO). That's some bomb and most people do not realize that Central Europe, as a result of WW1 and WW2, is laden with unexploded ordnance (mortar and artillery shells, and bombs). In France, for example, there is an army engineer unit which is solely dedicated to disarming and disposing of the many such munitions found there. Farmers are especially susceptible to accidentally detonating an old shell or bomb as they plow, disc, and harrow their fields, and several are injured or killed annually because of them. An additional hazard the French face which the Germans do not is the problem of finding old, rusted, and sweating mustard gas shells left over from WW1. As for Koblenz - I attended the BWs JugendOffizierAusbildungs in Koblenz (Deines-Bruchmüller-Kaserne) and used to take visitors to the Marksburg castle just south of there, the only castle along the Rhein which was never conquered by a marauding armed force and the seat of the DeutscheBurgenvereinigung (German Castle Association) - also, the view of the Deutsches Eck (the junction of the Rhein and Mosel rivers) from the Festung Ehrenbreitstein in the north side of Koblenz is one of the greatest views along the Rhein. Just up the Mosel from Koblenz is one of the best restored 'fairy tale' like castles of the region and one my sons loved to visit, the Reichsburg above Cochem. Personally, I highly recommend a Rhein/Mosel river valley journey and a stop in Koblenz if you ever get the chance...just don't mess with any old bombs you may find lying around the area. And so it goes... Richard __________________ “Sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whisky bottle in the hand of (another)… There are just some kind of men who – who’re so busy worrying about the next world they’ve never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results.” - To Kill A Mockingbird (Atticus Finch) “Almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.” - Robert Heinlein
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