'OAPs are as hard as nails!' The incredible amount of WWII bombs still being found today

'OAPs are as hard as nails!' The incredible amount of WWII bombs still being found todayEXCLUSIVE: RAF Veteran and author John Nichol shares an exclusive extract from his new book, Blitz, revealing the wartime roots of today's bomb disposal heroes Share Article Share Article Facebook X LinkedIn Reddit Bluesky Email Copy Link Link copied Bookmark Add us as preferred source Comments By John Nichol 07:01, Sat, May 30, 2026 Naval bomb disposal team in action in London in 1940 (Image: Corbis via Getty)Eighty years on, the threat from Second World War ordnance is still with us. And the Blitz Spirit, too. When one of the 60 or so unexploded bombs (UXBs) unearthed in the UK each year was discovered at the site of a former pensioners’ centre near Tower Bridge in East London in 2015, a local councillor boasted that it showed “our OAPs are hard as nails, drinking tea on top of a 1,000lb bomb for 70 years”. window.scriptsToLoad.push({url:'https://live.primis.tech/live/liveView.php?s=118222&vp_content=plembed3a6btjknzwqh&cbuster=%%CACHEBUSTER%%&playerApiId=v118222',triggeredBy:'tcfLoaded',delay:1500,containerId:'ovp-primis',title:"Primis player",beforeLoad:()=>{window.top.addEventListener('primisPlayerInit',e=>{try{if(e.detail&&e.detail.playerApiId==="v118222"){if(window.document.getElementsByClassName('jwplayer')[0]){e.detail.float('disable')}}}catch(e){}})},}) In Germany the threat is even greater, with hundreds of tonnes of the million-plus bombs dropped by Allied air forces uncovered each year. Several disposal officers died attempting to defuse a device in Göttingen in 2010. Three years later, 20,000 people had tobe evacuated in Dortmund when a 1,800kg RAF “blockbuster” was identified by the authorities there. While the Blitz is inextricably linked to the capital, with Londoners bearing the brunt of the attack that lasted from September 1940 to May 1941, the scope of the Luftwaffe assault was far more widespread and devastating – lasting close to six years, and now, 80...