Download or read book The Formation of Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal written by and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book A Short History of Royal Engineer Bomb Disposal written by Eric Wakeling and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book UXB Malta Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal 1940 44 written by S A M Hudson and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2011-11-30 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the Regia Aeronautica and the Luftwaffe unleashed their full might against the island of Malta, the civilian population was in the eye of the storm. Faced with the terror of the unexploded bomb, the Maltese people looked for help to the Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal Section, who dealt with all unexploded bombs, outside of airfields and the RN dockyard, across an area the size of Greater London. Based on official wartime records and personal memoirs, the extraordinary tale unfolds of the challenges they faced — as the enemy employed every possible weapon in a relentless bombing campaign: 3,000 raids in two years. Through violent winter storms and blazing summer heat, despite interrupted sleep and meagre rations, they battled to reach, excavate and render safe thousands of unexploded bombs. Day after day, and in 1942 hour after hour — through constant air raids — they approached live bomb after live bomb, mindful that it could explode at any moment. In the words of one of their number they were 'just doing a job'.
Download or read book Designed to Kill written by Arthur Hogben and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "[The author] tells the inside story of British explosive ordnance disposal (as it is now known) from its earliest days when no-one in authority knew who should accept responsibility, training for the task was often measured in hours, and experience was only gained -- or lives or limbs lost -- by actually doing the job itself. Beginning with an analysis of what makes a good bomb disposal operator, the author examines the challenge thrown against the officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces and the civilian scientists and technicians by German, Italian and Japanese bomb designers during the Second World War, and by other enemies from Korea to Northern Ireland and the Falklands in more recent years"--Jacket.
Download or read book Unexpected Bomb a History of Bomb Disposal written by Arthur Bamford Hartley and published by . This book was released on 1959 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Story of the British bomb disposal units in World War II.
Download or read book Bomb Disposal in World War Two written by Chris Ransted and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2018-01-30 with total page 363 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For this book, Chris Ransted has researched some of the lesser known events and personalities relating to the early years of Explosive Ordnance Disposal in the UK. Daring acts of cold blooded bravery, and ingenuity in the face of life threatening technical challenges, are recounted throughout the book.Included are numerous previously unpublished accounts and photographs that describe the disarming of German bombs, parachute mines, and even allied bombs found at aircraft crash sites. In addition, the book contains the most comprehensive account ever published of the Home Guards role with the Auxiliary Bomb Disposal Units, and details of conscientious objectors involvement with unexploded bombs.This is not only a valuable research tool for serious researchers already well read on the subject, but also a fascinating read for those with no previous knowledge of wartime bomb disposal at all, and of course a must read for anyone interested in the subject.
Download or read book The Civilian Bomb Disposing Earl written by Kerin Freeman and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2015-03-31 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Charles 'Jack' Henry George Howard, GC, 20th Earl of Suffolk & Berkshire, born into the noble formidable House of Howard, possessed extraordinary courage. Jack became an earl at the age of eleven after his father died in WWI in Mesopotamia. At age thirty-four, Jack's courageous spirit led him to execute a daring mission for the British government in 1940 in Paris. Under the noses of the advancing Germans he snatched top French scientists, millions of pounds worth of diamonds, armaments, heavy water (the only kind in the world), and secret documents. His trip back to England from Bordeaux was fraught with danger in mine and submarine infested waters. His mission remained Top Secret throughout the war years and beyond, even to his closest family. His adventure in Paris earned him the nickname of 'Mad Jack'. His next chosen mission was again of prime importance and extremely dangerous, a secret more closely guarded than radar. He began working in bomb disposal in close proximity with his secretary Beryl, and Fred his chauffeur, and the three became widely known as The Holy Trinity. Whenever an unexploded bomb was reported, it was quickly brought to the Earl's attention, especially if it was tricky. Thirty four bombs were successfully defuzed by The Holy Trinity and their loyal team of Royal Engineers. The thirty-fifth bomb blew them up.The Holy Trinity were the only World War II civilian casualties working in Bomb Disposal. King George VI in 1941 awarded the 20th Earl the George Cross for his work for his country, the highest gallantry award for civilians, as well as for members of the armed forces, in actions for which purely military honours would not normally be granted.
Download or read book UXB Malta written by S. A. M. Hudson and published by History Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the Regia Aeronautica and the Luftwaffe unleashed their full might against the island of Malta, the civilian population was in the eye of the storm. Faced with the terror of the unexploded bomb, the Maltese people looked for help to the Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal Section, who dealt with all unexploded bombs, outside of airfields and the RN dockyard, across an area the size of Greater London. Based on official wartime records and personal memoirs, the extraordinary tale unfolds of the challenges they faced -- as the enemy employed every possible weapon in a relentless bombing campaign: 3,000 raids in two years. Through violent winter storms and blazing summer heat, despite interrupted sleep and meagre rations, they battled to reach, excavate and render safe thousands of unexploded bombs. Day after day, and in 1942 hour after hour -- through constant air raids -- they approached live bomb after live bomb, mindful that it could explode at any moment. In the words of one of their number they were 'just doing a job'.
Download or read book Bomb and Mine Disposal Officers written by Antony Loveless and published by Crabtree Publishing Company. This book was released on 2009-08 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What qualities does it take to walk up to an unexploded bomb or mine, completely alone while everyone else has taken cover? The rise of terrorism in the 21st Century and the evolution of car bombs and other improvised explosive devices mean that bomb disposal officers are in high demand. This book looks at bomb disposal officer; a day in the life; training; types of device; the history of bomb disposal from WW1 to the present day in Iraq, Israel, and Afghanistan.
Download or read book Captains of Bomb Disposal 1942 1946 written by T. Dennis Reece and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2005-04-28 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bomb disposal was the most technically demanding and dangerous job outside of combat during World War II. Fewer than five thousand men did it in the American armed forces. During the war their activities were shrouded in secrecy, so that the Axis would not know what techniques the Allies were using. When they came home the citizen soldiers and officers who had done the work preferred anonymity to publicity. Furthermore, the units they had served in, often squads of six enlisted men and one officer, had been too small and independent to attract much notice by American chroniclers, official or unofficial, of the biggest armed conflict in history. Captains of Bomb Disposal, 1942-1946 attempts to bring some long-overdue public attention to this small group of neglected heroes. It chronicles two of their two most significant achievements during the World War II era: the contributions of the thirty-three bomb disposal squads of the Ninth Air Force, and the top-secret intelligence mission code named Operation Hidden Documents. In 1944 the Ninth Air Force was the most powerful tactical air force the world had ever seen. In the European Theater of Operations (ETO) it controlled more bomb disposal personnel than any other high command. Part I of Captains of Bomb Disposal, 1942-1946 mainly describes training at the Bomb Disposal School at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, and the support thirty-three bomb disposal squads gave the Ninth Air Force. Interwoven in the narrative covering events after D-Day is the wider context in which those squads, and all of the Ninth Air Force, operated, namely, air and ground forces pioneering a large-scale, close partnership which defeated the Germans in northwest Europe. Also discussed is how Ninth Air Force bomb disposal squads helped handle the problem after V-E Day of up to two million tons of surplus explosive ordnance in the theater. Most of the sources for Part I on bomb disposal operations are unpublished unit histories, Ninth and Eighth Air Force ordnance reports, theater-level reports, and related documents at either the National Archives at College Park, Maryland (NACP), or the Air Force Historical Research Agency (AFHRA), at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. Part I is organized around, but definitely not limited to, the World War II experiences of Capt. Thomas R. Reece. Now deceased and the authors father, he was one of the four highest-ranking bomb disposal officers in the Ninth Air Force. Some of his official and personal papers are utilized. Background material on the course of the war in the ETO is taken mainly from published official histories, and for the Ninth Air Force, also from unpublished documents at AFHRA. One of the passages in Part I describes how two men in the 80th Bomb Disposal Squad, Sgt. Russell F. McCarthy and T/5 Walter V. Smith, in 1945 won the Soldiers Medal, Americas highest military award for bravery in action not against the enemy. They were not the only bomb disposal personnel to win that award during the World War II era. Part II revolves around Capt. Stephen M. Richards, who was commanding officer of the 123rd Bomb Disposal Squad, attached during the war to General Pattons Third Army. Captain Richards and two combat engineers won the award for disarming a cache of booby-trapped documents outside Stechovice, Czechoslovakia in February 1946, as part of Operation Hidden Documents. The trio was apprehended by Czechoslovak authorities while the other mission members took the documents to Germany, and was only released after the documents were returned. Meanwhile, a diplomatic crisis was ignited as Czechoslovakia officially protested the American infringement of its sovereignty. Moreover, the Czechoslovak Communist Party used the controversy for propaganda purposes shortly before the national elections of May 1946. Shortly before the trio was released, the operation received fairly extensive publicity, in
Download or read book Follow the Sapper written by Gerald Napier and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Nine from Aberdeen written by Jeffrey M. Leatherwood and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2012-03-15 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Tunisia with II Corps, Lt. John Randall locates a downed German plane and demolishes two live bombs still mounted on the wreckage … In Italy, Capt. Ronald Felton’s team contends with dreaded “Butterfly Bombs” left behind to menace the US 5th Army … Landing with the 6th US Special Engineers Brigade, Capt. Jesse Donovan’s squad braves deadly 88mm shells in pursuit of enemy rockets on Utah Beach … Serving with the 9th Army Air Force in France, Capt. Thomas Reece survives a close encounter with a German landmine … Capt. Joseph Pilcher joins in the 78th Infantry’s final assault on a dam guarding the approaches to Germany … Sweeping the 11th Airborne Division’s trail on Luzon, Lt. Carl Cirocco’s team is ambushed by the Japanese … Capt. Richard Metress is dispatched to tackle enemy depth charges for the 19th Infantry Regiment on Mandog Hill … Capt. Clifford Sarauw covers the US 10th Army’s fateful landing on Okinawa … These aforementioned exploits are among the notable events contained in Nine from Aberdeen, the first academic history solely devoted to the US Army’s Ordnance Bomb Disposal Branch from World War II. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, nine US Army officers and sergeants were sent from Aberdeen Proving Ground to war-torn England in order to learn the invaluable technical skills pioneered by the British Royal Engineers. Led by the colorful Thomas J. Kane, these nine men inaugurated the new Ordnance Bomb Disposal School. Conceived initially for homeland defense, Col. Kane’s branch eventually fielded over two hundred Army and Air Force bomb squads for overseas service. These courageous officers and men were forerunners of today’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) specialists, responsible for supporting the US military during combat operations and for preserving the lives of noncombatants at all other times. Using documents and photographs – many from personal collections – as well as oral interviews, this work presents a cross-section of US Army and Air Force operations spanning three major theaters: Mediterranean, European, and the Pacific. Special emphasis is given to the European Theater, where Col. Kane served as Gen. Eisenhower’s chief ETO bomb disposal officer. Nine from Aberdeen also contains charts detailing campaign participations, ordnance statistics, and other significant data. Command Sergeant Major James H. Clifford (Retired), military consultant for the award-winning film, The Hurt Locker, provides an afterword on the continuity of modern EOD.
Download or read book Bomb Hunters In Afghanistan with Britain s Elite Bomb Disposal Unit written by Sean Rayment and published by HarperCollins UK. This book was released on 2011-02-03 with total page 41 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Afghanistan is just like Iraq – hot, dusty and full of people who want to kill you', SSgt Simon Fuller, Royal Engineer Search Advisor Bomb Hunters tells the story of the British army's elite bomb disposal experts, men who face death every day in the most dangerous region of the most lethal country on earth – Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
Download or read book Danger UXB written by James Owen and published by Little Brown GBR. This book was released on 2010 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: History.
Download or read book A Special Kind of Courage written by Chris Ryder and published by Methuen Publishing. This book was released on 2005 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "For most people, the Special Forces are the ultimate example of bravery and daring-do against impossible odds, but there is another elite cadre among the armed forces whose exceptional bravery is not so widely known. A thousand soldiers have served in the ranks of 321 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Squadron, Royal Logistics Corps in Northern Ireland since 1969. In the longest ever continuous campaign in the history of the British Army, with never more than 100 personnel on the ground at any time, they have faced an average of one bomb or incendiary attack every seventeen hours. Today they operate with state-of-the-art technology but, as their commanders know, the bomb-disposal officers' courage, skill and cool professionalism are still their most powerful weapons." "It is impossible to estimate the number of lives or the value of property saved by the heroic work of 321 EOD Squadron, the most decorated unit in the entire British Army. However, it has paid a heavy price. Twenty bomb-disposal officers have been killed and twenty-four severely injured, although one still serves despite the loss of one hand. It is grimly appropriate that the unit's mascot is the cartoon cat 'Felix', with his nine lives." "A Special Kind of Courage traces the history and development of bomb disposal from the Second World War onwards. It charts the development of 321 EOD's pioneering techniques and equipment which have been exported around the world, earning it such an unrivalled global reputation that its members are regularly called on by other nations facing the threat of terrorism. Above all it records the selfless courage and expertise of the individuals who have risked their lives battling both Republican and Loyalist bombers during the long years of the Northern Ireland conflict."--BOOK JACKET.
Download or read book History of the Corps of Royal Engineers written by Whitworth Porter and published by . This book was released on 1889 with total page 638 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Malice Aforethought written by Ian Jones and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-06-02 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: War has always provided a stimulus to technological development, and throughout the twentieth century this new technology was harnessed to produce increasingly deadly and malicious types of explosives in the form of booby traps, mines, delayed-action devices and mobile charges. Designed, constructed or adopted to kill or injure, these lethal mechanisms function when a person disturbs or approaches a seemingly harmless object or performs an apparently safe act. In other instances they are set off by remote control or automatically after a lapse of time. Fully illustrated with diagrams and photographs, Malice Aforethought traces the design, deployment and effectiveness of these deadly devices throughout both world wars to the Vietnam War. Expertly and compellingly written, this unique study is a tribute to the brave men who risked their lives daily to neutralise the booby traps laid in the dimly lit dugouts of the Western Front, on the beaches of Normandy, or in the dark and dangerous tunnels of Chu Chi.
