A french kid was metal deteching and set off part of a shell.

[beachdog77]

All that stuff left over from two world wars can still be dangerous. This kid is very lucky to say the least. (warning some what graphic.)

WWI bomb found by teen explodes and riddles him with 50 pieces of shrapnel | Daily Mail Online

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[Flying10uk]

Boys will be boys. During the war my father and a friend "found" an unexploded V1 flying bomb on marshland and they thought that it would be a good idea to get up close to it, "just to have a look". Fortunately because it was on marshland they were unable to get that close to it.


My sergeant-major, in the army cadets, always said never touch anything that you find resembling unexploded ordnance.

[beachdog77]

Good advice to follow.
While it would be cool to dig up a bunch of silver roman coins, there is a risk involved of hitting something like that with a shovel.

[22SqnRAE]

Glad the young fellow is still wandering around capable of talking about it. He still has his life and most of him intact. That's a good outcome, considering the alternate. He'll have a very different view on safety and risk for the rest of his life. Hope he teaches and inspires others from his experience.

[30Three]

Certainly lucky to not have sustained worse injuries. But it is illegal to use metal detectors without a licence in France. Normally you have to an archeologist and have a valid reason to use it.

However very few people take note of the law; which is there to prevent this type of situation; as well as the destruction of potentially interesting archeological sites by treasure hunters.
A high percentage of WWI ordnance did not explode on impact due to the mud. There's still plenty of it lying around in those areas.

[CINDERS]

My nephew did a 12 month stint in the Solomons with the AFP and reckons there is enough ordnance left there to keep the UXB guys going for 100 years.

[browningautorifle]

You watch Youtube all the time and see guys over there hunting through battlefields full of UXO. I always cringe when they point out something lying in wait. Wonder how many get what this kid got. I don't believe he was actually hunting coins either...hunting whatever he could find...

[bigduke6]

I used to find many HE 2" mortar rounds, that failed to go off due to the soft moorland ground, of course I dug with care all the time, as I never knew what it was untill it was in daylight, found many things on the old WW2 training areas......

I was cautioned from an old guy in the village regarding some lads who had found a grenade in the 50's, I cant remember if they tried to defuse it or were playing with it, but am sure one died, the others suffered a few injuries.

The old guy is long gone also the bloke who showed me the moors passed away not long back.

It was many years later that a mate uncovered a HE round in a totally different location, obviously over time the Danger becomes far more clear at 30 than it was when I was 13.....

[WarPig1976]

They may have reattached his booger hook and he'll have a story to go with the wicked scars but he's going to be haunted by the damage done to the hand later in life. Once arthritis sets in, as most of us have learned.
Hopefully the lad can get over the mental trauma so it doesn't kill his adventurous spirit. I hope he keeps digging.

[fjruple]

Potential Darwin nominee. I seen too often folks who pick UXBs on range and kill themselves and others around them thinking they are safe and will not go off. Having 22 years experience teaching explosives, UXBs are not like a fine wine and gets better with age. The most recent one in the news was the WWII aerial bomb that exploded in a farmer's field. The worst I believe is the WWI Mustard Gas shells as the shells corrode and rust, the agent is leaking out of the shells.