Matzos
04-01-07, 12:13
A Howitzer shell unearthed by grave diggers, grenades in garden borders, a 120 mm tank shell used as a doorstop and mortar rounds in the drawer of an antique wardrobe – all in a year's work for the Army bomb disposal troop that covers Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Cheshire, North Wales and the Isle of Man.
Referred to in the media as "the bomb disposal squad", Chester Troop 521 Squadron 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Regiment Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) has attended over 100 incidents of Conventional Munitions Disposal (CMD) in their region this year. This includes 27 in Merseyside, 25 in Greater Manchester, 21 in North Wales, 19 in Cheshire, 16 in Lancashire and just the one on the Isle of Man.
The CMD incidents have ranged from fairly benign, such as picking up grenades found in attics and cupboards, to potentially devastating, like the grenade found buried on a building site close to five different gas mains.
Thousands of military explosives are found on the UK mainland every year through excavations, building works and dredging operations – many are relics from the two World Wars. Hundreds more turn up in gardens, attics and cupboards, on beaches or in the countryside. Caches of Second World War Home Guard munitions regularly turn-up having laid forgotten in attic rooms or outhouses for decades.
Chester Troop, based at Dale Barracks, Chester, is the only Army bomb disposal team in the North West and is one of three Troops which form 521 Squadron, which has its HQ in Catterick, and which itself is one of six Squadrons that form 11 EOD Regiment.
Among its many duties, Chester Troop, comprising 13 soldiers and two civilian support staff, offers expert explosive ordnance assistance to the police forces of Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Cheshire, North Wales and the Isle of Man.
Two man teams answer each call-out, the Ammunition Technician Number One and his/her driver, who also fulfils the role of being the team's Number Two.
At the team's disposal is an array of state of the art equipment, the pick of the bunch being the remote controlled Wheelbarrow Mk8 Bomb Disposal Robot, a device now far advanced from its humble original which was made from the shell of a garden wheelbarrow, hence the name! The "barrow" can cross any terrain, climb stairs, push a car, and is always used to reconnoitre and hopefully render safe any suspect device found.
http://www.militaryimages.net/imagehost/images/Matzos/eodwheelbarrow2.jpg
Another useful piece of kit is the 37kg "bomb suit" worn by the Number One, which has breast plates and protection made from woven Kevlar and is covered in fireproof nomex. The Kevlar helmet has a 2 inch (5 cm) thick transparent visor.
http://www.militaryimages.net/imagehost/images/Matzos/eodbombsuit.jpg
Source - MoD
Referred to in the media as "the bomb disposal squad", Chester Troop 521 Squadron 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Regiment Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) has attended over 100 incidents of Conventional Munitions Disposal (CMD) in their region this year. This includes 27 in Merseyside, 25 in Greater Manchester, 21 in North Wales, 19 in Cheshire, 16 in Lancashire and just the one on the Isle of Man.
The CMD incidents have ranged from fairly benign, such as picking up grenades found in attics and cupboards, to potentially devastating, like the grenade found buried on a building site close to five different gas mains.
Thousands of military explosives are found on the UK mainland every year through excavations, building works and dredging operations – many are relics from the two World Wars. Hundreds more turn up in gardens, attics and cupboards, on beaches or in the countryside. Caches of Second World War Home Guard munitions regularly turn-up having laid forgotten in attic rooms or outhouses for decades.
Chester Troop, based at Dale Barracks, Chester, is the only Army bomb disposal team in the North West and is one of three Troops which form 521 Squadron, which has its HQ in Catterick, and which itself is one of six Squadrons that form 11 EOD Regiment.
Among its many duties, Chester Troop, comprising 13 soldiers and two civilian support staff, offers expert explosive ordnance assistance to the police forces of Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Cheshire, North Wales and the Isle of Man.
Two man teams answer each call-out, the Ammunition Technician Number One and his/her driver, who also fulfils the role of being the team's Number Two.
At the team's disposal is an array of state of the art equipment, the pick of the bunch being the remote controlled Wheelbarrow Mk8 Bomb Disposal Robot, a device now far advanced from its humble original which was made from the shell of a garden wheelbarrow, hence the name! The "barrow" can cross any terrain, climb stairs, push a car, and is always used to reconnoitre and hopefully render safe any suspect device found.
http://www.militaryimages.net/imagehost/images/Matzos/eodwheelbarrow2.jpg
Another useful piece of kit is the 37kg "bomb suit" worn by the Number One, which has breast plates and protection made from woven Kevlar and is covered in fireproof nomex. The Kevlar helmet has a 2 inch (5 cm) thick transparent visor.
http://www.militaryimages.net/imagehost/images/Matzos/eodbombsuit.jpg
Source - MoD