The Portland Bomb
One of the biggest peace time evacuations was started by the chance discovery of a huge World War Two 1,100lb bomb Mr Martin Hayne on the 21st March 1995 in a Portland quarry.
Mr Hayne shortly after discovering the Bomb
Mr Hayne
Mr Hayne worked in the quarry at the time and was looking around when he spotted something strange buried in the ground. He first thought it might be a light fitting, and so dug around it. He still did not know what it was though it was too big to be a light. He continued to dig and discovered a long metal cylinder, though he still did not realise what it was. It was only when he uncovered the front pointed end that he realised that he had found a bomb. The authorities were then informed and a safety zone was imposed around the bomb.
Evacuation
A massive operation to evacuate thousands of people from their homes on Portland for 48 hours was enforced whilst the bomb was defused. This operation started March 31st 1995.
More than 4,000 people living in a 1Km circle around the device found in the former Blues football ground in Grove Road were asked to leave their homes by 12 noon on April the 1st.
It directly involved the residents in the Easton area of the Island, Southwell was also closed off. While the bomb was being defused no vehicles were allowed to be anywhere near the site in case the vibrations set off the bomb. Officials checked every home in the exclusion zone to make sure nobody was left behind before the defusing of the bomb could start.
Captain Mike Lobb with the defused bomb.
Defusing the Bomb
The bomb had its detonator made safe, before three holes were cut into the case of the bomb. Then the 78 kilograms of explosive material inside was flushed out with steam. The TNT melted and dripped out onto a webbing sheet. This was a particularly dangerous part of the job since TNT would have ignited at just 5C above the temperature of the steam. The explosive was then taken away and safely burned off. The detonator was then carefully removed and was blown up as it contained a significant amount of explosives and was too dangerous to transport elsewhere.
A piece of History
Mr Hayne still has a couple of fragments from the detonator which he has allowed us to show here. If you want to see the Portland Bomb then you can go to the Portland Museum where it now resides in their garden as a permanent reminder of an exciting time in Portland’s history.
Mr Hayne with the defused bomb 2010
Fragments of the Portland Bomb
Copyright © 2010