British Ordnance Collectors Network
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BD/UXB related stuff
- Thread starter ChrisR
- Start date
Wondered if anyone would spot that! - Its a sketch by French-Canadian artist Hugh Cronyn.
He came to the UK and following the outbreak of war was commissioned into the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve and volunteered for bomb disposal. Subsequently posted to Bristol Dockyard.
He got the George Medal for working on a UXB that lodged in the hold of a tanker, the SS Chesapeake, out in the Bristol Channel. They removed the fuel, but the fumes were so toxic he had to work on the bomb with a wooden box over his head that had air fed to it through a hose. His memoir mentions he performed ‘a little 40 minute ceremony’ on each of the two fuzes to make it safe.
Strange the navy had no diving equipment for him, yet a Royal Engineer in London found a deep sea diver’s suit with brass helmet to wear whilst working on a bomb inside a gasometer.
He came to the UK and following the outbreak of war was commissioned into the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve and volunteered for bomb disposal. Subsequently posted to Bristol Dockyard.
He got the George Medal for working on a UXB that lodged in the hold of a tanker, the SS Chesapeake, out in the Bristol Channel. They removed the fuel, but the fumes were so toxic he had to work on the bomb with a wooden box over his head that had air fed to it through a hose. His memoir mentions he performed ‘a little 40 minute ceremony’ on each of the two fuzes to make it safe.
Strange the navy had no diving equipment for him, yet a Royal Engineer in London found a deep sea diver’s suit with brass helmet to wear whilst working on a bomb inside a gasometer.
Very interesting. Thanks for showing. It's good that you are keeping the memory of those wartime bomb disposal people alive. They had a very difficult job, I guess pretty much like some Ukrainians are having to do now.