Woman who found WW2 device in garden says she's 'sorry' for 'absolute nightmare'

24 February 2024 , 19:53

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A military vehicle near the scene where residents were evacuated (Image: PA)

A woman said she is “sorry” to other residents for the “absolute nightmare” after a WW2 bomb was found in her garden.

Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes in Plymouth and endured days of disruption following Tuesday’s discovery of the 500kg device in the back garden of a house in the Keyham area. More than 10,000 people had to move out, and on Friday a military convoy carried the unexploded bomb on the back of a truck from the garden through a densely populated residential area to Torpoint Ferry slipway, where it was taken out to sea.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD), which said Friday's operation was “one of the largest UK peacetime evacuation operations since WW2”, confirmed the bomb had been “detonated successfully at 9.51pm”. And now, Natalie Jary told how the bomb was found by her dad at their home in Keyham as he dug up foundations for a home extension. "[This is the] last thing I thought would happen doing an extension I want to say thank you to the street and thank you to police and council. I wanted to say sorry to Keyham," she told Sky News.

Retired factory and shop worker Diane James, 76, was one of the people evacuated and she returned to her home on Saturday morning. She said neighbours were already “trying to look after each other” and were clearing the roads so people could get access to the street.

She told how the two-bedroom terraced home where the bomb was found had been lived in by her friend, an elderly lady, for 50 years before she died and then the new residents moved in. It was as they were doing the groundwork for a kitchen extension that the bomb was found, according to Mrs James.

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An army truck believed to be carrying the bomb and delivering it onto a boat (Daniel Dayment / SWNS)

She said: “Somebody only just moved in and they were doing it up. They were doing a kitchen extension and were digging up and that is when they found the bomb. It’s good to be back home and good to see that all the houses are standing. It was very scary – just the thought of a bomb going off.

“I think of all the hundreds of times I have visited that house and that the lady who lived there was living there for 50 years and she did not know it (the bomb) was there – that is the scary part.” The MoD said the munition, identified as an air-dropped German bomb from the Second World War – designated SC-500 – was assessed as posing a significant risk to public safety, with people living within the cordon evacuated.

A police cordon around the area where evacuations took place (PA)

More than 100 personnel from the British Army and Royal Navy, including bomb disposal experts, were involved in the complex operation, along with Plymouth City Council officials, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, Devon and Cornwall Police and members of the armed forces, to ensure the device was removed and people were safe.

Of the scene which has been left after the removal, Mrs James added: “It looks horrendous with all the work they had to do to get rid of the bomb. “They knocked down a wall and the garden is pulled apart. It just looks strange with all the mess in the front street waiting to be cleared. It is a small street and a quiet street.”

Tim Hanlon