British WW2 Bomb Explodes During Defusion In Poland

A British Second World War bomb has exploded while attempts were made to defuse it underwater in north-west Poland.

Polish navy demolition experts were trying to neutralise the 5.4-ton Tallboy bomb under the water through remote deflagration, but it went off in the process.

A spokesman said there were no injuries and all the sappers were at a safe distance from the blast.

"The operation was carried out perfectly and safely and the bomb is safe now," said Lieutenant Colonel Grzegorz Lewandowski.

He also said it was the biggest ever such operation by sappers in Poland, where unexploded wartime bombs, missiles and grenades are still found.

The bomb was found in September 2019 beneath a waterway leading to the port of Szczecin during work to deepen the passage.

Ahead of the attempted remote deflagration operation, more than 750 people were evacuated because the bomb was located near to the popular Baltic Sea resort of Swinoujscie.

Both Szczecin and Swinoujscie were busy Nazi Germany military ports during the Second World War.

The Tallboy bomb was designed by British aeronautical engineer Barnes Wallis and was used by the Royal Air Force to destroy large Nazi-controlled assets through underground shocks.

The one in Swinoujscie is thought to have been used in April 1945 against the Nazi German battleship Luetzow.

Experts are unsure why it failed to explode at the time.

Cover image: Water splashes upwards as the British Second World War Tallboy bomb goes off underwater.