Former Soldier Brings WW2 Bomb Home

A former soldier thought he brought home an old shell casing only to later realise that it was, in fact, a World War Two bomb.

Roy Loe, who served in the Royal Engineers for six years, found the 25lb relic off Kimmeridge during a kayaking trip at the weekend.

He "chucked it" in his kayak and dragged it across rocks around the Purbeck coast.

It was only once he arrived home that the 48-year-old realised it wasn't full of sand, as he originally thought.

“I’m an ex-soldier, and our regiment dealt with explosives. So I stuck my thumbnail into the inside and realised, actually it could be plastic explosives," said Roy.

“I called the police and said, ‘well I don’t quite know how to explain this but I’ve got a Second World War bomb sat on my ping pong table.’"

At first, police thought it was a prank call, but when Roy sent them a photo, it was only a matter of minutes before bomb disposal officers were at his door.

Dorset Police removed the shell, and a spokesman confirmed that it had not been packed with explosives.

Whilst out paddling, a rock jetty exposed by the low tide – coupled with the onset if bad weather – forced them to cross land.

“I dragged the kayaks across land to the next cove, and it was at this point I found what I thought was just an old shell casing,” said Roy.

“We got home and we washed it in the kitchen sink. By the time I called police that evening I’d had a bottle of wine, so I was feeling a bit mischievous.

“They walked in and I said ‘have you come to see my bomb?

“We walked into the lounge I just picked it off the table and said ‘let’s play catch?’

“I went to throw it at this copper and he said ‘excuse me sir, we need to take this seriously. Could you please put that back down, we need to evacuate this room.’

“Obviously, I knew it was safe provided it didn’t go anywhere near a fire or anything electrical, but you should have seen his face."