3 ms·

Munich Detonates WWII Bomb

21 points by jennyjitters 14y ago

hendrik-xdest 14y ago
Here is a better recording: http://vimeo.com/48399328 http://vimeo.com/48399328
rootinier 14y ago
Interesting that this made it to the front page of Hacker News.
jschuur 14y ago
Weird. Here's a story about a WW2 bomb near Amsterdam's airport from today too: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/29/world/europe/netherlands-airport-bomb/index.html?hpt=hp_t3 http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/29/world/europe/netherlands-a...
donretag 14y ago
Pardon my ignorance, but how involved was Munich in the entire WWII conflict? It was not too close to the front (especially to the west) and the closest bordering nations were allies.
- excuse-me 14y ago
  In terms of being a target - less so than the industrial cities of North-West Germany. It's a lot further away, so more dangerous to mount a raid and you can put a smaller payload on target, but it's still an important enemy city as well as a communications hub. On the ground it got off relatively lightly - by the time it was reached the war was pretty much won and it was essentially surrendered without a fight.
- icegreentea 14y ago
  Munich was targeted by many air raids throughout the war. This was the era were an air raid was hundreds of bombers dropping thousands of bombs. In the start, there would have been an attempt at 'precision'. Initial allied air raids nominally targeted factories and other industrial chokepoints. Turns out their accuracy was so low that at some point they just switched over to bombing the city in general. Also, towards the end of the war, the western and eastern "fronts" basically swept through all of Germany. Munich was attacked by American forces near the end of the air (they also liberated the near by concentration camp while they were at it). Fighting was not as fierce as other urban battles.
- mhd 14y ago
  74 air raids, 60k bombs plus a few million incendiary devices, about 90% of the city center destroyed. There was lots of industry (BMW, Dornier) in Munich, a few important airports and it was the Capital of the Movement, i.e. the place where the whole Nazi BS started[1]. [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_Hall_Putsch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_Hall_Putsch
- demallien 14y ago
  Munich is the home of BMW, and a major industrial centre of the southern part of Germany. As such it was a desirable target for the Allied war effort. According to Wikipedia, 42% of the city was destroyed during the bombing campaign: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_bombing_during_World_War_II#The_Battle_of_Britain_and_the_Blitz http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_bombing_during_World_...
jlgreco 14y ago
I am guessing either this type of bomb wasn't designed to create shrapnel, or they removed the casing beforehand somehow?
- hendrik-xdest 14y ago
  They did not. I've read in a German newspaper today that a piece of the metal casing has been found 300 meters off, near one of the main roads of Munich. They coated the bomb in straw and sandbags to minimize the shrapnel as best as possible, though.
  - cstuder 14y ago
    The straw was there to prevent shrapnel damage. Unfortunatel the straw ignited and started fires in a couple of surrounding buildings. You can find a lot of pictures in german newspapers and magazines, i.e.: http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/bombenfund-experten-sprengen-blindgaenger-fotostrecke-86715.html http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/bombenfund-experten-spreng...
  - mhd 14y ago
    The did say that they found "Splitter" as far as 300m away, but that could apply to both shrapnel and just pieces of the casing.
  - jlgreco 14y ago
    Ah, I was thinking the straw/sand was more to dampen the shock-wave somehow. Interesting, I would have though that the shrapnel from a bomb that big would have been far more devastating even with sandbags; I guess they probably used more than I was picturing in my head. Fascinating stuff.
racknine 14y ago
Another one at Amsterdam Airport, must be the season, like the mushrooms: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/29/world/europe/netherlands-airport-bomb/ http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/29/world/europe/netherlands-a...

21 points by jennyjitters 14y ago

hendrik-xdest 14y ago

Here is a better recording: http://vimeo.com/48399328 http://vimeo.com/48399328

rootinier 14y ago

Interesting that this made it to the front page of Hacker News.

jschuur 14y ago

Weird. Here's a story about a WW2 bomb near Amsterdam's airport from today too: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/29/world/europe/netherlands-airport-bomb/index.html?hpt=hp_t3 http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/29/world/europe/netherlands-a...

donretag 14y ago

Pardon my ignorance, but how involved was Munich in the entire WWII conflict? It was not too close to the front (especially to the west) and the closest bordering nations were allies.

excuse-me 14y ago
In terms of being a target - less so than the industrial cities of North-West Germany. It's a lot further away, so more dangerous to mount a raid and you can put a smaller payload on target, but it's still an important enemy city as well as a communications hub. On the ground it got off relatively lightly - by the time it was reached the war was pretty much won and it was essentially surrendered without a fight.
icegreentea 14y ago
Munich was targeted by many air raids throughout the war. This was the era were an air raid was hundreds of bombers dropping thousands of bombs. In the start, there would have been an attempt at 'precision'. Initial allied air raids nominally targeted factories and other industrial chokepoints. Turns out their accuracy was so low that at some point they just switched over to bombing the city in general. Also, towards the end of the war, the western and eastern "fronts" basically swept through all of Germany. Munich was attacked by American forces near the end of the air (they also liberated the near by concentration camp while they were at it). Fighting was not as fierce as other urban battles.
mhd 14y ago
74 air raids, 60k bombs plus a few million incendiary devices, about 90% of the city center destroyed. There was lots of industry (BMW, Dornier) in Munich, a few important airports and it was the Capital of the Movement, i.e. the place where the whole Nazi BS started[1]. [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_Hall_Putsch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_Hall_Putsch
demallien 14y ago
Munich is the home of BMW, and a major industrial centre of the southern part of Germany. As such it was a desirable target for the Allied war effort. According to Wikipedia, 42% of the city was destroyed during the bombing campaign: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_bombing_during_World_War_II#The_Battle_of_Britain_and_the_Blitz http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_bombing_during_World_...

jlgreco 14y ago

I am guessing either this type of bomb wasn't designed to create shrapnel, or they removed the casing beforehand somehow?

hendrik-xdest 14y ago
They did not. I've read in a German newspaper today that a piece of the metal casing has been found 300 meters off, near one of the main roads of Munich. They coated the bomb in straw and sandbags to minimize the shrapnel as best as possible, though.
- cstuder 14y ago
  The straw was there to prevent shrapnel damage. Unfortunatel the straw ignited and started fires in a couple of surrounding buildings. You can find a lot of pictures in german newspapers and magazines, i.e.: http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/bombenfund-experten-sprengen-blindgaenger-fotostrecke-86715.html http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/bombenfund-experten-spreng...
- mhd 14y ago
  The did say that they found "Splitter" as far as 300m away, but that could apply to both shrapnel and just pieces of the casing.
- jlgreco 14y ago
  Ah, I was thinking the straw/sand was more to dampen the shock-wave somehow. Interesting, I would have though that the shrapnel from a bomb that big would have been far more devastating even with sandbags; I guess they probably used more than I was picturing in my head. Fascinating stuff.

racknine 14y ago

Another one at Amsterdam Airport, must be the season, like the mushrooms: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/29/world/europe/netherlands-airport-bomb/ http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/29/world/europe/netherlands-a...