Army confirm unexploded bomb found in Liverpool was WWII German incendiary device

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has confirmed an unexploded device discovered by a member of the public in a Liverpool lake was a 1kg German incendiary bomb.

The WWII bomb is though to have been dropped during the Liverpool Blitz when the city suffered sustained bombing by the German Luftwaffe.

The bomb was destroyed by the 11 Explosive Ordanance Disposal (EOD) and Search Regiment Royal Logistic Corps - the army’s specialist unit responsible for improvised explosive device and conventional munitions disposal.

It was found in a lake at Greenbank Park in Mossley Hill when police officers were called to the scene on Tuesday.

A British Army spokesperson said the MOD had confirmed the 1kg German bomb.

David Clampin, a subject leader for History at Liverpool John Moores University and historian of the British home from during WWII gave LiverpoolWorld his views about the unusual discovery.

He said: “The fact that this explosive device was found in this area is not a great surprise, Aigburth and around about was hit several times during the war, I wonder if this particular device was a legacy of the raid of 17 September 1940 when this area was quite badly affected?

“Those areas at risk were those bordering on the River Mersey. Obviously the primary target for the Luftwaffe were the Merseyside docks. That said, although technology had moved on by 1940, to think of “precision bombing” is a misnomer.

“The primary navigation aid for these raiders was the river itself which they could easily follow in at a “safe” altitude to find their intended target.

“Whether the bombs once released fell precisely on the target was much more difficult to achieve. Bombers may overrun the target, release bombs at the wrong time, or any number of other reasons. Thus, if you were in the general vicinity of the target, or indeed the river, you were at risk.

“As far as I am concerned, Greenbank Park would not have been deliberately targeted but would have been subject to collateral damage.”