Title
'Baxter's Bomb'
Description
Andrew Brough recalls how a friend found a Second World War mortar bomb in the River Thames.
Date
Recorded 22nd July 2023
Transcription
Andrew: The most interesting thing we found in the Thames was under Donnington Bridge. My friend, Steve Baxter, found [pause] a mortar bomb –
[Interviewer gasps]
Andrew: - he picks it up and he put it on the sike [?], and then he thought ‘I’m a bit worried about this’, so he took it in the clubhouse. So we had the – the bomb disposal people came down, said “I don’t really wanna move this!” [laughs]. So, we persuaded him not to detonate it there, so he put it out on the grass, where the barbecue used to be, and put some sandbags round it, and told everybody in the row to shut their windows, and he blew it up. And it was still live.
Interviewer: And he – did he say when he thought it was from?
Andrew: I don’t know, I think it was a Second World War mortar bomb. I don’t know whether somebody had one in their possession who’d chucked it in the river, or whether it was from exercises. Anyway, we don’t know where it came from, but it was – it was a live mortar bomb. We called it ‘Baxter’s Bomb’, ‘cause Steve Baxter found it [chuckles].
[Interviewer gasps]
Andrew: - he picks it up and he put it on the sike [?], and then he thought ‘I’m a bit worried about this’, so he took it in the clubhouse. So we had the – the bomb disposal people came down, said “I don’t really wanna move this!” [laughs]. So, we persuaded him not to detonate it there, so he put it out on the grass, where the barbecue used to be, and put some sandbags round it, and told everybody in the row to shut their windows, and he blew it up. And it was still live.
Interviewer: And he – did he say when he thought it was from?
Andrew: I don’t know, I think it was a Second World War mortar bomb. I don’t know whether somebody had one in their possession who’d chucked it in the river, or whether it was from exercises. Anyway, we don’t know where it came from, but it was – it was a live mortar bomb. We called it ‘Baxter’s Bomb’, ‘cause Steve Baxter found it [chuckles].
Add your thoughts