UXO update from the Homes & Communities Agency to the heritage society.
Information send by Emma Drake 17 March, 2016.
“Hilary, hope you are well.
As you will likely know we completed the main works of the UXO removal at Oakington Barracks towards the end of February. We have some further information from Zetica who carried out the works and I thought LDHS might like a short summary on what was …found given? If the society is interested in further detail or pictures let me know;
• The 3 X unexploded bombs found and made safe were all British WWII 500lb bombs containing approximately 145lb (66kg) of military grade High Explosives.
• The UXOs most probably related to the former bomber airfield operations. It’s likely they were deliberately buried for safety purposes, with the intention that they would be dealt with at a later date.
• Records (if made) for the burial of UXO are often lost and so when the military left the site, the UXO would not have been known about and hence they remained. Other than the 3 UXO, the other items were found to be metal scrap relating to former site use, nothing of any particular interest.
• Most of the UXOs were vaporised by the detonation during the EOD operation. Some fragments do remain and one bomb was left unusually intact. Once certified as Free-From-Explosives (FFE) by Zetica, the large fragment will be mounted and will form a piece of unusual memorabilia.”
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