Navy blows up Nazi bomb found in pensioner’s home

BOMB disposal experts were scrambled after a man clearing his uncle’s house discovered a German incendiary device in his lounge.

A controlled bomb explosion and the royal navy teamSWNS

The Navy bomb unit destroyed the device after the shock discovery

However, the Royal Navy team was not called out until the day after the discovery because 74-year-old Peter Penfold had dismissed the Second World War device as a fake and moved it into the hall.

Mr Penfold, 74, was clearing out the house in Worthing, West Sussex, following his uncle’s death when he spotted the device.

The pensioner, of nearby Littlehampton, found the bomb on Monday, did not report it to the authorities until the next day when friend Robert Snow, 48, noticed Nazi insignia on the device.

He rang the police and the Royal Navy Fleet Diving Squadron bomb disposal unit was scrambled to deal with the bomb.

Peter PenfoldSWNS

Peter Penfold, 74, didn't think to call the police until the following day

Mr Penfold said: “I thought it was a replica, but I gave the police a call the next day anyway.

“When these guys said it was a real one I said ‘oh no’. “I thought it must be a dummy stuck on a shelf like that. It was all covered in dust. It was like a rolling pin with a fin on the end.”

Lieutenant Commander Chris O'Flaherty, commanding officer of the Fleet Diving Squadron, said: “It’s in immaculate condition. They moved it into the back garden which isn’t something we would usually recommend, to put it bluntly.

“You have got to treat them with extreme caution.” Thousands of bombs were dropped along the South Coast in raids by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War, including incendiary devices which were designed to burn large swathes of Britain.

The navy bomb squad took the device to nearby Worthing Beach, where they carried out a controlled explosion to destroy it. 

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