Kent News - Army dad spots beach bomb while out with his son

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Monday, March 15 2010, 1:41

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Army dad spots beach bomb while out with his son

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Mortar shell like the one found at Leysdown

An Iraq war veteran told how he stumbled upon an unexploded bomb on a beach - minutes after his young son asked him if there were bombs in Britain.

Ian O’Grady, a colour sergeant with the Princess of Wales regiment, was telling seven-year-old Karl about his tour of duty in the warzone when the pair spotted the deadly Second World War device on the sands at Leydsown on the Isle of Sheppey.

Ian, 40, said: “My son had just been asking me ‘do we have bombs in England?’ when we saw this big lump of mud and Karl said ‘is that a bomb?’

“I noticed a bronze piece of metal and could see from the shape of it that it was probably a mortar.

“It was about 18in long and 6in round. I knew immediately not to touch it and called the coastguard straight away.

“I understand there used to be a firing range there from the last war but I didn’t expect to find anything that big.”

Ian, who returned from a seven-month stint in Iraq in December, added: “I saw bombs pretty much on a daily basis while I was out there, but they were a bit more modern than this.”

The Royal Navy’s bomb squad was called in from Portsmouth to blow up the device.

Sheppey Coastuard officer James Crane said: “We had to stand about 400 metres away.

“The shock wave was enough to make you feel it but it did not knock you off your feet.”

Despite Karl’s brush with a bomb the schoolboy is still desperate to follow in his dad’s footsteps and join the army.

Proud Ian, who lives in Gillingham, said: “He wants to join the army at the moment but he’s only seven so you expect that.

“He is surrounded by the uniforms and photographs at home and he’s heard all my stories.

“I won’t be putting any pressure on him.”

POSTED: 10/04/2007 10:08:52

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