Deadly haul of Dad’s Army bombs

Members of the Caithness Amateur Radio Society were digging a 6ft hole for a new antenna in Bank Row, Wick, on Monday when they stumbled upon six wooden crates containing incendiary devices.

They were found in the garden of society member Hamish Duncan, close to the rear perimeter wall of the town’s civic centre, the Assembly Rooms.

It is believed the 24 AW incendiary devices containing white phosphorous were issued to members of the Home Guard during the Second World War, but why they were buried in a garden remains a mystery.

Northern Constabulary cordoned off the area around the garden and Assembly Rooms while a bomb disposal squad was called. Police also guarded the area overnight.

Yesterday, members of the Royal Navy bomb disposal squad at Faslane travelled to the site and the items were later disposed of in a nearby quarry.

A police spokesman said: “All of the found ordnance was safely … destroyed. Northern Constabulary would like to thank members of the community for their co-operation during the closure of the Assembly Rooms.”

Mr Duncan said: “We were digging a hole for a concrete base for the antenna when we uncovered the boxes. I could immediately see they were quite old.

“They are not explosives – they are not that kind of device – but they could burst into flames. And if one went up, the whole lot would have gone.

“There was no panic really. It was a bit of a nuisance and brought back memories of a long time ago. The mystery is why the boxes were buried.”

The Assembly Rooms is a converted school that was used by the Home Guard for training during wartime.

The grenades, known as self-igniting phosphorous grenade (SIP), Projector No 76 or the AW bomb, after the maker Allbright & Wilson, consisted of a glass bottle filled with white phosphorous mixed with phosphorous sulphide, water, benzene and crude rubber, sealed with a cap like a beer bottle top.

They were issued to the Home Guard for use against enemy tanks in the event of an invasion and were activated on impact.

The grenades were introduced when the UK was expecting an invasion at any moment and anything that might be used against the Germans was put into service.

The idea was to approach a tank and throw the bottle against it, or if possible inside open hatches. The breaking of the bottle caused the phosphorous to ignite on contact with the air and this set the benzene alight and damaged the tanks’ engine compartments, fuel supplies or even the crew.

They were declared obsolete in 1948, when stockpiles were destroyed for safety reasons.