Children from the German municipality of Dethlingen discovered a British mortar shell from World War II on their school playground this week.
The children, using metal detectors during a treasure hunt, found the object that local police confirmed was a British World War II mortar grenade. Authorities immediately cordoned off the area and experts determined it was military ordnance from the war. The device was removed for safe destruction.
Separately, Japanese officials reported the discovery of a missing World War II submarine off Japan’s coast.
In southwestern Germany, roughly 27,000 to 30,000 residents in Pforzheim were ordered to evacuate their homes on May 15 following the discovery of an aerial bomb from World War II during construction work in the Oststadt quarter park. The bomb weighed about 1.8 tons, with a warhead of 1.35 tons.
