Three Mills bombs, otherwise known as hand grenades. Pic: Jean-Louis Dubois
The discovery of a First World War hand grenade reported to have been found underneath a flowerpot in a Sanderstead garden on Sunday morning 5 May has generated global media coverage.
The story was broken by Croydon Advertiser Chief Reporter Gareth Davies on Twitter
Breaking: First World War grenade found in garden of house in Sanderstead http://t.co/NFR267c0DS #croydon
— Gareth Davies (@Gareth_Davies09) May 5, 2013
It was later followed up by the Sunday Telegraph and then United Press International (UPI)
The hand grenade, believed to be a Mills bomb, first introduced to front line troops in 1915, was discovered during the dismantling of a shed.
The Met Police said: “The house and three surrounding homes were evacuated. A bomb disposal unit has been into the garden and safely removed the grenade, which is believed to have been discovered under a flowerpot.”
“Croydon fire station sent three engines, a fire rescue unit and around 40 fire fighters to the scene as a precaution. Crews from Purley also attended.”
About six months before large-scale commemorations for the one hundredth anniversary of the beginning of 1914-18 conflict, it is not the first time that Mills bombs of this kind have been turning up in gardens and lay-bys.
In 2011 a large hoard of the explosive devices turned up in a bag discarded by the road-side south of Chipstead in Surrey.
