- Let’s have a moment of silence for these old folks’ dear piece of artillery ordnance.
People get attached to the strangest things. We can develop an emotional bond with our vehicles, furniture, sports equipment… You name it.
But have you ever heard about anyone pining after an artillery shell?
Well, you’re about to. That’s what an elderly Welsh couple kept as a decoration in their garden.
Jeffrey and Sian Edwards live in the town of Milford Haven on the western coast of Wales. The piece of unexploded ordnance has sat in their yard for decades.
Recently, the couple was informed that the munition was actually live and could, in theory, go off at any moment. A military bomb squad removed the bomb and safely detonated it.
You might think that the Edwards would be relieved to be rid of the safety hazard. Yet, bizarrely enough, their reaction was quite the opposite.
If the seniors could have their way, the shell would still be in their yard and would likely remain there for good. They’re sad the “pool old thing” had to be blown up for public safety.
Shocking News
The couple’s nonchalance about the bomb gets a little bit more understandable once you learn that they thought it was a dummy. They’d always assumed it was a training round with no explosive charge.
That assumption, however, led to them treating the shell in ways that — in hindsight — were incredibly dangerous. For example, Mrs. Edwards would regularly remove soil from her gardening tools by banging them against the explosive.
All of that, however, changed on November 29. A local police officer noticed the shell and told the Edwards that he would have to report it to the Ministry of Defense.
Fast-forward an hour, and the cop informed the couple that a bomb squad would be arriving the next day to dispose of the bomb. Naturally, the news did come as a shock to Mr. and Mrs. Edwards.
“We didn’t sleep a wink all night. It knocked us for six,” 77-year-old Mr. Edwards told The Guardian.
Still Alive
The bomb disposal experts arrived the next day to take care of the shell. However, they didn’t yet know whether it was dangerous, so they told the Edwards that they should evacuate their home for safety.
Yet, the old couple wouldn’t budge an inch.
“I told the bomb disposal unit: ‘We’re not leaving the house, we’re staying here. If it goes up, we’re going to go up with it,’” said Mr. Edwards.
In the end, the seniors were allowed to stay put while the bomb experts removed the artillery shell from their yard. It was then transported to an out-of-commission quarry in the nearby village of Walwyn’s Castle.
There, tests showed that the munition was indeed live. It didn’t have a whole lot of explosive material left after all those years, but it could’ve still caused some damage if it happened to go off.
The bomb squad had no option but to perform a controlled detonation. They covered the round with five tons of sand and blew it up.
‘An Old Friend’
Although the Edwards’ yard is no longer in danger of exploding suddenly, the couple isn’t particularly happy about that. Mr. Edwards, who has lived on the street for almost 75 years, recalls that the artillery shell has always been in the yard of the house.
The bomb was a bizarre local fixture and now it’s gone.
“It was an old friend. I’m so sorry that the poor old thing was blown to pieces,” Mr. Edwards lamented.
In a way, the Edwards’ attachment to the artillery shell is understandable. After all, there’s a lot of history behind it.
The munition was recovered more than 100 years ago by the previous owner of the house the Edwards live in. At the time, the building was owned by the local Morris family.
The Royal Navy used to use the coastal sands of the nearby village of Broad Haven for target practice. Sometimes, old ammunition — like the 64-pound shell of our story — could still be found on the beaches.
“Pop Morris, who went around delivering lemonade, was going down to Broad Haven with his horse and cart and found the shell. He struggled back up the beach with it, put it on the back of his cart, and had a very bouncy seven-mile ride back home,” recalled Mr. Edwards.
“He plonked it upright in the front courtyard and that’s where it remained.”
Considering the cannon round’s history, we can kind of understand why the Edwards would be so fond of it. Yet, it’s hard to argue that they’re a lot safer without their beloved high explosive sitting in their yard.