Boys' escape WWI grenade explosion


16 March 2007 09:37

A boy and his friend had a miracle escape after they hurled two unexploded hand grenades on to a fire.

Joe Spencer, 13, from Norwich, and his friend had found three live First World War bombs in the grounds at a countryside house.

Joe was with his mum, property developer Alison Campbell, when they found the ageing grenades yesterday (Th).

The youngsters thought they were harmless junk and threw two of them on to a rubbish fire, leaving the third by an oil tank.

One exploded and sprayed shrapnel where the boys had been playing just minutes earlier.

The second device didn't detonate.

As soon as Ms Campbell spotted the third by the tank she called police and the bomb disposal squad rushed there from Colchester, Essex.

She said: “The boys were very lucky - they could have been badly injured. The three grenades were live - we believe they were filled with explosives.

“They were about the size of old-fashioned milk bottles and dated back to the First World War."

"I am really relieved the children are fine. This could have been absolutely disastrous, but they are safe and well.”

The house - called Broad Oak and dating back to 1860 - is set with stables and a coach house in more than six acres at Great Finborough, near Stowmarket, Suffolk.

The historic property is being converted by a team of craftsmen and landscapers into a £1.6m residence with paddocks.

Police sealed off the house, called Broad Oak and set in more than six acres at Great Finborough, near Stowmarket, Suffolk, as neighbours were alerted.

Suffolk Police said the shrapnel grenades dated back to about 1916.

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