How’s your lockdown going? It’s ‘explosive’ says dad who found a WWI German hand GRENADE in his garage while doing some spring cleaning
- Charlie Bubear and his family found a WWI grenade at their Hampshire home
- They were doing some spring cleaning during the coronavirus lockdown
- The Royal Navy bomb disposal unit safely detonated the hand grenade
Pictured from left to right: The Bubear family including Ned, Ollie, Charlie, Alice and Jake, who found a World War 1 grenade
Many people in lockdown may use the time to do some extra spring cleaning.
Dad-of-three Charlie Bubear, 43, and his wife are among them – although what they found at home was certainly more potentially explosive than your typical clear out.
His wife, Alice and their 12-year-old son, Ollie, were cleaning the garage gutters at the family home in Beaulieu, Hampshire, when they spotted a round metal object.
Alice, 42, pulled the object from where it was lodged between the garage gutter and tin roof, not knowing what it was.
And little did she imagine that it would lead to a visit from the bomb squad, who would identify it as a First World War hand grenade.
The family, including Charlie and Alice’s other two sons, Jake, 11 and Ned, eight, have lived at the property for almost seven years.
Charlie, a director at estate agents Savills, said: ‘At this point, I had joined my wife and son, taken the object and placed it on a nearby fence post out of the way.’
He explained that he suspected that it was an explosive, adding ‘I certainly didn’t want my boys making a cricket ball out of it’.
Charlie then called his brother – who is in the Army – who advised him to call the police immediately.
The police arrived on site within 10 minutes, followed by the Royal Navy bomb disposal unit who confirmed that the grenade was from WWI.
Charlie Bubear stands in front of the Royal Navy bomb disposal unit vehicle
The hand grenade was from the First World War, according to the Royal Navy bomb squad and was found in the guttering of the building
Charlie said: ‘They asked what it was doing in my garage and I have no idea. I’ve cleaned these gutters 100 times and never seen it before.’
They took it to the nearby beach, where they detonated it. It was two miles away, but you could still hear it go off
‘The unit suggested that those who fought in the war often brought back relics and this is likely to have been the case with this German hand grenade, known as an egg grenade.
‘The unit took the grenade off our premises in a bomb proof box and took it to the nearby beach, where they detonated it. It was two miles away, but you could still hear it go off.’
The bomb team said that those who fought in the war often brought back relics,but it is a mystery how the grenade ended up on the family’s roof
He added: ‘Had we not been at home during lockdown, then we probably would not have found it.
‘It has certainly added some excitement to lockdown. Although I was panicking when I first held it, I kept calm and made sure it was moved away from my family.
‘We are very grateful to the police and the bomb squad that it was detonated, and that we are all safe and well.
‘It’s a word of warning about doing spring cleaning in the home.’