"Authorities from the western German city of Cologne moved to disarm an unexploded bomb unearthed in a park in the southwest of the city. The British-made ten-hundredweight bomb (equivalent to roughly 450 kilos) with a rear-firing detonator required immediate disarming, city services said. "To this end, the danger zone needs to be blocked off and evacuated," the city said, with the North Rhine-Westphalia state's bomb disposal units and city public order officers on site."
"Located in western Germany, and slightly nearer the north than the south, it was one of the larger cities further inland discounting the most accessible northern ports like Hamburg that were in range of early World War II bombers and that involved crews taking somewhat fewer risks flying over anti-aircraft defenses. Cologne was the target of the first of the "thousand bomber raids" conducted by Britain's Royal Air Force in the summer of 1942, on the night of May 30 and 31."
An unexploded British-made ten-hundredweight bomb, roughly 450 kilos, was unearthed in a park in southwest Cologne. The device had a rear-firing detonator and required immediate disarming. Authorities established a 500-meter danger radius and ordered evacuations affecting roughly 8,400 people. North Rhine-Westphalia bomb disposal units and city public order officers responded and a temporary shelter was opened at a local school in the Lindenthal district. Such finds occur frequently in Cologne due to heavy World War II bombing. Historical raids, including the 1942 "thousand bomber" operation, flattened much of the city center while sparing the cathedral.
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