Shock for veteran as he finds bomb in cupboard
THE bomb squad was called out after a navy veteran discovered a Second World War bomb in a cupboard.
Claude Sealey was clearing out his late sister Margaret's house in Southsea when he found the explosive device in the first floor bedroom.
The 86-year-old immediately recognised the explosive, having served as a Royal Navy leading stoker in the Second World War.
The pensioner decided to pick the device up and take it downstairs to the garden himself before he and nephew Mark Sealey called police.
Officers arrived at the house in Teddington Road, Southsea, at about midday yesterday and immediately drafted in the Royal Navy Bomb Disposal Team.
Thankfully they found that the bomb had already been deactivated.
Mr Sealey, from Haslemere Road, Southsea, said: 'My sister passed away just after Christmas and we were clearing the house.
'We found it in a cupboard in the upstairs bedroom. I carried it out to the garden.
'I served in the navy during the Second World War - I had seen things like it before so I knew what it was.
'It was a bit of excitement - we didn't expect to find anything like that.'
Nephew Mark, 49, from Grant Road, Farlington, said: 'It was a bit of a shock to find something like that in the house.
'It was worrying.
'We thought we had better call the police - then all hell broke loose.'
He added: 'We were relieved when we found out it had been deactivated.
'The bomb disposal team came and dismantled it in the garden.'
The bomb will now be destroyed.
A spokesman for the Southern Diving Unit at Horsea Island, Portsmouth, said: 'We were called to an explosive device incident in the house.
'It was basically a German incendiary device from the Second World War.
'We assessed the device and it was deactivated.
PC Stephen Webber added: 'Some family members who were doing a house clearance found something which was believed to be a small bomb from the Second World War in a cupboard.
'We called the Royal Navy Bomb Disposal Team to make an assessment on whether it was safe and what action needed to be taken.'
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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