Kept in suspense by an old banger

Kept in suspense by an old banger

Lee Glendinning
Wednesday September 15, 2004
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1304941,00.html

The one thing that David Page probably should not have done when he thought he had uncovered a second world war mine in his yard was to push the button on the end of it.
He had been digging in the ground near his home when he felt a piece of metal and picked up what felt like a gas cylinder. Then he pressed the button. Hearing the click, he regretted it immediately and began to fear the cylinder could be an unexploded bomb.

The father of five was afraid that if he released his thumb from the switch it could cause the device to explode.

Petrified to move his thumbMr Page used masking tape to attach his hand to the device, using his free hand to call the police. "I was terrified that I would be blown into a million pieces," he said.

"The police operator kept saying it would be OK but I said to her, 'you're not the one holding the bomb'."

Still on the line to the police operator he said in tears, "Tell my family I love them if the worst comes to the worst."

Norfolk police arrived and Mr Page, 40, was put through to an army expert who told him not to take his hand from the bomb under any circumstances. The JCB driver from Stalham, Norfolk then placed the cylinder under sand in the hope of lessening the blast.

The roads were cordoned off within a two mile radius and the army was called in from Colchester, Essex.

For four hours, Mr Page kept the button depressed. His wife, Joanne, stayed by his side until the bomb disposal experts arrived at midnight and helped Mr Page remove his hand from the sand, and then carefully removed the tape.

His hand still pressed on the button, Mr Page was told the deadly "mine" was actually a discarded part from the suspension of Citroen car. "It sounds funny, but it was absolutely horrendous," he said. "The army man said he'd blown up a few similar devices because they looked like mines."