ADF bomb experts called to detonate 50kg WWII Japanese explosive at Darwin Waterfront

A Darwin construction crew narrowly avoided becoming the latest WWII fatalities, eight decades after the war, after pulling up a 50kg bomb with an excavator. WATCH THE DETONATION.

A Darwin construction crew has narrowly avoided becoming the latest WWII fatalities, eight decades after the war, after pulling up a 50kg bomb with an excavator.

On Tuesday evening police evacuated the Stokes Hill Wharf and created a 750m exclusion zone after the discovery of a Japanese WWII-era bomb at a construction site near on the Darwin Waterfront.

Australian Defence Force Warrant Officer Kyle Johnson confirmed that at 1pm on Tuesday a excavator lifted the 80-year-old bomb at the site of the new Larrakia Cultural Centre.

“They were digging through the dirt when one of the excavators with a sifting bucket on it found the bomb and he quickly dropped it on the ground,” Mr Johnson said.

Australian Defence Force Warrant Corporal Russell and Warrant Officer Kyle Johnson Forrest was part of the detonation team that responded to a 50kg WWII-era Japanese bomb discovered at the Stokes Hill Wharf at the Darwin Waterfront. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

The police were immediately alerted and evacuated and cordoned off the popular area, with the specialist Australian Defence Force bomb team moving in to deal with the dangerous live explosive.

Corporal Russell Forrest said while ideally the bomb disposal team would use remote technology like robots “as much as possible”, since the Waterfront bomb had already been dug up by the excavator they sent out Mr Johnson alone to investigate.

Mr Johnson said it was his first Japanese WWII bomb disposal, and so when he was approaching the 60cm by 20cm war relic it was “a little bit nerve-racking, but I trust in my training”.

Northern Territory Police have released an image of a unexploded WWII ordnance found near the Stokes Hill Wharf in Darwin City on Tuesday June 25.

He said over time these older weapons were even more sensitive than the ones that rained over Darwin in the 1940s.

Of particular concern was the now 80-year-old fuses — often just a spring hold and a firing pin — which could have been held back by a tiny bit of dirt or rust meaning “that last little bit of movement could release that”.

“The explosive power may have reduced over the years, but the sensitivity of the item may have increased,” Johnson said.

“If anything it’s more dangerous than what it was in WWII.”

Australian Defence Force Warrant Officer Kyle Johnson Forrest and Warrant Corporal Russell was part of the detonation team that responded to a 50kg WWII-era Japanese bomb discovered at the Stokes Hill Wharf at the Darwin Waterfront. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Mr Johnson said after assessing the bomb, his four-person Defence team and the construction crew worked together to cover it with two tonnes of sandbags to muffle the blast.

“Unfortunately it’s not like the movies, you won’t have a 200m tall fireball,” he joked.

The demolitions expert said it was still a significant explosion, throwing the heavy sandbags around a 40m blast radius.

The WWII explosive was discovered underneath the site of an old car park, with the Defence representatives estimating that thousands of Territorians had probably unknowingly been on top of a bomb over the years.

When asked if it was more likely for Territorians to be blown up or bitten by a croc, Mr Johnson laughed and said: “that would depend on how close you get to the water”.

Mr Johnson said in the past six months his team had responded to 10 incidents, including ordinances at Pine Creek, Katherine and Adelaide River.

Australian Defence Force Warrant Corporal Russell and Warrant Officer Kyle Johnson Forrest was part of the detonation team that responded to a 50kg WWII-era Japanese bomb discovered at the Stokes Hill Wharf at the Darwin Waterfront. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

He said one Katherine resident called triple-0 on Anzac Day after riding over a grenade with his lawnmower in a caravan park, while in February another Top End Resident surrendered a 20mm spitfire round to their local police station after their dog picked it up.

Mr Johnson said last year WWII bombs were discovered and safely detonated in the back country of Litchfield National Park.

“It’s quite common for WWII ordinances to be found in this location, being fired by friendly forces and or the enemy,” he said.

“Japanese forces of the time actually bombed this area more than they did Pearl Harbour — so there’s quite a lot of bombs dropped in the Northern Territory.”

He said given these weapons had a one to 10 per cent failure rate, it was unknown how many bombs remained buried and hidden in the Top End.

Mr Johnson said whether it was construction crews or civilians, his advice to everyone was to call police immediately: “Don’t touch it, don’t move it, don’t assume it’s safe”.

“Even if you think it’s a bomb and it turns out to be a metal pipe, that’s fine.”