Fire in the hole! WWII mortar destroyed on Sydney golf course
A Sydney golf club was forced into lockdown then used as an ordnance disposal ground after a WWII mortar shell was found nearby.
The discovery of a World War II mortar shell has forced a Sydney golf club into lockdown, with bomb disposal experts using the site to detonate the ordnance after it was found by builders in a nearby apartment.
Police were called to an apartment in Reina Street, North Bondi, about midday on Friday after the builders discovered the shell.
Acting on the advice of the army, police moved it to Woollahra Golf Club, where it could be safely destroyed.
“The army deemed it unsafe to transport very far,” Acting Inspector Jason Knox said. “We appreciate the help we got from the Woollahra golf course.”
Golfers were forced to evacuate as police set up a 300m exclusion zone.
Australian Defence Force bomb disposal experts detonated the shell shortly after 5.50pm.
A bartender at the golf club told the ABC that members had remained calm. “It’s been a fun little thing and everyone’s been talking about it,” he said.
“I heard the explosion, it was just a base-heavy reverberation.”
More than 40 students attending a gardening class at the adjoining Rose Bay Community Garden were also evacuated.
Garden president Marika Nabung said she had been concerned the detonation would scare chickens and bees. “I was riding my bike down the road and I saw the police. They said they wanted to detonate the bomb here. I told them it wasn’t a good idea,” Ms Nabung said. “I’m a little surprised they choose a high-density area to detonate a bomb. It was a decent boom.”
Other nearby residents were less unconcerned, with some of them setting up chairs on the footpath to take in all the action.
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