This FOI published a few weeks ago really surprised me. It shows the number of EOD tasks carried out by the Army and Royal Navy for the last few years in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
It goes on to explain the difference between IED’s and Conventional Munitions
Conventional Munitions Disposal tasks consist of World War Two bombs or munitions such as small arms and grenades. Improvised Explosive Device tasks are normally non-military improvised devices created to cause injury or death. Around 25% of Conventional Munitions Disposal and about 50% of Improvised Explosive Device tasks did not require destruction as they had already been made safe or were false alarms.
Even taking into account the devices that did not require destruction that is still a lot of deployments.
Service personnel quietly going about their dangerous business out of the limelight, don’t know about you, but I am pretty glad they are there.
Can you post the full FOIA?
Thanks.
I assume that these figures don’t include any tasks carried out by the Met Police own EOD teams.
I’ve never quite understood why they retain their own EOD capability at vast cost. No other Police Service has this capability they get it done for FREE by the Military. It would be interesting to see just how much the Met spend on it or could save.
As ex pat Northern Irish, naturally i’d assume most of the UK IEDs are from Northern Ireland, or is that info not included? As ex civvy staff in Cop Shops had yet another reason to always be grateful they were there. Thanks lads and lasses. All far safer because of you. The modern “Never in the field of human conflict, was so much owed, by so many, to so few”?
In recent years the site information in London often includes an UXB assessment this may make builders more aware of the risks. The number of call outs for Conventional Weapons may be a function of construction activity in recent years. Still it is salutary to think after 70 years the risk is there.
Of course nothing compared to the volume of bombs dropped on Berlin and other cities by RAF and USAAF which occasionally take lives after all this time. Here is a link to a BBC News story http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/world-europe-13792357
That would be a FOIA to the Home Department? Didn’t know the Met has its own EOD force. I believe now it also has a rapid/quick reaction anti-terror force so wonder if the SAS/SBS will be called in for domestic terror attacks?
http://www.met.police.uk/foi/pdfs/disclosure_2015/may_2015/2015010000897.pdf
here you go AndrewB