Bomb danger?  | | Potentially deadly? Old UXBs may pose a threat |
Inside Out investigates how dangerous live military shells and bombs are going missing before the Army or Police can make them safe. Renegade military dealers and collectors are stealing 'live' chemical shells and bombs from the battlefields of Belgium and France. They are then smuggling these potentially deadly munitions back through the Channel Tunnel or on the ferries into the UK for sale on the military black-market or on the web.
Trench warfare
Our story starts 90 years ago. The Great War claimed over 15 million lives and focused on a narrow strip of land in Belgium and France. This intense trench warfare led to constant shelling by both sides, but not every bomb fired exploded. Hundreds of thousands failed to detonate.
Today the remains of the Belgian front line can still be seen - some trenches are still visible, and visitors can walk past the barbed wire and inspect the rusting military hardware left behind.
And it is those shells that are now resurfacing and presenting a new threat. Ammunition sales
| FACT FILE |
* Every year more than 30 people are killed on the battlefields of Europe after disturbing or picking up unexploded bombs and shells.
* It's estimated that three Titanics worth of unexploded bombs still litter the fields of France and Belgium, left over from World War 1.
* Some of these shells contain deadly Mustard Gas and Phosgene. Chemical shells left over from World War 1 that are still as deadly as the day they were fired.
* The Belgian Bomb Disposal Team brings back two lorry loads of unexploded bombs every day for safe destruction.
* Inside the high security chemical warfare lab, bomb teams work four hour shifts inside special chemical suits as they take the gas shells apart and destroy the chemicals.
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Inside Out's investigation was kick-started last autumn by a set of brothers. Chris and Matt Haffenden are military collectors from Hailsham in Sussex and they told us theyd seen live First World War ammunition on sale in the South East of England.
One man who did smuggle in a live military bomb was Stephen Hart from Tunbridge Wells. Last summer he was handed a nine month suspended prison sentence and a hefty fine after being caught with a unexploded mortar shell in the boot of his car at the entrance to the Channel Tunnel. This case made Inside Out wonder just what could a military enthusiast get hold of abroad so we headed off to the battlefields of Belgium to have a dig around. Bombs and shells
A large amount of ammunition has been unearthed in the fields around the town of Ypres - and that is exactly where we headed.
We wanted to find out where you could get live bombs and shells, and we also met with someone who had first hand knowledge that ammunition was being stolen off the battlefields.
Domenik Dendooven is a curator at the museum and was worried live bombs and shells were disappearing before the army could make them safe. Some of the live shells going missing are toxic and contain chemicals that could kill.
 | | Trench warfare - bombs are still being uncovered |
It appears that toxic shells containing mustard gas and and phosgene were being stolen and were finding their way illegally back into the UK. So many live bombs are unearthed by farmers, there are designated spots where they are left for collection by the military. They may be 90-years-old and look harmless but the chemical agents can be as deadly as the day they were first made. Destroying them has to take place inside a high security lab. The scale of the problem is frightening and with toxic agents like phosgene and mustard gas, it is dangerous work.
 | | There are fears that bombs may explode unexpectedly |
Photographs courtesy of Associated Press. Links relating to this story:The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites | 
Inside Out - South: Monday January 30, 2006
