Unexploded Bomb: A History of Bomb Disposal

Major A. B. Hartley

Published by Cassell, London, 1958

Unexploded Bomb: A History of Bomb Disposal; by Major A. B. Hartley M.B.E., R.E.; with a foreword by The Rt. Hon. Herbert Morrison C.H., M.P.; with a frontispiece and twelve pages of half-tone illustrations and three diagrams in the text; Cassell, London, first published 1958. From the blurb Major Hartley has served in Bomb Disposal and Beach Mine Clearance Units of the Royal Enginers for fifteen years, and is still serving in that Branch of the Corps. Although he was not involved in the earliest Nazi bombing attacks on London, his long experience and his research have enabled him to write of those enormously hazardous days before he himself took part. In his introduction to this detailed survey of the heroic work of the Sappers in their struggles with the menace of the Unexploded Bomb, he reveals how unprepared we were in the first months of the Blitz to deal with a situation frequently more dangerous to life, property, and the war effort than the rain of conventional exploding bombs on cities and factories. With little knowledge and no special tools, the men of Bomb Disposal took their lives in their hands every time they unearthed and dismantled delayed action bombs designed with fiendish ingenuity and variety to detonate when tampered with. As fast as super-human gallantry revealed the intricacies of a new mechanism the pattern changed; booby trap was added to booby trap; the casualties were numerous and crippling, for the most highly skilled were the inevitable victims. But the cold-blooded bravery and tremendous spirit of the men who volunteered confounded the worst that German science could devise. This is the first book to give a full account of the work of Bomb Disposal, its origin, its problems, its technical development under the tutelage of the Department of Scientific Research, its methods devised in the midst of emergency, its spirit and traditions forged in the knowledge that death waited at every turn. Until now, many of its activities have been shrouded by Security prohibitions, but now the embargo has been raised and the story can be told. It is a story not only of Britain at war; it covers the work of Companies in the Middle East, and in Europe during and after the invasion; it deals with the work of Bomb Disposal s opposite numbers in Germany and Japan and, not least important, it deals with the dangerous work of minefield clearance after the war work that is still going on. This book is in near-fine condition in a near-fine dust jacket that is now enclosed in a protective mylar wrap. There is a personal gift inscription on the first free endpaper dated Xmas 1958. A wonderful copy of a very scarce book. Seller Inventory # 2552c

Bibliographic Details

Title: Unexploded Bomb: A History of Bomb Disposal
Publisher: Cassell, London
Publication Date: 1958
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Near Fine
Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
Edition: 1st Edition