Man plays fetch with his dog, doesn’t realise he’s lobbing a grenade

Explosives expert passing by ended the potentially disastrous play and called in backup

Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith
Monday 18 August 2014 11:55 BST
Comments
The beach at Dovercourt, Harwich, Essex, where the grenade was found.
The beach at Dovercourt, Harwich, Essex, where the grenade was found.

A man has been caught throwing a grenade in a game of fetch with his dog, on a beach in Essex, completely unaware he was lobbing a decades-old explosive to his pet.

The man was spotted by an off-duty military explosives expert at Marine Parade in Harwich, casually tossing the unexploded grenade thought to be from the Second World War.

After the bomb expert halted play and set up a 30 yard cordon around the grenade, the police and coastguard were alerted, and it was removed by explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) officers.

It is reportedly the fifth grenade to be found in the area in as many weeks.

Essex Police confirmed a grenade had been found on Saturday on the beach near West End Lane and The Promenade, adding that three had also been found near Lower Marine Parade on 12 July. All had been detonated by EOD officers.

Police suspect the grenades are from a crate carrying WWII grenades out at sea, and have now warned beachgoers to take care.

Inspector Paul Butcher said: "It would appear that the grenades might have been in a crate that ended up in the sea during the Second World War.

"That crate might be breaking up or has been disturbed by dredging in the port and has resulted in these five devices being washed ashore along the same stretch of beach.

"We are asking people to be vigilant if visiting this beach and to dial 999 if they find any of these devices. Some of them have been covered in barnacles but the one yesterday looked almost as new despite being in the sea, possibly for many years.

"Anyone who finds a grenade should not touch it or move it but should call police immediately."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in