Army called after unexploded WW2 shell found in village near Ilkley

Police have released photos of an old wartime mortar shell that was found in a rural Yorkshire village.
Army bomb disposal experts in AddinghamArmy bomb disposal experts in Addingham
Army bomb disposal experts in Addingham

Army bomb disposal experts from the Royal Logistics Corps were called to Addingham, near Ilkley, yesterday to make the device safe.

The ordnance was suspected to be a World War Two mortar shell but this has not been verified.

A controlled explosion was carried out at the scene.

The suspected WW2 mortar shellThe suspected WW2 mortar shell
The suspected WW2 mortar shell
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The origin of the explosive is a mystery, as mortars are fired by large ground guns.

Addingham was a quiet rural community during World War Two, although one of its textile mills was converted to manufacture carburettors after a factory in Coventry was bombed.

There were also two crashes in the area involving military aircraft, both RAF.

One was a Mosquito based at RAF Church Fenton, which crashed into a hillside near Windgate Nick at Addingham High Moor in 1943. Both the pilot and navigator were killed - they were returning from a base in Norfolk at the time.

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The second accident involved a Halifax bomber, and six Canadian airmen and a Scottish flight engineer on board all died. The crash site is at Long Ridge at the boundary between Ilkley Moor and Addingham Moorside.

The aircraft was based at RAF Dishforth, near Ripon, and was on a night navigation exercise, but ended up 40 miles off its course. It attempted to land at Yeadon Aerodrome but was unable to do so .

The Canadians died at the scene and are buried at Stonefall Cemetery in Harrogate. The Scot survived the crash and died later at High Royds Hospital in Menston.

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