3.7-inch grenade defused at the Afsluitdijk
While securing the soil around the Afsluitdijk, we came across a number of striking finds. It concerns various grenade shells, a 7.5 cm high-explosive armored grenade (German) and 4 times a 3.7-inch grenade! You can read below where and how these are used.
The 3.7-inch gun was a British anti-aircraft gun used by various countries during WWII. The 3.7-inch shells were fitted with mechanical time fuzes to detonate after a certain number of seconds after firing. First, it was determined how high an aircraft flew. The time detonators were set based on that height. The grenade was then fired and the aircraft was damaged and brought down by means of extreme fragmentation. Finally, the 3.7-inch gun was also used against unarmoured targets and unprotected troops.
The video below shows how we defused the grenade together with the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Service (EOD). This way the Netherlands is a bit safer again!
Watch the video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeRnsf53uss
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