After months of public pressure, Home Affairs has decided that a deep survey looking for unexploded bombs will be carried out at Route Isabelle.
In October, Bomb disposal expert Ben Remfrey went public with his evidence that three 1,000lb WW2 bombs lie buried in a field adjacent to Wellington Close after being dropped from a Vickers Wellington Bomber on 3 March 1941.
He had long argued that a survey that the States had been relying on from 2019 to say there was no evidence of the bombs had not gone deep enough.
Residents have also raised concerns.
““Following numerous representations, officers from Home Affairs have been reviewing the information available on the potential ordnance buried in a field in Le Foulon,” said Dave Le Ray, Director of Operations, Justice & Regulation.
“While specialist advice indicates that the risk associated with the potential ordnance continues to be low, the decision has been made to commission a deep survey to identify if they are in existence and, if so, the exact location.
“We are now engaging with specialist contractors who we hope will tender to undertake this work, and when the tender process is complete, we will arrange a date for it to take place.”
It is anticipated the survey may be conducted by late Spring.
“Subject to the outcomes of this survey, the Ministry of Defence will support officers in considering the next steps.”
The decision to do the deep survey followed Home Affairs and MoD representatives conducting a fresh review.
The previous survey examined land to a depth of just 4m.
Mr Remfrey went public at the start of October, saying there was documented evidence that bombs were at 26ft – well beyond the non-intrusive survey the States commissioned.
He had described the States as “gambling with public safety” over the issue, saying that bombs of this age are spontaneously detonating increasingly.
Mr Remfrey has released a diary entry from the time which documents the bombing:
Diary Entry – “Monday, March 3rd” 1941
“At 22.22hrs an aircraft was heard flying high over the island in a Southerly direction when four very heavy thuds or dull explosions were heard and houses shook considerably. It was raining heavily at the time, & dark, but no searchlights went on nor was there anti-aircraft fire.”
“The following morning it was reported that 4 bombs had fallen on land just off the Route Isabelle, some on Lihou’s Farm, one bomb was said to have exploded & the others not, and they had buried themselves 18feet deep in the soft earth. They were subsequently filled in and covered over. I was later shown a piece of the bomb which exploded by Captain Henderson & informed that the bombs were British, though they may not necessarily have come from a British plane.”