Bomb Disposal Units

One out of every ten bombs that the Germans dropped during the Luftwaffe over Britain did not go off. And this 10% proposed as much as a danger to the British population as the 90% that exploded did. The responsibility fell on the Air Raid Precautions, which was formed by the British Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, in 1935 and the Bomb Disposal Units. The Air Raid Wardens had to locate the unexploded bombs, evacuate the area and inform the Bomb Disposal Unit of the bomb. The BDU would then send someone to the area to defuse the bomb. German manufacturers changed the bombs in 1940 though, by added anti-handling devices meaning that the bomb would explode if the fuse was removed. This changed the way the BDU handled the bombs and they then had to cut into the bomb and take out the explosive contents, making it much harder for them to handle the bombs.