[SkyDancer]

I’ve read where French farmers have been killed by a WW1 bomb when plowing their fields.

[fso301]

I’ve read where French farmers have been killed by a WW1 bomb when plowing their fields.

Yep but being killed when your plow strikes buried UXO is different from gathering around to watch a guy use a cutting torch to find out what's inside a bomb casing.

[MasterGunner01]

Even better was the French farmer that discovered 3 TONS of liquid mustard gas abandoned in a sealed WW1 German bunker. The farmer's tractor broke a hole in its roof and the farmer died of the released toxic fumes.

EOD was called and, after much consultation, carefully neutralized the solution that was nearly three feet deep on the bunker's floor. Heat was a major byproduct of the neutralization process. Extra care was taken to prevent a fire from starting as result of the neutralization process.

Had a fire started, the smoke would have been contaminated with liquid mustard gas compounds and the casualty threat to the local population dramatically increased. Neutralization was completed, but what to do about all that liquid in the bottom of the bunker? The decision was to reseal the bunker and permanently cordon off the site (including the bunker itself). This contaminated area (and its bunker) remain a 'no go' zone to this day.

[Jimmy Valentine]

There are still huge numbers of unexplored shells in Flanders. Occasionally some poor farmer hits one