Unexploded WWII Japanese balloon bomb found near Lumby

LUMBY – Police received a strange call from an employee of Tolko Thursday morning who thought an object partially embedded in the ground off Thunder Mountain Road might be a Second World War Japanese balloon bomb.

Lumby RCMP went out to look and took pictures of the suspected bomb and the military unit from Esquimalt was notified. The unit is expected to deal with the unexploded bomb sometime today according to a media release.

RCMP say the Japanese came up with the idea to attach incendiary bombs to balloons and release them into the easterly jetstream winds to keep their enemy occupied at home. The bombs would float at 30,000 feet for 5,000 miles across the Pacific ocean to land in forested areas of the North American Pacific Coast. The objective was for bombs to explode in forested areas so manpower would be diverted from fighting in the Pacific theatre to combating wildfires.

Officers believe they've found pieces of the bomb nearby that likely came off over the years and will donate them to the Lumby Museum. As well, they hope to donate the large aluminum rings and possibly a fin from the bomb, so these pieces of Second World War history can be preserved.

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LINK:

Japan's Secret WWII Weapon: Balloon Bombs

To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infonews.ca or call 250-309-5230. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.