She has now recovered from the shock, but Astrid Klomp (53) from Wintelre was on edge for a while when she found a hand grenade in the meadow with her ponies on Saturday. Where her husband initially laughed at her, it later turned out to be an English explosive from World War II. “The pin and the lid were missing, so it could still explode,” says Astrid.
She was making a tour of her horses on Saturday when she saw a piece of iron sticking out of the ground. “I picked it up and immediately saw it was a hand grenade. It was heavy, oval and with bumps on it.”
“Then I walked to the dunghill with shaky knees.”
The meadow is located near Eindhoven Airport, which was used as a military base during the war. Yet, in the fourteen years that she has lived there, Astrid has never encountered a bomb before. She was shocked, but she didn’t dare put the projectile back between the horses either. “Then I walked with trembling knees to the manure heap, where I could put it down safely.”
Then she called the police and an explosives expert came by. “He also immediately saw that it was a hand grenade that never went off. The pin and lid were missing, so it could still explode,” explains Astrid. A bucket was placed over the grenade in anticipation of the Defense Explosive Ordnance Disposal Service (EOD).
“There was a chance it had to be detonated here.”
They came by on Monday to view the hand grenade and said that it was an English shrapnel grenade from World War II. “We were in suspense all weekend, because there was a chance that he had to be detonated here. I didn’t really like that,” says Astrid. Fortunately for her and the horses, it fizzled out. The projectile could be transported and was detonated on the Oirschotse Heide.
