Bombs and ammunition found at old German airport in Havelte

Six bombs, guns from an airplane and a load of ammunition. This is the result of clearance work in the Holtingerveld near Havelte.

Three plots on the Hunebeddenweg near Darp, the Golf Club Havelte and the Havelterberg are being thoroughly examined for ammunition and bombs. Staatsbosbeheer wants to expand the Holtingerveld and convert this land into heathland. KWS Detection of Conventional Explosives (OCE) has been commissioned to detect and defuse the ammunition present. The plots are located on the spot where the Germans built ‘Fliegerhorst Havelte’ during the Second World War.

Before it was finished, this airfield was destroyed on March 24, 1945 by a large-scale air raid by the Allies. Some of the bombs never exploded and are still being found to this day.

“The bombs were sometimes only ten centimeters below ground level,” says Dennis Smink of KWS OCE. Preliminary research already showed that the area was littered with ammunition from the 1945 air raid. “We have to remove most of it manually, due to nitrogen regulations.”

Smink’s work started five weeks ago. “We have now examined about 75 percent of the area. We expect to be busy until mid-September.” But there is still plenty to be gained from the ground near Havelte. “So far we have found Allied demolition ammunition and grenades and explosive remnants of war from the German side.”

The explosives are temporarily stored in an ammunition container. This will then be handed over to the Defense Explosive Ordnance Disposal Service (EOD), which will render it harmless. After that, the activities of Staatsbosbeheer for nature restoration can be carried out.

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