Characterisation and Clearance of Ordnance on Former Military Ranges

Numerous coastal areas of the UK have historically been used as military ranges, with a wide variety of munitions fired for training and proofing purposes. Although years of clearance have been carried out at many locations, a significant amount of buried ordnance is still present on some sites. As a result these sites require regular monitoring, as the dynamic nature of the coastal environment can result in the regular exposure of buried ordnance through variations in sand elevations and erosion of sand dunes. The Ministry of Defence operates several towed magnetometer arrays with the objective of identifying shallow buried ordnance of sufficient mass to cause significant harm. Two case sites are discussed; the first comprising of a former air weapon range approximately 570Ha in size, while the second is a five-mile stretch of beach used as a military ordnance trials range. Both were used extensively during and immediately after World War II. In order to increase the recovery of unexploded ordnance, the characteristics of the magnetic anomaly generated by recovered ordnance is regularly reviewed. The results of eighteen 25lb projectiles and twenty-eight 500lb airdropped bombs are presented, with both sets of ordnance displaying items with significantly lower amplitudes than anticipated.