The Italian Army’s Julia Alpine Brigade recently concluded an operation to secure around 250 First World War munitions left from alpine fighting between Italian and Austro-Hungarian forces. Similar clearance efforts remain a routine necessity elsewhere on the continent, with Belgium neutralizing over 200 tonnes of ordnance annually through its "iron harvest." Furthermore, extreme weather events like summer wildfires in France have triggered underground detonations, prompting emergency removals of hundreds of Second World War shells.
Key points
Changing environmental conditions, including melting glaciers and wildfires, are accelera…: Changing environmental conditions, including melting glaciers and wildfires, are accelerating the unearthing of dangerous century-old munitions across Europe.
Ongoing urban construction and agricultural activity regularly disturb unexploded militar…: Ongoing urban construction and agricultural activity regularly disturb unexploded military ordnance, creating persistent safety challenges for European communities.
Specialized bomb disposal units remain actively engaged in multi-nation efforts to neutra…: Specialized bomb disposal units remain actively engaged in multi-nation efforts to neutralize dangerous remnants left behind by both world wars.
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More than a century after the First World War, melting glaciers in Italy's Dolomites are exposing a deadly reminder of the conflict, with the Italian Army recovering around 250 unexploded munitions from the mountains.
The discovery is part of a wider European problem, where shells, grenades and aerial bombs left behind by the First and Second World Wars continue to emerge from glaciers, forests, farmland and urban construction sites.
According to CNN, the Italian Army's Julia Alpine Brigade recovered and neutralised the munitions during a clearance operation that ended on October 16. The weapons date back to the White War, fought between Italian and Austro-Hungarian forces in the Alps from 1915 to 1918, when soldiers battled in some of Europe's harshest mountain terrain.
The recovered ammunition included Italian artillery shells and French-made Thevetot mortar bombs, alongside other unexploded devices.
The first find of the summer was a 90-millimetre mortar shell discovered in June near Caldonazzo after a car rolled down a ravine. The army’s specialist bomb-disposal team subsequently removed it, while the wider clearance operation involved working at high altitudes…
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