Discovery of un-exploded wartime bomb under old Portland United football pitch - 25 years on

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Over 4,000 people were evacuated from their homes after the discovery of an un-exploded World War 2 bomb near a quarry at the site of Portland United's old football pitch. The hidden ordnance, described as a 'monster', had laid underground for more than half a century while countless football matches were played played on the pitch above. The discovery resulted in the biggest peacetime evacuation in the UK since the war. Portland residents inside a one kilometre exclusion zone were moved off the isle of Portland to stay with friends or family in Weymouth or to holiday camps in Wyke Regis, Littlesea and Osmington. Several agencies including Dorset police, Dorset Council, Weymouth & Portland Borough Council and even the RSPCA contributed to the operation. In the end seven residents refused to move, but a decision was taken to proceed to make the bomb safe. The Army's bomb disposal team lead by Captain Mike Lobb from the Royal Engineers slowly and meticulously de-fused the bomb and detonated the fuse in under forty-eight hours.