What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
SOLVED: Non-Fiction
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SOLVED. Nonfiction book about self-taught British demolitions experts in World War II. [s]
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Unexploded bomb : a history of bomb disposal by Hartley, Arthur Bamford?With little knowledge and no special tools, the men of Bomb Disposal took their lives in their hands every time they unearthed and dismantled delayed action bombs designed with fiendish ingenuity and variety to detonate when tampered with. As fast as super-human gallantry revealed the intricacies of a new mechanism the pattern changed ; booby trap was added to booby trap ; the casualties were numerous and crippling, for the most highly skilled were the inevitable victims. But the cold-blooded bravery of the men who volunteered confounded the worst that German science could devise.
That might well be it. Hard to say for sure because I don't recognize any of the covers I can find for it. Which isn't unusual with an old library copy, so that doesn't mean anything. The review here on Goodreads mentions a humorous tone, so that's definitely a good sign. Unfortunately it costs $100+ on Amazon, so I'm not going to be able to get a copy to check for sure.Heck with it, I'm calling this solved. Thank you!
It was about a group of young men who were tasked with dealing with unexploded ordinance in England in World War II. If the Germans dropped a bomb and it didn't go off, or if a mine broke loose and floated to the shore, someone had to figure out how to dismantle it without blowing themselves up. The author and his fellows were one group of those someones.
I think the author wasn't English himself, but was a British citizen. Canadian or Australian, perhaps. I could be wrong.
The book was written after the war, probably in the 50s or 60s given its appearance and condition. It was a hardcover, but not as big as most. Maybe a little smaller than the large paperbacks we see these days.
I know they were figuring things out as they went. When they encountered a new type of explosive they had to carefully dismantle it while taking notes the whole time so it wouldn't be so nerve-wracking the next time. Assuming they and/or their notes survived, of course.
There was one anecdote about trying to disarm a bomb or mine that was partially submerged in the harbor of a good sized town. I believe they could only work on it during low tide. It took them awhile to do everything they could and they had warned the populace to leave their windows open to keep them from breaking if and when the bomb exploded. They finally were forced to deliberately set off the bomb, and a lot of windows were broken because people had closed them to keep out the chill. They got a lot of complaints, to which their response was basically "We told you to leave the windows open!" Reading between the lines I figured the actual response included a lot of unprintable words.
Ring any bells for anyone?