Award for brave disposal expert tasked with moving 12ft-long bomb away from hundreds of homes

When a huge parachute bomb was discovered in woodland next to hundreds of homes, it was down to Nick Frost to make the area safe.
Despite being a remnant from World War II, the 12ft-long device was live and contained a whopping 375g of explosives.
Royal Navy Petty Officer Nick – who hails from Deganwy – was immediately flown with his five-strong team from their Plymouth base to Guernsey, where it had been uncovered.
“It was a live bomb and the main difficulty, once it had been dug out of its hole, was transporting it to the nearest road,” he said
.
“It was rolled by pulley and rope along a specially created boardwalk onto a lorry.”
Nick bravely transport the bomb a mile along the coast while 300 homes along the route were evacuated as a precaution in case it exploded.
He then had to secure it to a lifting bag before high tide, so they could float it out to sea.
Nick’s unit towed the bomb a mile offshore and lowered it to the seabed and detonated it remotely.

The large WWII mine found on Guernsey

He said: “This is exactly what we are trained for, but this was large ordnance and in a difficult location.
 “We don’t usually get this size of bomb presenting an explosive danger."
So great was the task, the 38-year-old and his team have now been honoured with an award for their bravery.
“The bomb was in very good nick considering how old it was and still presented a danger – a testimony to British munitions makers,” he said.
It’s thought the bomb was dropped in 1944 from a Wellington bomber, designed to stop the Germans using St Peter’s Port – all six bombs dropped in the operation missed their target.

The explosion from the WWII bomb being blown up off the coast of Guernsey

While the other five bombs were disposed of years ago, this last device was discovered by Guernsey Police ordnance disposal team while on a training exercise.
The Guernsey Police Chief Officer’s Commendation is the highest internal police force accolade and is awarded for acts of bravery where recipients place themselves at risk to save or protect human life, and the team have been bestowed with the honour.
Nick, who has served for 18 years in the Navy, added: “I was very honoured to receive the award on behalf of the team, SDU1 and the Royal Navy.
“A task of this magnitude doesn’t come without some disruption. I am especially grateful for the co-operation of the residents of Guernsey who had to be relocated during the move.”