A World War 2 German bomb was discovered in London at the bank of Thames, near the Houses of Parliament. Disposal of the unexploded ordnance needed Waterloo and Westminster bridges to be closed and river traffic halted.

Disposal operation involved the Royal Navy, which towed it along the Thames to Tilbury where a controlled detonation was carried out. The bomb was a German SD 50kg one, about 60 cm in length, covered by slime due to the many years spent in the sediments. It is thought to have been dropped from an aircraft during the Blitz – heavy air raids carried out over Britain by the Germans in 1940 and 1941.

(after Royal Navy & Evening Standard)