Moment teenager crashes underwater drone into live 500kg Second World War bomb

Watch This Moment teenager crashes underwater drone into live 500kg Second World War bomb By SWNS reporter , Jessica Martin Comment Published 11th Apr 2025, 15:40 BST Updated 13th Apr 2025, 08:30 BST Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565 Visit Shots! now This is the moment a teenager unwittingly discovered a live WW2 bomb packed with 250kg of explosives on a riverbed - before crashing his underwater drone into it. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more.

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Cameron Makewell, 14, was driving his underwater drone in the popular River Ure when he came across a strange cylindrical object in the murky low-visibility water. The young explorer believed it to be a gas canister until his dad, Adam Makwell, 47, told him that he had stumbled across a WW2 bomb - at the time they didn't know was live. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Read More Shocking moment man tries to start fire at Asda petrol station Line of Duty BBC: 8 best one liners from hit show - as season 7 ‘confirmed’ Man to cycle to all 92 football clubs in Premier League and EFL within 50 days in memory of his late uncle Rubbish piles up in streets and fly tipping increases as bin strike enters third week The adventurous duo, from Ripon , were stood 50 metres about from the two metre long shell - which when exploded three days later by the Royal Navy , had cordoned off an area of almost 1km.

The bomb is believed to have been a SC500kg aerial explosive bomb which was commonly used by the Luftwaffe during WW2 and during The Blitz. It is thought to have been dropped by a Junkers JU 87 'Stuka' dive bomber. Cameron, who is currently studying for his GCSE 's said: "I didn't believe my dad at first when he told me it was a bomb - I thought there was no way.

Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad "I was thinking to myself 'oh my god' and my heart started racing but it didn't stop me from getting a closer look - I didn't know it was live at the time." The father-son duo arrived at the location, between Bishop Monkton and the Newby Hall estate, at 8am to trial some new lighting equipment for their underwater drone's, also known as ROV's. Adam Makewell and his son Cameron Makewell.

| Adam Makewell / SWNS After performing some tests, Adam, who works in an egg factory, told Cameron to "have some fun" whilst he packed away the equipment. Adam said: "I asked Alfie to let me know if he found anything interesting and a couple of minutes later he came to me with what he thought was a gas canister on his screen. As soon as I saw it, I knew exactly what I was looking at".

Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The panicked father said he "stayed calm" as he didn't want to "worry" Alfie. The part-time explorer said if the bomb had detonated it would have "easily" killed them. Adam said he found the bomb in a "popular" area of the lake which was "frequently" used by local driving boats, swimming, and canoeing.

He said: "It will have been passed over thousands of times and no one would have known a thing." Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The duo then packed up their gear and set off for the police station but when they arrived officers didn't "believe" them at first. The explorer said: "When I told officers they sort of rolled their eyes at me and said 'yeh right'.

It wasn't until I let them watch the footage on my Ipad that they took us seriously agreeing it did look bomb like. "They then asked for everything they had so they could analyse the footage." The bomb they had found was a Nazi SC 500 - which was commonly dropped during the Blitz by Luftwaffe during WW2.

Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Adam says it is a "mystery" how the bomb got into the river as there was "no impact crater" surrounding it. The river was used as a training site for bomb technicians during the war but Adam said "I can't believe they were using live bombs to get soldiers up to scratch". After returning home he received a phone call from the police saying a specialist Royal Navy bomb disposal unit from Glasgow, in Scotland, had been drafted in the safely detonate the bomb.

They also asked him for the approximate location of the bomb on the riverbed to help the divers locate it. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Adam said: "The same evening I received another phone call asking if he could assist the bomb squad in locating it on the Sunday morning using my ROV. "They said they were unable to find the explosive as it had rained heavily that afternoon raising the water level by four inches and reducing the visibility.

Adam Makewell and his son Cameron Makewell. | Adam Makewell / SWNS "It isn't every day you get to hang out with the Royal Navy bomb squad so of course I said yes." Early Sunday morning Adam met with the specialist naval drivers but was unable to locate the bomb as the water was still murky from the rain the day before.

Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad On Wednesday March 26, the Navy personnel were able to find and detonate the bomb safely - after setting a cordon of 700 metres with the help of the police and fire service. The explosion left a two square metre crater in the riverbed and killed the fish in the surrounding area. Cameron said finding the bomb has "sparked a further interest" in the history of the area during WW2.

The duo are hoping the bomb will one day be displayed in their local museum in Ripon. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Have you got a video you want to share with our readers? You can now send it to us online via YourWorld at https://www.yourworld.

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