An aircraft bomb which dates back to World War II was detonated by the Republic of Fiji Military Forces Personnel and bomb specialists from the United States Army in Veivatuloa Village, Namosi on Friday morning.

World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945.

Veivatuloa Village headman Leone Nairuwai said according to stories passed down from their elders, an American man that piloted an aircraft during the war had been shot. The pilot decided to lighten the load in his plane by dropping the two bombs into Fijian waters.

Mr Nairuwai said one of the two aircraft bombs was dropped into the ocean and was never discovered while the second was found along the coast of Veivatuloa near Togoru.

The wreckage of the plane that was piloted by the American man carrying the two bombs was later discovered in the interior of Naivucini village in Naitisiri in 2004.

According to Mr Nairuwai, the initial search for the wreckage was unsuccessful until the elders and chief of Naivucini sought the assistance of the Namosi Chief, the Turaga na Vunivalu na Tui Namosi.

In 2006, the remains of a U.S. fighter pilot and his airplane made its journey back to the United States.

“The aircraft bomb that was detonated today were from the US plane that had crashed in Naivucini, Naitasiri.

“The American fighter pilot had dropped the two aircraft bombs so that he could clear out his plane and avoid the risk of explosion wherever he would crash.

“One was dropped into the deep ocean floor outside the reef and the other was identified and detonated today (Friday). It’s been more than 75 years now since WWII.”

He said the villagers had no idea it was a bomb until it was identified in 2014 by Marine Scientist Dr Colin Jones.

“In 2014, Dr Colin Jones had come for some research work in our marine area and it was then that I asked him what it was that looked like an empty gas cylinder that we kept seeing in our coastal area.

“When he saw the bomb he made sure we kept our distance away from it and told us it was an aircraft bomb. He told me that even if it was hit by a heavy object it would explode.

“He said it posed a risk to the villagers here.”

He said he had then raised it up in the district meeting for it to be removed.

“It was there the police took down my statement and then the work to detonate it began.

“The RFMF Navy came over last year and studied it and confirmed that it was an aircraft bomb before the United States bomb specialists and the RFMF came over this morning to detonate it.”

According to him the bomb was about 2 meters long.

“Where it was is about a mile away from the village.

“Before when we used to go there to fish we always thought it was an empty gas cylinder so we did not bother.

“Today we are thankful that it has been detonated and we are safe.”

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