An elderly couple, Sian and Jeffrey Edwards from Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, were shocked after a revelation about their cherished garden ornament.
The couple said that a bomb disposal team detonated their display bomb. Mrs. Edwards had been using the explosive, thought to date back to the late 19th century, to clean her trowel of dirt after gardening.
The incident occurred on Wednesday evening after the police informed them that their bomb had been spotted, prompting the need to contact the Ministry of Defence as a precaution.
Within an hour, they were notified that a bomb squad would be arriving the next day to deal with it. The couple was informed that they might need to evacuate when their street was being moved, but the Edwards couple adamantly refused to leave their home,
Mr Edwards told the BBC: "We didn't sleep a wink all night. It knocked us for six. I told the bomb disposal unit 'We're not leaving the house, we're staying here. If it goes up, we're going to go up with it."
Upon the Ministry of Defence's arrival the next morning, the 64lb 'naval projectile' was removed. Tests confirmed that the bomb would live with a tiny amount of charge. It was subsequently covered with five tonnes of sand and safely detonated in a disused quarry in Walwyn's Castle.
Despite the resolution, the couple felt crushed and called the bomb ‘an old friend'.
"It was an old friend," Mr Edwards said, "I'm so sorry that the poor old thing was blown to pieces."
The bomb, discovered by previous house owners over 100 years ago, had a rich history, with the Morris family finding it intriguing, according to Mr. Edwards.
He said: "Well Pop Morris, who went around delivering lemonade, was going down to Broad Haven with his horse and cart and found the shell.
"He struggled back up the beach with it, put it on the back of his cart, and had a very bouncy seven-mile ride back home. He plonked it upright in the front courtyard and that's where it remained."
The bomb was later painted red to match the window sills of the house when the Edwards family purchased it in 1982.
According to the Ministry of Defence, the bomb was reported to be a 64lb naval projectile, which was removed from the scene for subsequent explosive demolition
