Huge haul of 'Dad's Army' shells pulled from river by magnet fishing team

Streets were sealed off after a magnet fishing group pulled a massive cache of 'Dad's Army' weapons from a river.The enormous haul emerged from the depths of the River Leam in Leamington Spa as Birmingham's Peaky Dippers enjoyed their hobby on Sunday afternoon, November 5.Bomb disposal experts raced to the scene where a haul of shells, grenades and guns are believed to have been dumped by Dad's Army-style Home Guard teams at the end of the Second World War.The explosives were detonated on a football pitch at Warwickshire Police's HQ.The Peaky Dippers group, who have been exploring the waterways since 2018, said the haul was among the largest it had ever discovered.

A spokesman said: "We were speechless. We have been magnet fishing for six or seven years now and have never known this amount of weapons to come out in one haul.

"There was such a range including guns, rifles, grenades, swords, bombs and much more. We are Birmingham-based and our aim is to recover history."As Sunday's incident unfolded, Warwickshire Police put up a cordon and road closures on Willes Road, between Mill Road and Newbold Terrace, and Mill Gardens in Leamington.The cordon remained in place overnight to allow for the weapons recovery, but was lifted on Monday morning and all roads reopened in full.

Officers transported the shells to police HQ in Leek Wootton, where a controlled explosion took place.Sharing the footage on its Facebook page, a Warwickshire Police spokesperson said: "Here's a little piece of history, originally built to defend Britain in a time of great peril, making a right old mess of our sports field."Magnet fishers found this WW2-era British 18-pounder artillery shell in Leamington (hence the closures).

"With the help of experts from 11 EOD & Search Regiment (Royal Logistic Corps) the shell was transported to our HQ in Leek Wootton and they have carried out a controlled explosion."The 18-pounder was a heavy hitter in its day, and this 80-year-old shell was clearly very well made - still having the power to produce one almighty boom and shake the ground after decades under water.

"As an aside, the Warwickshire Police goalkeeper won't be happy. It was blown up in the six yard box of the pitch."