General Questions
Do mobile phones set off explosives?
They don't set off explosions on their own. What they do is if they're wired into a bomb circuit, they're used as a trigger for a bomb. You wouldn't just set off an explosive by having a stray RF signal around a phone, like you would in a petrol station where you can ignite the petrol. They're often wired into a bomb circuit and used as the trigger for a bomb, yes.
What are the different types of bombs?
They are broken down into three families. The timed devices, which are mechanical, digital timers, that sort of thing. They are used where you know a target is going to be at a location at a specific time. Otherwise they would be completely indiscriminate. You wouldn't use it for a moving target, for example. You've then got the command initiated devices, which are effectively radio controlled devices, or these big long command wires where you've got the human element in the loop and you have complete control over the device right until the very last second. And then the final type is victim operated or booby trapped as they are colloquially known. And those are basically anything from a pressure plate device through to a trip wire attached to a grenade or anything like that. And in addition to that you have suicide bombs and you have projected devices, mortars and things like that. And they normally incorporate one of those three or more of those three circuits, a time command or victim operated circuit in the device as well.
Are there many unexploded World War II bombs left?
I think it's very, very hard to say because those that were seen to land, were plotted, most of them were destroyed at the end of the Second World War. Some of them that sort of landed in areas where they decided it was just going to be impossible to build on, were left where they were and unplotted. But, of course, then as housing becomes a problem, we're starting to build on flood plains and places where we shouldn't have built. And people are sort of finding them as they dig them up. But, of course, there are those that just landed in places where nobody saw it. So, as a result, we don't actually know they're there until we physically dig the place up and find them. So yes, there are definitely still plenty out there but we don't actually know where they are. And we won't know unless we physically dig up the area and find them the hard way.
Is nuclear war a real threat to UK safety?
I think when any rogue country or any unpredictable country has a nuclear capability, then nuclear war is definitely a threat -- or a nuclear strike, at the very least. And don't forget war requires two opposing forces, which means there has to be some sort of response. I think the greatest concern with rogue countries getting capabilities, of course, is that you don't know how predictable that nation is going to be and how long it's going to be in power. Also when they host and sponsor and encourage and support terror groups then you have to wonder how safe the controllers of those nuclear weapons are and if they fall into the terrorists' hands -- we already know that terrorists, Al-Qaeda in particular, are totally happy with indiscriminately bombing and killing civilians so why would they be bothered by using a nuclear weapon? And the answer is they wouldn't be. Therefore that would be a real concern. So I think there is a very real possibility in the future for nuclear war, but hopefully we'll be able to contain it.
Are homemade bombs harder to detonate?
The reason they're difficult is because you don't know how well made they are and, you could look at a circuit, but actually if it's not well made it may be unpredictable. It may actually not perform as the designer intended it to perform and it might short out and detonate unexpectedly. There's a huge degree of unpredictability and the other thing is with improvised explosives themselves. They're usually quite unstable too. So there's two sort of concerns with them really. They're not very nice things to deal with, that's for sure, yeah.
How would you respond if your daughter decided to become a bomb disposal specialist?
That happened to a very good friend of mine actually. In fact, the guy that taught me the majority of what I know about bomb disposal - his daughter came to him and said, "Can you help me? I want to become a bomb disposal operator." I don't think that he was overly chuffed, but I think that the cool dad part of me says whatever my daughters want to do, I'll support them wholeheartedly. If they choose to join the military, I'll still support them, but of course I'm going to be a little bit worried about them. If they choose to go into bomb disposal I think I'd be really worried about them, I'd probably try and dissuade them, but I'd definitely support them in whatever they do. I just hope they don't go into it.
