Unexploded shell from WWI found in Turkey’s Çanakkale

ÇANAKKALE - Demirören News Agency

An unexploded cannon shell from the Dardanelles Campaign in the First World War has been found in Turkey’s western province of Çanakkale during restoration works at the Seddülbahir Castle.

Officials in charge of the work at the historical site informed local gendarmerie forces of the potentially dangerous material.

Bomb experts arrived at the scene to inspect the 130-mm shell before deciding that it should be detonated.

The experts transferred the shell to a site close to the sea and secured the parameters.

After the experts detonated the found shell, only the part of the bomb called armor-piercing was left.

“Such incidents occur all the time. This was an area where intense battles were fought. This is a historical place,” said İsmail Kaşdemir, president of the Dardanelles Campaign Gallipoli Historical Site.

“We have to go on with restoration works but we also have to be very careful about such potentially dangerous unexploded shells. We have found shells in a number of spots here. We also need to pay the utmost attention not to ruin the site’s historic fabric,” he added.

Also during the Seddülbahir Castle’s restoration works, 23 205-mm German-made shells that the Turkish army used during the Dardanelles Campaign have been found.

The Dardanelles Campaign was a First World War campaign that took place on the Gallipoli Peninsula in the Ottoman Empire between April 1915 and January 1916.