ROYDON COMMON: Leziate man shares the bomb he has pieced together
Roy Mallett with one of the bombs he discovered on Roydon Common.
Some people may enjoy putting together jigsaw puzzles but a Leziate man has painstakingly pieced together a bomb.
Roy Mallett, 71, was one of many boys in West Norfolk who enjoyed scouring Roydon Common in search of munitions.
Years later, he returned to the common and found wreckage which he spent hours piecing together.
Mr Mallett, of Brow of the Hill, said: “I found so many pieces and they just seemed to fit together.
“I am probably the only person who has put one of these together recently.
“I am interested in general armaments and wanted to have a go at assembling a bomb.”
Mr Mallett pieced together the wreckage, including some of its inner workings, 12 years ago but contacted the Lynn News after seven-year-old Sonny Carter’s found a bomb on Boxing Day.
Sonny found the 11lb bomb head with his new metal detector during a family walk on the common.
An RAF bomb disposal team were called to his Gaywood home after the family took home the mud-covered bomb without realising what it was.
The site is believed to have been used as a practice range for airmen based at RAF Great Massingham and RAF Bircham Newton.
It was later cleared by servicemen based at Thetford in the 1960s.
Scores of readers have contacted us with their stories.
Some boys were only put off when adders were spotted.
Mr Mallett also enjoyed playing on the common.
He said: “I grew up in Lynn and used to play on the common.
“We used to go up there and pick up bits and pieces. I had bullets and a shell.
“We used to make smoke bombs and that sort of thing.”
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for King's Lynn
Friday 24 May 2013
Today
Light showers
Temperature: 5 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 23 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 6 C to 13 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: North
