A Calgary couple made an unexpected and potentially dangerous military discovery in their backyard.
The bomb squad was called out on Sunday after Jason Rempel and his girlfriend found military supplies buried in their Acadia backyard.
“At first glance I didn’t know exactly what I was looking at,” Rempel said. “Didn’t think I was going to find a 25-millimetre round in my backyard.”
The couple was moving their shed to make way for a parking pad when Rempel lifted up some pieces of plywood and found the items inside a plastic bag.
“Pulling up some of the old wood that’s been here for Lord knows how long is how we discovered it. Otherwise we would have never noticed,” Rempel said.
“It made for an interesting afternoon. I was hoping I could keep them.”
The discovery was no false alarm for the Calgary Police Service bomb squad.
Rory Cory, the senior curator with The Military Museums of Calgary, identified the three pieces as a smoke grenade, a 25-millimetre round and a clip, all likely post war.
“Obviously someone was trying to hide it. The fact that the number is scratched out on the round indicates that someone was trying to hide the fact that it was military issued,” Cory said. “Possibly it was an ex-service personnel.”
According to museum workers, finding pieces of military history is not uncommon in Calgary. However, they’re typically found in neighbourhoods like Signal Hill.
“It is odd,” Cory said. “It’s not anywhere near any of the training areas or military bases in Calgary.”
All three pieces are now in the hands of the Calgary Police Service to be investigated and likely detonated.
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