A Lethbridge resident is looking back on what could have been a dangerous situation with good spirits and a sense of humour.
While renovating his century old house, Donal Atkinson unearthed some pretty neat items. Atkinson found an old wooden grocery box and a metal creamery jug, but nothing compared to the last item contractors brought him.
“It got handed to us like: ‘Here are these items and then here is your shell,’” Atkinson said.
The south-side Lethbridge resident was given a Second World War 25-pound artillery round.
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READ MORE: Lethbridge police dispose of Second World War military device
“It’s not like you can just take it and toss it in the garbage or deliver it somewhere,” Atkinson said. “There isn’t a bomb drop-off area in town I don’t think.”
Not knowing how dangerous the round was and realizing a residential neighborhood probably shouldn’t be its home, Atkinson notified the Lethbridge police service.
Monday afternoon police removed it from his house and it’s since been taken outside the city to be destroyed.
While the whole experience seems unusual, local historian Belinda Crowson says it’s not stunning given Lethbridge’s history.
“I’m actually surprised people don’t find more of them really. The 25th field battery was authorized in 1908, so we’ve had 109 years of artillery history here,” Crowson said. “Considering how many were used in the area for practice… and how many were probably kept by people as momentus.”
With his little piece of history now gone, Atkinson has mixed emotions.
“When they come and take it away, it’s kind of like: ‘They took away our bomb we don’t have one anymore,’” Atkinson said. “But you kind of get that rush of emotion when it’s gone and you realize things could have been different.”
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