A southern Manitoba man tilling his land Tuesday came up with a bit more than just the usual black soil, RCMP at Portage la Prairie report.
RCMP in a release Tuesday said a 43-year-old man from the RM of Portage la Prairie came to the detachment office at about 3 p.m. with what appeared to be “a found hand grenade.”
“Investigation at this time indicates that the man had been tilling soil on his rural property when he uncovered the ordinance” and brought it to the RCMP for disposal, the Mounties said.
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Police then “immediately evacuated the building as (the item) appeared to be a live hand grenade.”
Members of the explosive disposal unit from 17 Wing, the Royal Canadian Air Force base in Winnipeg, were then called to remove the device and “will destroy it at a remote location,” the Mounties said Tuesday.
While RCMP haven’t yet confirmed the device was still live, “at this time it appears to have been a live hand grenade,” they said in their release. “It was described as very old and rusty.”
From the supplied photo, the device the landholder brought to RCMP appears to resemble an Mk2, the iconic Second World War-era “pineapple” grenade.
The grenade, favoured by U.S. infantry, was scored on its iron surface to resemble a pineapple so it would more readily fly apart in fragments when detonated, creating shrapnel to kill or injure one’s opponents.
The RCMP detachment office was evacuated for about an hour and half “to facilitate disposal,” with no resulting injuries or damages.
That said, RCMP in their release reminded members of the public not to handle or disturb items such as military ordinance, ammunition or explosives, but instead to leave them where found.
“Notify RCMP or your local police agency immediately and they will arrange disposal.”
