Welcome to the website of the RAF Bomb Disposal and armourers Association

The history of RAF Bomb disposal began in 1939 when the threat of having unexploded enemy bombs on British soil was realised. In the past, prior to 1939, the RAF was well aware that not all the bombs dropped from the air would in fact explode.

Consequently, the responsibility for the disposal of these unexploded bombs (UXB's) was laid upon the shoulders of the Senior Non Commissioned Armourers of the RAF. It was therefore assumed that when war broke out in 1939 the disposal of enemy UXB's would also be the responsibility of the same men 

On November 6th 1939, a bomb was dropped on RAF Sullom Voe in the Shetlands. The fuze was recovered and was probably the only type that any of the existing service Demolition Sections or in the case of the Army, Demolition Team's had ever encountered.

In May 1940, the first German bomb to be dropped on Mainland Britain fell near to the city of Canterbury in Kent. It was then that the British War Office accepted responsibility for the disposal of UXB's. On August 27th of the same year, a meeting took place at the War Office at which the Inter Service responsibilities were thrashed out and they generally remained the same until the disbandment of RAF Bomb Disposal in 2022.