WWII shells found near school in the Solomon Islands

A stockpile of Second World War munitions was unearthed by workers at a school in the Solomon Islands while digging a hole for sewage, according to police reports. The discovery, which included over 200 rust-caked projectiles previously belonging to US troops, was made near a staff member’s house and subsequently removed by the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force. In a statement released to the press, Inspector Clifford Tunuki confirmed that the previously concealed weapons cache had been transported to a secure location and was now in a state of “awaiting safe destruction.” The majority of these items are unexploded ordnance (UXO) that were discarded by Japanese and American forces in the South Pacific archipelago during the Second World War, as part of the wider conflict for control of the Solomon Islands. In order to facilitate the remediation of the affected area, the school in Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, implemented a temporary suspension of classes for a period of several days.