Thame Man Helps Keep London Safe

THERE are many fields of work that require a great deal of courage. Some are more recognised than others such as the police and firemen, but have you ever stopped and thought what being a bomb disposal expert entails?

Here in Thame we have among us a bomb disposal expert, Ian Jones. After being an army apprentice for three years Ian became a corporal in the ammunitions branch of the army, disarming a variety of explosives. He was involved in Northern Ireland where he said: “Under car booby trap bombs were the worst kind of device. Once the driver had set off, the bomb was activated and exploded killing the occupants.”
He now works for the Metropolitan Police, dealing with incidents involving explosives in London; which you would think of as being a demanding lifestyle but according to our interviewee, thankfully there are not many bombs in London at the moment.

His fascination with weapons and ammunition dated back to when he was a young lad, making bombs and setting them off for fun. One day things didn’t go according to plan though: “When I was 14 a bomb I had made exploded in my pocket, I had to go to Stoke Mandeville Hospital and have skin graft on my leg.”
His dad suggested that he should join the army after that incident, and he has never looked back.

For a hobby Ian travels around the world investigating battlefields from both world wars and was involved in the aftermath of the Kosovo conflict. He told Thame News that the most difficult thing he had to do was helping to uncover mass graves and meet the families who had been affected by the devastation of that war. He says of the experience: “It was difficult and moving.”

It was suggested that he must have experienced some close shaves due to the danger he is exposed to, Ian disagreed and said: “There are so many rules and procedures to protect us which as long as we follow them they keep us safe. The police are in more danger because they are the first on the scene to investigate a bomb threat.”

When asked of the risks of the job Ian immediately talked about the destruction and injured people rather than risks towards himself and others in his profession. He said that he doesn’t see what he does as risky, he has done it all his life and he and his colleagues are supplied with protective flak jackets, helmets and robotic devices to deactivate threatening objects. He said the biggest risks are devices made by amateurs, and post blast scenes where there is the danger from buildings collapsing, gas leakage’s and exposed electricity cables.

When asked how he coped with the difficulties of the job he admitted that the team would sometimes drink and have a laugh in the evenings as a way of relieving the stress and tension. Training wise they endure a series of courses where they are assessed on how they deal with practice bombs. Ian spoke of a couple of personal tragedies within the job such as losing a friend whilst in France examining a World War One mine: “He was buried alive, I tried to dig him out,” Ian recalled.

Regarding the future, Ian said that he is quite happy doing what he is doing right now and felt he was very lucky to be able to look forward to going to work and to do a job that he loves. He has recently published a book called ‘Malice Aforethought’ about the history of booby traps and is currently writing another book: “I like writing, I discovered it later on in life,” He concluded.

Photo: Typical robotic vehicle used for disabling devices.