Betty Johnson used it as a doorstop for 50 years. The house’s previous owner had used it for 10 years to prop open the door of the garden shed. But after 60 years Betty finally got curious and wondered if it might be dangerous so she called police.

The object that had been employed as a doorstop at the house in New Malden, England, for 6 decades was an unexploded shell from World War II.

Betty never gave it much thought until a friend came around and “got really quite funny about it”. That made Betty think and she decided perhaps it was time to have someone take a look at it.

Bomb disposal experts came out to remove the shell. Betty is waiting to find out what kind of bomb it was and if there was any danger of it exploding.

Bomb used as doorstop for 60 years

December 11

Betty Grable had been working in Hollywood for nearly a decade, starting as a chorus girl and dancing for $50 a week. She had nearly given up on the dream of success. But after ten years of hard work, Betty finally got some breaks and made some news. One of these breaks came on December 11, 1939.

It was on this day in 1939 that Life Magazine featured Betty Grable and her million dollar legs on its cover.

In 1943, this photo of Betty Grable made its way into the hands of millions of GIs fighting WWII and became for them the symbol of “back home”. Wholesome and beautiful but sexy, for them she represented what they were fighting for.

The old song says, “No, they can’t take that away from me” and that is certainly true for Les Loken, a 94-year-old World War II veteran. He has been recording his memories on video and putting them up on YouTube.

YouTube is one of those new-fangled things on the internet, essentially a library of all kinds of videos that people can add to and others watch. It is the latest thing with the young, of course, but Les has shown that it’s for older people too.

His series of videos deals with his early life, the Great Depression, Pearl Harbor, the war in the Pacific and the occupation of Japan. As eye witness accounts, they are both interesting and revealing, as well as being a potentially rich source for historians. In fact, so interesting are Les’ videos that young people have found them and begun to respond in videos of their own. There is still some respect for the past, it seems.

If you have a broadband internet connection, I recommend that you click on the links below and enjoy Les and his memories.

Les Loken - Part 1 (Pearl Harbor)

Les Loken - Part 2 (War in the Pacific)

Les Loken - Part 3 (Occupation of Japan)

Les Loken - Part 4 (Friendship with Namikawa)

Les Loken - Part 5 (Occupied Japan)

Les Loken - Part 6 (Earliest years)

Les Loken - Part 7 (The Great Depression)

Les Loken - Part 8 (Military career)

Les Loken - Part 9 (More WWII experiences)