A mum who tried to sell a WW2 bomb on eBay for 99p was left shell-shocked when a would-be buyer told it was LIVE and she had to call the bomb squad to destroy it.
Terrified Tracie Wright was forced to dial 999 when an eagle-eyed collector told her the German WW2 shell which he kids had been playing with could explode at any moment.
Tracie, 49, thought she’d bought an empty explosive shell and even planned to give it to one of her children to take to a school ‘show and tell’ lesson.
But after being told the device could be live, a bomb disposal team swooped on her home to carry out a controlled explosion.
Tracie said: “To be honest, I didn’t really know what it was when I found it. It looked like an empty shell from World War One or Two.
“I’d bought a load of boxes at an auction and it was in a box of miscellaneous stuff with things like a clock and bits and pieces – just collectables.
“When I got home we got it out of the box and I thought at first it was bit of concrete. I stuck it on eBay and a collector got in touch and said it looked real and could be live.
“I thought ‘Oh my God’, because my kids had been playing with it and chucking it round.”
Tracie, from Spalding, Lincs., found the item at a bottle of a box of collectables she bought from an auction and compared it to other items online.
But just hours after posting it for sale online, an eagle-eyed collector got in touch with her and told her it could be potentially lethal.
“I often buy things from auctions and markets and sell them for a bit more money and people always like to buy old military stuff,” she said.
“So I stuck it on eBay and a collector got in touch and said it looked real and could be live.
“I immediately called 101 and they sent somebody round. Then they called for the bomb squad.”
The missile is believed to have dated back to between the two World Wars and could have possibly contained a tracer round of bullets.
This is a flammable material that ignites to produce a bright yet deadly trail of light towards a target.
Tracie’s children, Logan, 11, Antigone, 17, and Halle, 15, were desperate to watch the explosion but missed the action because they were at school.
“Logan wanted to be here when the bomb squad came round because he absolutely loves the military and police,” Tracie added.
“The bomb squad told me that if it was dead then the explosion would just be a small ‘poof’ and if it was live then it would be a ‘bang’ and it definitely went ‘bang’.
“It is just a good job they didn’t have ‘show and tell’ at school because I definitely would have let him take it in.”
“I just feel a bit sorry for the man who wanted to buy it because his old shell is now completely destroyed.”
A spokesperson for RAF Wittering, said: “The item in question was subjected to a controlled detonation and we would remind the general public that explosives do not improve with age.
“If anybody finds something they are unsure about, do not touch the object, do not move it and call the police straight away.
