From Bottle Caps to Bombshells
HELENA JONES finds out about 10-Year-Old Wilf’s metal detecting adventure
Wilf Balkham, a 10-year-old boy from St Leonards who attends The Kids Collective home-education group, found a lot more than he bargained for on his very first outing with his new metal detector.
Wilf received the metal detector as a gift and was eager to find something special. “I was hoping to find treasure,” he shared. In fact, Wilf has always enjoyed finding things and had previously discovered dinosaur fossils – almost certainly from an Iguanodon – on a beach in St Leonards, so his curiosity was already pretty high.
On 5 November, which made the whole situation a bit more memorable, Wilf took his detector out to the Hop and Hare Farm woods. When the detector beeped, he thought he might have come across another bottle cap like the ones he had found on the beach. But, after some digging, he uncovered what looked like a rusty flask with lots of glass.
“I considered picking it up at first,” Wilf admitted, “but I’m glad I didn’t.” He spoke to Joe, a Kids Collective facilitator, and they took a photo instead. Deciding to be cautious, they used Google Lens to help confirm their suspicions that it might be a World War II German bomb and then called the non-emergency police line. Within an hour, the police arrived, and later on, the bomb disposal team came to remove it safely.
The Kids Collective subsequently discovered more about the find. They say: “It’s now suspected to be a WWII 75ml British artillery round.”
When asked what kinds of treasures he’d like to find in the future, Wilf was quick to say: “Gold, obviously! Maybe some Bronze Age stuff, too, since I think there was a Bronze Age settlement around here.” His advice to other kids? “It’s really fun! If you do it, don’t give up. You might not always find boring stuff like bottle tops – you could find treasure!”
In the end, Wilf’s coolest takeaway is the thrill of discovering something unexpected. And, although he’s not sure what happened to the bomb afterwards, he’s definitely got a story to remember – and a reason to keep searching for the next big find.
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