Royal Navy divers who risk their lives tackling unexploded bombs, chemical weapons and other deadly remnants of past conflicts have received the Armed Forces’ highest humanitarian award.
Bravo Squadron of the Royal Navy’s Diving and Threat Exploitation Group has been presented with the prestigious Firmin Sword of Peace, recognising an extraordinary year of bomb disposal operations stretching from British cities and coastlines to one of the most remote inhabited islands on Earth.
The specialist divers were honoured at a ceremony at Portsmouth Naval Base, remarkably, while some of their colleagues were once again at work dealing with a Second World War bomb discovered in Falmouth Harbour.
The award recognises Bravo Squadron’s work during 2024, a year which saw its personnel confront everything from a huge Luftwaffe bomb buried beneath Plymouth to historic chemical munitions in Wales and deteriorating demolition explosives thousands of miles away on Pitcairn Island.
It is dangerous, highly skilled work which rarely receives the attention afforded to the Royal Navy’s warships, submarines and aircraft, but which continues to protect communities decades after conflicts have ended.
Bravo Squadron is part of the Diving and Threat Exploitation Group, with its personnel specialising in explosive ordnance disposal and underwater diving.
Its divers are responsible for dealing with unexploded bombs, mines and other devices found in British waters, ports and offshore installations, while also supporting civilian authorities when potentially dangerous explosives are discovered.
They remain ready for call-outs around the clock, 365 days a year.
Perhaps the most dramatic operation recognised by the award came in Plymouth in February 2024.
A 500kg German bomb, dropped by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War, was discovered in Keyham, triggering a huge emergency operation and widespread disruption across the city.
For three days, Royal Navy bomb disposal experts worked to make the device safe enough to move.
In an operation requiring extraordinary care, the bomb was transported through Plymouth, taken out to sea and eventually destroyed in Plymouth Sound, without additional damage or injury.
The operation demonstrated the remarkable reality of the work carried out by Britain’s military bomb disposal specialists, men and women in today’s Armed Forces are still protecting the public from weapons dropped on this country more than 80 years ago.
Another major challenge took Bravo Squadron to the Gower Peninsula, west of Swansea, for Project Pongee.
More than 275 pieces of unexploded chemical and high-explosive ordnance had emerged on former Ministry of Defence ranges, land which is now a nature reserve and can attract around 3,000 visitors a day during the summer.
Over the course of a painstaking week-long operation, the dangerous shells and ammunition were neutralised, allowing the area to be made safe for the public.
Yet perhaps the most remarkable mission took the divers thousands of miles from home.
Bravo Squadron personnel joined Royal Navy patrol ship HMS Tamar for a voyage to Pitcairn, the tiny British Overseas Territory in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Old demolition charges, left behind following construction of the island’s small harbour decades earlier, had begun to deteriorate.
For Pitcairn’s small and isolated community, dealing with the explosives themselves was simply not possible.
The Royal Navy stepped in.
With just a 48-hour window available and working in austere conditions in one of the most remote places on the planet, the team tackled the dangerous explosives and removed the threat to islanders. Their efforts subsequently received widespread praise from the local community.
It was a striking example of the reach of Britain’s Armed Forces, and of the responsibilities which continue to connect the United Kingdom with its Overseas Territories around the world.
Bravo Squadron’s year ended with another formidable challenge much closer to home.
A huge 1,000kg Second World War bomb was discovered on Southsea Common in Portsmouth.
Once again, Royal Navy specialists were called upon.
The bomb was moved out into the Solent, where it was safely detonated, removing another lethal remnant of the war from a modern British community.
These operations represent only part of the work carried out by Bravo Squadron, whose divers routinely respond to discoveries of unexploded wartime ordnance.
Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Brown, the squadron’s Commanding Officer, said the missions demonstrated the extraordinary range of work undertaken by his personnel and the impact they have on ordinary members of the public.
He said the squadron’s work represented “selfless service, protection of life, and humanitarian impact”, adding that its personnel demonstrated courage, professionalism and compassion both at home and overseas.
The Firmin Sword of Peace is awarded to the Armed Forces ship, squadron or unit judged to have made an outstanding contribution to humanitarian work or saving lives.
Previous recipients have been recognised for missions including search and rescue, evacuating civilians from war zones and providing assistance to communities devastated by natural disasters. The award traces its history back to 1966, and was originally known as the Wilkinson Sword of Peace before Firmin took over its sponsorship in 2005.
For Bravo Squadron, the honour shines a welcome spotlight on a group of sailors whose work is frequently conducted far away from public view.
Royal Navy clearance divers combine diving expertise with some of the most dangerous explosive ordnance disposal work undertaken by Britain’s Armed Forces. Unexploded bombs and mines can remain deadly many decades after they were laid or dropped, posing a continuing danger to the public, shipping and national infrastructure.
From a Luftwaffe bomb beneath the streets of Plymouth, to dangerous munitions on the Welsh coast and deteriorating explosives on a tiny British island in the Pacific, when others have to move away from the danger, these sailors are trained to move towards it.
More than eight decades after the end of the Second World War, its deadly remnants are still being discovered.
And when they are, Britain’s Royal Navy divers are still there, quietly doing one of the most dangerous jobs in the Armed Forces, protecting communities at home and British people thousands of miles across the seas.
Main Image: MOD Crown Copyright News / Editorial Licence.
