Editing Bomb disposal (section)

===WWI: Military bomb disposal units===
[[File:1918 German UXOs2.JPG|thumb|A British NCO preparing to dispose of an unexploded bomb during the First World War]]
Bomb disposal became a formalized practice during [[World War I]]. The swift mass production of munitions led to many manufacturing defects, and a large proportion of shells fired by both sides were found to be "duds".<ref name="Payne">{{cite web |first=David |last=Payne |title=Duds on the Western Front in the Great War |publisher=The Western Front Association |work=westernfrontassociation.com |url=http://www.westernfront.co.uk/thegreatwar/articles/research/dudswestern.htm |access-date=2006-11-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060905113051/http://westernfront.co.uk/thegreatwar/articles/research/dudswestern.htm |archive-date=2006-09-05 |url-status=dead }}</ref> These were hazardous to attacker and defender alike. In response, the British dedicated a section of Ordnance Examiners from the [[Royal Army Ordnance Corps]] to handle the growing problem.

In 1918, the Germans developed [[delayed-action fuze]]s that would later develop into more sophisticated versions during the 1930s, as [[Nazi Germany]] began its secret course of arms development. These tests led to the development of UXBs ([[unexploded bombs]]), pioneered by Herbert Ruehlemann of [[Rheinmetall]], and first employed during the [[Spanish Civil War]] of 1936–37. Such delayed-action bombs provoked terror in the civilian population because of the uncertainty of time, and also complicated the task of disarming them. The Germans saw that unexploded bombs caused far more chaos and disruption than bombs that exploded immediately. This caused them to increase their usage of delayed-action bombs in [[World War II]].

Initially there were no specialized tools, training, or core knowledge available, and as Ammunition Technicians learned how to safely neutralize one variant of munition, the enemy would add or change parts to make neutralization efforts more hazardous. This trend of cat-and-mouse extends even to the present day, and the various techniques used to disarm munitions are not publicized.