What started as a fun weekend experiment with an underwater drone turned into a full-blown military operation when a 14-year-old accidentally discovered — and crashed into — a live World War II bomb lying undisturbed in a popular UK river.
Cameron Makewell was exploring the murky waters of the River Ure in North Yorkshire with his Fifish V-EVO underwater drone when he spotted something strange on the riverbed: a two-meter-long cylindrical object that looked, at first glance, like an old gas canister. So he did what any curious teen would do: he went in for a closer look.
“I didn’t believe my dad at first when he told me it was a bomb — I thought there was no way,” Cameron said. “I was thinking to myself ‘oh my God’ and my heart started racing but it didn’t stop me from getting a closer look — I didn’t know it was live at the time.”
Cameron’s dad, Adam Makewell, 47, knew right away what they were looking at — a Nazi SC500 aerial bomb, which could be packed with over 550 pounds of explosives and was likely dropped during WWII by a German Stuka dive bomber. The father-son duo were standing about 50 meters away from the shell.
The pair had arrived early on a Saturday morning to test new lighting gear for their Fifish V-EVO ROV (remotely operated vehicle) — a sleek underwater drone that comes equipped with a 4K 60fps camera, 360° movement, AI vision lock, and LED lighting designed for exploring in low-visibility conditions. It’s built for underwater exploration and footage capture, making it a favorite for adventurers and marine researchers alike.
After the lighting tests, Adam told Cameron to “have some fun” while he packed up their gear. That’s when the fun turned into a full-blown military operation.
“As soon as I saw it, I knew exactly what I was looking at,” said Adam. “It will have been passed over thousands of times and no one would have known a thing.”
The bomb had been lying quietly in a popular stretch of the river, often used for swimming, boating, and canoeing. If it had gone off, it would have “easily” killed both of them, Adam added.
The two packed up their gear and rushed to the police station — but not before being met with some skepticism. “When I told officers they sort of rolled their eyes at me and said ‘yeh right’,” Adam recalled. “It wasn’t until I let them watch the footage on my iPad that they took us seriously.”
Within days, the Royal Navy bomb disposal unit from Glasgow was on the scene. Adam was even invited to help the divers relocate the bomb using his drone — but the search was hindered by rising river levels and poor visibility. Eventually, the Navy located and safely detonated the bomb, creating a two-square-meter crater in the riverbed and killing nearby fish.
The area had to be cordoned off for over half a mile, and the operation involved police, fire crews, and environmental experts.
Even after the dramatic discovery, the teenager hasn’t been scared off. In fact, Cameron said the whole experience has “sparked a further interest” in World War II history. He and his dad now hope the defused bomb might be displayed in their local museum in Ripon.
“It isn’t every day you get to hang out with the Royal Navy bomb squad,” said Adam. No kidding.
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