Dave and Victoria Roebuck weren’t expecting their day at the beach to end with the Royal Navy bomb disposal squad being dispatched to their location.
The two were spending some time with their children at Rosemarkie beach, looking for dolphins when the children walked up with a live mortar shell.
Mr. Roebuck knew precisely what the children had found. He quickly took the shell from the children, carefully placed it on the sand and then took his family a safe distance away to call the police.
Mr. Roebuck said that they tell their children to watch before crossing the street and to not speak with strangers, but they never thought to tell them what to do if they find an unexploded WWII-era bomb.
Twelve-year-old Abigaile, seven-year-old Isabelle, and six-year-old Samuel actually washed the device off in a stream before bringing it to their parents.
The family was on a walk with their two dogs. They reached a scenic spot with a cave, a stream, and a little waterfall. While the parents stood watching the dolphins, the children wandered off to play.
One of the children came back with the device after having washed it off in the stream.
Samuel was the one who found the mortar bomb while Abigaile washed it off in the stream without realizing the danger.
Mr. Roebuck quickly moved his family away from the device and phoned the police from about 30 – 40 feet away.
The two youngest didn’t really understand what they had found, Press and Journal reported.
The Northern Diving Group, part of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit based out of the Coulport naval base on Loch Long in Scotland, was able to safely detonate the device.