BOYS FIND HAND GRENADE

GEOFF VIVIAN

In the West Kimberley, two boys at Noonkanbah have found an unexploded World War II hand grenade.

Although better known as the birthplace of the Kimberley Land Council, Noonkanbah was the site of a large military base for most of the war.

Walmajarri woman Irene Jimbidie, who grew up at Noonkanbah in the 1970s, said an unexploded bomb had been found there in the early 1980s.

“The bomb was found at one of the stockyards,” Ms Jimbidie said. “After they’d done mustering, the horses would have soften the top soil, and this old bomb was sticking out, just the top part.”

Ms Jimbidie said the grenade found last week was discovered in a part of the station she was not allowed to go to as a child.

Geoff Vivian spoke to Ms Jimbidie.