Some days back I was returning to Leeds train station and noticed a Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) bomb disposal van parked outside the Queens hotel.
The thing that really got my attention was the wheelbarrow just along from the rear doors of the van. I had not seen one of these small remotely controlled tracked vehicles since my service in N Ireland many years ago.
The policeman minding the entrance to the hotel was being very coy as to why it was there.
For the uninitiated the wheelbarrow was developed the enable the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) operator to examine an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) from a safe distance.
Sadly perhaps the best known EOD operator of recent years is Olaf Schmid GC, I say sadly because I for one will never forget that last photo of him in Afgahanistan, he died with 24 hours left before flying home to be with his wife and young son.
Leedsdailyphoto.com 