Family discovers hidden World War II bunker in backyard: ‘Oh my God, what have we discovered?’

This was no garden variety find.

A UK family has been left shocked to discover a Second World War bunker in the garden of their home three years after they first moved in.

“I thought ‘Oh my God, what have we found?'” Catherine Milburn, 32, told Jam Press about the hidden bunker, which is located under their backyard in the town of Southwick, England.

The Briton had been living in the flat with her husband Liam and their two children for three years, unaware of his existence.

All the while, however, the regional manager said she would “assume there had been an above-ground bunker there because when we moved in, there were a lot of bricks in the garden”.

“We renovated about 60 percent of the garden, but we hadn’t found anything, not even a piece of history in the house,” complained Catherine. “We were desperate to find something.”

However, the couple finally discovered the wartime hideout last Sunday.

“There’s about a three-meter-long piece of concrete under a summer house in the garden,” said Katerina. “When we were taking it out, we noticed steel bars. We thought it was a bit high for a summer house, then we came up with a corrugated iron sheet.”

Realizing that this was no ordinary structure, the pair continued digging at night until they discovered several stairs and a water-filled tunnel, which confirmed their suspicions.

The particular watering hole is believed to be an Anderson shelter, a special type of air raid shelter that was designed to protect British citizens from the German Luftwaffe.

The bomb tunnels were buried about three meters in people’s gardens and consisted of curved corrugated steel sheets tied together at the top.

They could protect up to six people from cuts and even withstand a 100-pound bomb dropped six feet away.

While 3.2 million of these safe spaces were installed before and during World War II, only about 15 of them are said to remain.

Catherine said she and her husband were over the moon to have a piece of history in our “back garden”.

“We love the idea of ​​using it and we want to do something different,” said the Briton, who has rejected plans for a greenhouse in favor of preserving the shelter.

The couple plans to drain the water and get some light in there so they can get a sense of the subterranean structure.

“I’ll definitely document it as we go,” Catherine said. “The kids are really excited and the school wants to do a trip here. It’s very educational for them to learn about history.”