frigatebird, Touche! (Don't know how to put the mark above the e so please don't get me for that too!)
No, not been to the Solomons, but have been to other islands in the Pacific (as well as other favourite
). Suffice to say any island (or other landmass) that had any fighting on it or for it is littered with UXO (unexploded ordnance) from WWII. We were not very good at cleaning up after ourselves at the end of wars. Mind you it is an astronomical job to clean this stuff up and it is simply too big to actually go looking for it. We simply do not have enough trained people to do it (and by this I mean in the world - not just Aus). Thus we just wait for them to "surface" and then go and deal with them. All I can say is if you do see this stuff, DO NOT TOUCH IT. Just mark the position with your trusty GPS and inform the authorities. Too many people get injured or killed each year from UXO.
I have a very good mate in Belgium who is also an EOD Technician (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) and he sends photos of the "iron harvest" each year where their farmers plough their fields prior to sowing and bring up ordnance from WWI still! They just stockpile it and use it as fences and my mate comes along with his team and either picks the stuff up if safe, or disposes of it on site. There is no shortage of work...
Bombs still turn up in Britain every now and then when holes are dug for new foundations.
Cheers
Mr B.