Tenterfield Police Sergeant James Boaden said the boys were playing hide-and-seek when one crawled under a rock and found the grenade in a crevice. One of them then put it in his pocket before showing his dad who was feeding horses nearby.

When Sgt Boaden arrived on the scene he took a number of photos and contacted the police bomb disposal unit in Sydney before being directed to experts at the Enoggera army base. He was informed there was no certainty whether the grenade was dead or alive, but not to touch it.

“I was told nine out of 10 times it would be safe, but you don’t want to be around on the 10^th time.”

He spent the night in the horse paddock with the grenade until the army experts arrived at 7am the next morning, transporting the device to a nearby safe location where it was detonated.

Sgt Boaden issued a timely warning that if you find something suspicious, don’t ‘touch, tilt and tamper’. Stay clear and report the matter to police.