Technology
Nazi 3,300mph ‘terror weapon’ prized by Hitler found in field after 77 years
REMAINS of a Nazi ‘terror rocket’ have been discovered in Kent, England.
Archaeology experts found a piece of a German V2 terror rocket at the field in which it denoted 77 years ago.
A combustion chamber from a German V2 terror rocket was beneath the St Mary’s Platt field in Kent
SWNSSimilar rockets caused thousands of UK deaths during WWII[/caption]
It’s thought thousands of V2 rockets were launched by the Germans during World War II and they caused around 9,000 deaths in the UK alone.
The one in question is said to have launched from Holland and took mere minutes to reach England.
Fortunately, the rocket that detonated in the field at St Mary’s Platt didn’t kill anyone when it exploded at midnight on Valentine’s Day 1944.
However, it did leave a huge 14 feet deep and 38 feet wide crater.
Archaeologists from Research Resource Archaeology were excavating at the crater site this week.
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Brothers Colin and Sean Welch, who run the project, oversaw the digging of a 31 foot hole that soon revealed the V2 terror rocket remains.
The team have previously worked at five other V2 sites but this one was said to be different.
According to Kent Online, Colin Welch explained: “The rockets would enter the earth at an angle, in this case a trajectory of about 70 degrees.
“We usually expect to find the most remains at the side of the crater furthest from the entry point, but when we dug there this time there was nothing.”
A bed of ragstone is said to have kept the rocket closer to the impact point.
The part of rocket uncovered on Tuesday this week is a combustion chamber that would have contained a liquid oxygen and alcohol mixture.
“If they hit you would never have known anything about it.” – Sean Welch, Archaeologist
This concoction would have sent the rocket speeding to the ground at 3,300 mile per hour.
Sean Welch said: “Their rockets were travelling so fast. If they hit you would never have known anything about it.”
The rocket remains will be cleaned and restored in a meticulous process that could take up to 18 months.
It’s hoped some Nazi secret source codes could be discovered during the rocket project.
The Nazis would stamp three letters on rocket components.
After the war it was discovered that these codes can link rocket items back to the factory they were made in.
Some V2 rocket parts are now known to have been made in Czechoslovakia and a single factory in Austria.
It’s said each rocket would have needed 30 tonnes of potatoes to make the alcohol necessary for one launch.
This production would have been happening at a time of extreme food shortages for the Germans and strikes continued even when they started to lose the war.
The excavation team involves ex-Royal Engineers now working for Pearson TQ.
Daily live broadcasts have been provided by the team to three local primary schools who are following the project.
The Welch brothers also hope to display their finds in an online museum if they can secure grant funding.
A rocket case report will soon be filed with Kent’s historical records officer.
GettyThis is what a German V2 rocket looked like when it was ready to launch[/caption]
SWNSShrapnel was also found at the site[/caption]
SWNSBrothers Sean and Colin Welch are running the Research Resource Archaeology project[/caption]
Adolf Hitler’s war campaign involved firing the V2 terror rockets at England at 3,300 mile per hour
SWNSA German V1 flying bomb caused this devastation in Ashford Kent in 1944[/caption]
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