Lynsted V2 Rocket Excavation

By Colin Welch

By 1944, the German war machine was reaching its technological zenith. Adolf Hitler placed both faith and considerable resources in the development of new weapons to attack Britain, primarily the flying bomb or “Doodlebug” (V1) and rocket (V2). Both weapons would leave an indelible mark on the British psyche for many generations. fragments of the missile were identified in and around the crater, vaporisation must have occurred.

Small fragments of a V2 found in and around an impact crater at Lynsted, near Sittingbourne, generated interest for the historical analysis and archaeological team, Research Resource, specialists in the study of the V-weapons and the

As the allies attacked German- held territory from the west, they began to overrun sites in France and Belgium that had been built to launch these new weapons.

The knowledge that Germany had been developing V-weapons had been a secret amongst intelligence and Cabinet circles since 1943, and an allied bombing campaign delayed and then hindered the

V1 programme. Despite this, approximately 9,500 “Doodlebugs” were launched against England from 1944 to 1945, calling for an increasingly co-ordinated defence. The introduction of the close-proximity fuse anti- aircraft shell, gun-laying radar and the careful positioning of fast fighter aircraft and anti-aircraft operating zones quenched the main offensive by September 9th 1944, prompting Duncan Sandys (Chair of War Cabinet Committee against V-weapons) to proclaim that the battle against the V1 had been won. In secret, however, the authorities knew that an offensive by another new weapon was likely to be launched. Less than three days later, the first of 1,119 V2 rockets struck Britain.

There was no defence against the V2 once launched. Travelling at three times the speed of sound, the V2 was the first man-made object to reach space. Its trajectory took it to an altitude of 50 miles, reentering the atmosphere under its momentum to impact at vast speed to explode with the detonation of

1 metric ton of high explosive. At the impact site, little would remain. RAF teams responsible for formally recording the details of each V2 impact, noting features such as date, time, location, casualties, means of ordnance identification, crater size, extent of the blast,

and damage to property, would comment that since only small associated countermeasure battle. Run by the author and his brother, Sean Welch, Research Resource has accumulated an archive that has enabled the construction of a point-sensitive animated time- sequence computer programme, documenting every V1 and V2 that landed in England during 1944 and 1945. The ‘film’ runs for some four minutes, and shows the impact of the various phases of the offensive, and can be discriminated to highlight the component elements of attack and defence.

The Lynsted V2 impacted at 08:10hrs on 17th February 1945 in a small dry valley field 350 metres east of St.Peter and St.Paul’s church. The bomb census report from the time states that the

L.R.R. (Long Range Rocket) “fell in (an) arable field about 250 yds. from nearest building (a school), causing slight tile, glass and ceiling damage to (the) nearest building, and slight glass and tile damage up to about 500 yds. A thorough search was done for fragments with markings, but only small fragments without markings were found.”

The form states that the missile exploded (X), creating a crater 57’ x 18’ deep (17.37m x 5.48m).

Evaluation excavation

In July 2016, with landowner permission, a magnetometer survey indicated large magnetic responses in an area that corresponded to what appeared to be an impact site on a 1946 aerial photograph (fig 1).

In October 2016 an evaluation trench 1.5m wide and 3m deep was then cut into the north- western edge of the crater using a mini-digger, successfully defining the crater edge profile as it met the rising land of the north-west side of the valley. The trench revealed that the large magnetic responses were due to buried domestic and farmyard rubbish, but no V2 wreckage.

Phase 1 excavation

In 2017, following landowner approval, and the encouragement of the Lynsted with Kingsdown Society, a detailed excavation strategy was tabled and excavation using a mechanical digger undertaken between 8th–11th

April 2017. The objective being to clear the crater of infill, describe its profile and carefully search for any remaining V2 wreckage.

The first fragments of V2 wreckage, discovered at a depth of 4 metres, included components of the warhead baseplate surround.

At a depth of 5.5 m to 5.7m, a central ‘plug’ shape was visible, containing evidence of exposure to intense heat in the form of fused metalwork and soil, possible indications of detonation. Below this, there appeared to be clean bedrock chalk. Further evidence for detonation occurring at this depth is corroborated by the bomb census report.

The finds appeared to be from the front section of the weapon. They included sections of the warhead baseplate, electrical components and associated materials from the control compartment situated behind the warhead, a gas bottle, parts of the liquid oxygen and alcohol tanks and a section of the permanganate tank. Analysis of the finds suggest that 153.5kg (5%) of the 3150kg (dry weight) of the V2 was retrieved, but none of these finds included heavy items from the tail section.

Opposite page, top Picture of a V2 rocket Opposite page, bottom

Fig 1: 1946 aerial photograph showing the Lynstead V2 crater, courtesy of Kent County Council

Above left

Fig 2: Evaluation trench of the crash site in 2016

Above right

Fig 3: Lynstead V2 detonation layer at

5.5 metres depth, Phase 1 excavation.

A 3-dimensional model was built to understand the work undertaken, showing the crater, the excavation extent, and to evaluate the trajectory of the V2 in relation to the finds.

The missile was launched at 08.06hrs GMT on 17th February 1945, by Artillerie-Abteilung 1./485 from a mobile launch pad in the Statenkwartier of Den Haag, Netherlands. The target, London, on a bearing of 255° (from Den Haag). However, according to radar plot returns, the Lynsted V2, for some reason achieved a trajectory bearing of 249°, somewhat off- target. The most likely explanation

for this error was that the V2 was on a steady, but faulty trajectory, from launch (fig 5) Given the trajectory and a belief that there must be more of the missile in the ground at Lynsted, there was much debate about where the heavy items had ended up? Most contributors to the debate believed that considering the immense forces, further wreckage would be in line with the trajectory, either in front of or behind the detonation point.

After consideration of the model and trajectory, it was noted that the areas behind and in front of the trajectory of the missile leading to the central detonation point had not been fully excavated and a further search was proposed using a mechanical excavator.

Phase 2 excavation

Phase 2 excavation took place between 11th-13th May 2018. At a point 3 metres deep, on the south- western side of the crater, past the detonation centre and in line with the incoming trajectory, half a metre into the crater wall, gas bottle remains were discovered. The bedrock below the central detonation was also excavated. At

9.5 metres depth, some 3 metres north-west of the centre, at a 125° tangent from the incoming trajectory, the shattered remains of the turbo pump was found embedded in the bedrock. At a depth of 6.5 metres, through the crater wall to a point perpendicular to the outer rim of the crater, we recovered the remains of the combustion chamber.

Top left

Fig 4: 3D model of the Phase 1 excavation

Middle left

Fig 5: Radar plot returns for the Lynstead V2, fired from Den Haag 08.06hrs GMT 17th February 1945

Middle right

Fig 6: Section showing the contours of the Phase 1 April 2017 excavated crater, and some of the remaining infill in situ

Below left

Fig 7: Plan view of the Phase 1 April 2017 excavated crater showing the areas fully excavated (green)

Below right

Fig 8: Phase 2, May 2018, impact crater and finds analysis plan

Anti-clockwise from left

Fig 9: Part of the V2 turbo pump

Fig 10: Remains of the V2 turbo pump central drive shaft

Fig 11: Burner cup from V2 combustion chamber

Fig 12: Inspection approval stamp on the V2 turbo pump component

Conclusions

The excavations resulted in interesting conclusions. In the final analysis, a further 533.5kg (17%) of material in the phase 2 project, including 279kg (50.72%) of the combustion chamber was recovered, resulting in a combined finds weight of 687kg (21.80%).

Work is ongoing to conserve the Phase 2 finds. In general, their condition is moderately good since the chalk had sealed them at great depth where oxidisation could not occur.

The designer’s hope for the V2 was that it would explode on the surface to create maximum blast damage.

However, because the missile was travelling supersonically, and the fuse train for detonation was subsonic, it punctured the ground to a depth of 5.5 metres before fully detonating. The heavy components of the V2 continued moving forward under their momentum, but the energy release from the impact and detonation deflected them from the main trajectory. Under the immense pressure of the impact, the chalk was reduced to a tooth- paste like liquid which absorbed and sealed the finds in the bedrock with no visible trace of their path.

A recent study of a V1 missile impact at Ham Street, Kent, showed the same tangential effect of heavier finds in relation to the incoming trajectory. Comparing the physical and archival evidence between the V2 and the V1, it is clear that due to the slower speed (400-450mph), the V1 was the more effective surface blast weapon, and had the enemy been able to bring it to readiness earlier, the ensuing “Second Battle of Britain’ (as we have come to believe that it was) would have been more difficult to overcome.