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The United Kingdom
has an epic history,

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and a wealth of secrets
still to uncover.

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Every year, hundreds of
archaeologists dig,

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dive,

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and sieve

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to find clues

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to add to the great historical
jigsaw of our ancestors' lives.

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You know, when people say, "What's
the best thing you've ever found?"

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This!

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I'm Professor Alice Roberts.

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This year, we've uncovered
some astonishing finds

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and made some truly
ground-breaking discoveries.

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Wow, look at that!

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Each team of archaeologists has been
armed with a dig diary camera

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so they can record their
discoveries as they happen.

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That is brilliant.

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Dave, I love you.

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Our roving archaeologist,
Dr Naoise McSweeney,

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is out on the digs.

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Who are we looking at?

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It's royal.

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And I'll be inviting the teams
to bring in their finds

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for closer analysis.

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That is absolutely beautiful.

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In this special edition of
Digging for Britain,

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we're exploring the archaeology
of World War II.

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We're joining digs from across
the country to give us an insight

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into the lives of those who
lived and fought during the war,

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from the physical evidence
they left behind.

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We'll witness the raising
of a World War II bomber

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from the depths
of the English Channel,

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the unearthing of one of
Hitler's feared V2 rockets,

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and an excavation of a hostel
where young Holocaust survivors

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were brought after the war.

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Welcome to Digging For Britain.

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I've come to the Imperial War Museum
in Duxford, Cambridgeshire.

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It was from this airfield
that the first Spitfires took off

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for the Battle of Britain
in July 1940.

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Countless allied missions flew
from airfields right across Britain,

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heading for Nazi occupied Europe.

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But some planes
never made it that far.

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And we head now to the Solent,
where a chance discovery

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has prompted a large scale
diving operation.

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They're attempting to recover
the amazingly intact remains

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of a Second World War bomber.

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The excavation is located
500 metres offshore,

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not far from Gosport Harbour.

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It was here in 2018
that the National Grid planned

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to lay an electricity cable
to France,

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and they first needed to conduct an
underwater survey of the sea floor.

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Right, that looks like something.

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It's really hard to... hard to tell.

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It's been down here a long time,
whatever it is.

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It looks like a section
of an engine.

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Got cables there, have you?

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That looks like the framework
of a wing, or something.

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They'd stumbled upon
a once-in-a-lifetime discovery.

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A World War II bomber,
known as a Fairey Barracuda

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that appeared to be
completely intact.

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The Barracuda was designed by
British company, Fairey Aviation.

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It was built as a torpedo
dive-bomber,

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the first of its kind,
made entirely from metal.

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It could carry a variety
of deadly payloads,

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from six 250lb bombs,

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to a 450lb depth charge,
or a huge 1600lb torpedo.

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The Barracuda made its maiden
flight in December 1940,

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and was operated by
the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm.

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At the discovery site
under the Solent,

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a team from Wessex Archaeology
have been brought in

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to try to raise this extraordinary
plane from the sea floor.

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The aircraft is buried
in a buttery type mud,

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which is not easy
when it comes to excavation.

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Above the seabed,
very little remains.

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But as we are excavating down,

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more and more
is becoming open to us.

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More than 2,600 Barracudas
were built,

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but not a single complete
plane survives today.

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Dave Morris from the
Fleet Air Arm Museum in Somerset

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is heading up an ambitious project
to reconstruct an entire Barracuda

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using salvaged parts.

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We have crash site remains
from a number of our Barracudas,

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which have been recovered
over more than 40 years

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of collecting now.

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But they've all been subject
to very fast collisions

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to high ground mountainsides.

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This is the first time
that we've come across a Barracuda

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which is largely still intact,
and in most of its original shape.

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It will be a dream come true
for Dave's rebuild project

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if the plane can be raised
in one piece.

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It's pretty amazing.

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You descend down the shot line,

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and you see the remains of the
Rolls-Royce Merlin engine -

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that is quite prominent
on the seabed.

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As you go further back, there are
the remains of the fuselage,

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the cockpit, and the wings
are still in place.

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Records note that a Barracuda
took off on January 6th, 1944,

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from HMS Daedalus, which is now the
nearby Lee-on-Solent airfield.

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It suffered engine failure
and pitched into the sea.

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The pilot managed to bail out
and survived the crash.

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We know that it was
a fairly smooth belly landing,

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rather than a violent crash.

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We know the pilot escaped OK.

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So there's a lot of information
we're putting together from records

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and also matching that against
the evidence that we're finding

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on the seabed now.

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Before the plane can be raised,

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a powerful underwater siphon pump
is used to suck the mud out

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from around the fuselage and wings.

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But working out how to raise
the plane intact

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is proving to be
a significant challenge.

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The divers realised the frame
is much more fragile

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than they previously thought.

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The mud is tightly packed
into the individual component parts,

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making the plane very heavy,

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and likely to break up on lifting.

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We're going to have to dismantle
the aircraft underwater

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because unfortunately, it is too
fragile to bring up in one piece.

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Despite the setback, the divers
have managed to isolate a large part

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of one of the wings, and are
carefully preparing it for lifting.

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Slowly, the unbroken wing piece
is brought up from the sea floor.

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Once out of the water,
the team needs to work quickly.

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It starts to decay
as soon as it comes out.

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It's been in the sea
for 75 years or so.

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When you're trying to conserve
archaeological material,

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you want to try and keep it in the
same conditions to how it's been.

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What we're going to do
is wrap it up,

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and then keep it at least wet-damp

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to try and stop the corrosion
continuing.

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The plane hasn't come up
in one piece,

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but, as more parts are slowly
brought to the surface,

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Dave Morris is optimistic.

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Absolutely amazed to see, obviously,

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a piece of the Barracuda
coming up after 76 years.

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Yeah, you can still tap
on the aluminium.

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I expected it to be
a lot more corroded,

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considering it's been down there
for so many years.

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Later on, we'll be following
the recovered parts of the plane,

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which will be taken
to the Fleet Air Arm Museum.

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For now, Dave still has high hopes
he can use these parts

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to help complete his reconstruction
of this long-forgotten plane.

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Our next dig is in the Lake
District, where archaeologists

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are excavating the site
of a very special hostel.

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It was a temporary home for hundreds
of children who were rescued

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from concentration camps
in Nazi occupied Europe,

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and brought to Britain
to start a new life.

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On the shore of Lake Windermere,
in the heart of the Lake District

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is the village
of Troutbeck Bridge.

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The archaeologists here are hoping
to shed light on an incredible

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wartime story of survival
against the odds.

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The Holocaust isn't just something
that happened in Eastern Europe.

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We have sites relating to the
Holocaust here on British shores.

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So this is one of them.

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We're excavating the remains
of what we think is

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a hostel, where Jewish children
were brought at the end of the war.

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The dig is organised by the
Lake District Holocaust Project.

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It aims to remember the special role
this area played in helping

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to rehabilitate children liberated
from Nazi concentration camps

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at the end of the war.

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Two boys that came here in 1945
were Ike Alterman and Sam Laskier.

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That's me.

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A cheerful little fella.

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Life in Poland for these
Jewish boys changed dramatically

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the moment Germany
invaded in September 1939.

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We were lined up.

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The assessment came
and started counting.

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Father was in front,
and I was behind him,

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and he said to me,
"Stand on your tiptoe

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"to make you look
a bit taller than you are."

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Next to him was my mother,
my sister, my little brother.

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"All those on the right,
stay where you are.

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"All those on the left, march out
through the front of the square."

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That's my mother,
my little brother and sister,

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never to be seen again.

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Both boys were sent to a succession
of concentration camps

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before ending up
in Auschwitz-Birkenau.

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You had a number tattooed.

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See, that was tattooed in Birkenau.

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But then, in May 1945,
the boys were finally liberated

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from a camp in Czechoslovakia.

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We were in the wagon.
We didn't know what was going on.

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But suddenly, I looked around
and there were no guards.

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They just disappeared.

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And that is the moment that
we realised we were free.

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I am the one...

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...waving his hat.

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Everybody's so happy -
"We're alive! We're alive!"

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We couldn't believe it.

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On August 13th,
they were flown from Prague

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and brought by bus up to Windermere.

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Well, I knew
wherever they were taking me,

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it's going to be much better
than where I was.

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The boys were housed
in one of three hostels located

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on what was the Calgarth Estate -

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a town that had been built
during the war to house workers

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from the nearby
Sunderland Flying Boat Factory.

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After the war,
the town was demolished

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and a school was built here.

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This is the first time
the site has been excavated.

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The team are hoping to find evidence
of one of the hostel buildings,

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in the hope that they can
learn something about the lives

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of the children
that were brought here.

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We're finding huge amounts
still exist within the ground.

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So that includes the sort of types

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of material that the structures
were made from.

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So we're finding bricks
and concrete and mortar.

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We're finding
things like window glass.

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300 orphaned Jewish children
were brought to the Lake District.

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They were known
as the Windermere boys.

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Many of the children who came
here had been in Bergen-Belsen

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some had been in Auschwitz,
or other slave labour camps,

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forced labour camps,
in ghettos across Europe.

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So for many, many years,
they had experienced

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terrible, terrible atrocities.

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They were very much alone.

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They didn't know how many
of their family members survived.

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But not all of the Windermere
boys were actually boys.

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In fact, 28 of them were girls.

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Denise's mother Minya
was one of them.

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My mum was very proud
to be one of the boys,

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although they were in the minority

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because they made a fuss
of the girls as well.

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There were plenty of boys
to choose from!

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Denise has been helping out
with the dig.

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We found lots of pieces of tiles

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and water pipes, or sewage pipes.

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We're thinking that it's probably
some kind of bathroom.

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I was thinking my mum must've had
to wash in the bathroom over there!

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The team are finding lots of
evidence of the hostel building,

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but precious few personal items.

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One of the objects that we found,
quite a poignant one, we think.

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It's a little, tiny plastic unicorn,

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which may or may not have been
as a pendant round somebody's neck.

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So this looks to be
a really interesting find,

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a small penknife.

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Looks like it's made of
mother of pearl,

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but it's so corroded that the blade
can't actually come out.

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It's the kind of thing
that a child would have had,

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and really looked after and carried
around with them everywhere.

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It may have been
more than 70 years ago,

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but Sam and Ike's memories
of arriving in Windermere

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00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:38,176
are still vivid.

242
00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:41,576
We arrived at night,
so we didn't see much.

243
00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:45,136
The following morning,
you see the hills and the lake.

244
00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:48,296
We were at our place,
near the lakes as well.

245
00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:51,600
And we thought, "this is paradise".

246
00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:56,656
This is the main hall.

247
00:14:56,680 --> 00:14:58,080
That's me.

248
00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:00,640
Over here.

249
00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:06,136
There was beds, clean sheets,
pillow cases...

250
00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:07,496
We could run outside.

251
00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:10,416
You know, we didn't have
the proper things to wear -

252
00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:13,336
some went out in their underpants.

253
00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:16,376
We were wild. We were wild.

254
00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:19,816
It was the most fantastic feeling.

255
00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:23,656
Although the rescued children
only lived here for six months,

256
00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:25,896
it was a life-changing experience.

257
00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:28,776
They were offered
counselling and schooling,

258
00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:32,896
including English lessons, before
being resettled elsewhere in the UK.

259
00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:38,096
It is a very positive story of hope
in a terrible time of despair.

260
00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:40,496
And I think it's really important

261
00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:43,040
to humanise the stories of
refugees.

262
00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:49,176
Today, Ike and Sam
have come back to the village

263
00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:51,480
as they're keen
to see the excavation.

264
00:15:54,680 --> 00:15:58,616
It is very important, and it's very
important that we also tell people

265
00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:00,176
what it was like.

266
00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:03,336
Although a lot of things
have changed,

267
00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:06,360
but we kept the memories.

268
00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:10,576
The dig has helped
local residents reconnect

269
00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:14,736
with this unique and important time
in their village's history.

270
00:16:14,760 --> 00:16:17,736
Archaeology speaks to people
in a special kind of way,

271
00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:21,536
and I think we owe the survivors
and the children

272
00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:24,616
the chance to put
their story out there,

273
00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:26,696
and I think that's
what archaeology can do.

274
00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:31,736
I've invited Kevin to come
and tell me more about the project.

275
00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:34,096
Kevin, you've been digging
in the Lake District,

276
00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:37,176
but your usual work
focusing on the Holocaust

277
00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:40,136
takes you over to Eastern Europe.

278
00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:42,696
So this is a very different
kind of dig for you.

279
00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:46,456
Yeah, absolutely.
We do a lot in Eastern Europe.

280
00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:49,456
Looking at the archaeology of what
happened during the Holocaust

281
00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:53,776
takes us to Poland and Ukraine
and those sort of areas.

282
00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:56,056
But this project gave us
the opportunity to do something

283
00:16:56,080 --> 00:16:57,776
a little bit closer to home.

284
00:16:57,800 --> 00:17:01,096
And you did find a selection of
quite personal objects. Absolutely.

285
00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:03,816
I think this one really stands out
for me, the little horse.

286
00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:06,136
So, we're not sure whether
it's a horse or a unicorn.

287
00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:08,896
I think it's a unicorn.
It's an important object.

288
00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:12,936
It dates to around late '30s, '40s,
so it's the right sort of period,

289
00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:15,376
with a unicorn
being a mythical creature

290
00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:17,656
associated with hope and magic...
Yeah.

291
00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:21,376
To find that on the site where we
were looking for evidence of what

292
00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:24,096
these boys went through, and how
they lived their life in Windermere

293
00:17:24,120 --> 00:17:26,096
that was a perfect start for us.

294
00:17:26,120 --> 00:17:28,576
Yes, it's lovely. Is it a little
pendant? A little pendant.

295
00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:31,136
Yeah, wear around the neck. Yeah.

296
00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:34,056
What I find really kind of moving
about this is that, you know,

297
00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:36,816
that might be something that I dig
up in my garden at home,

298
00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:39,536
and it has very little meaning
attached to it.

299
00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:41,336
In this context... Absolutely.

300
00:17:41,360 --> 00:17:43,176
...it comes with all that meaning.

301
00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:44,736
And then... What's that?

302
00:17:44,760 --> 00:17:48,696
Interesting. A tube. Curly Top.
So, it's a hair curling gel,

303
00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:51,136
but it's made
for toddlers and babies.

304
00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:53,696
Yes. It says "for toddlers".

305
00:17:53,720 --> 00:17:55,416
For toddlers - Curly Top.

306
00:17:55,440 --> 00:17:58,656
So it's to make your
baby's hair grow curly.

307
00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:02,736
The natural hair curler
for toddlers.

308
00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:05,536
So it would have been a culture
shock to these children

309
00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:07,616
to all of a sudden
be in an environment

310
00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:11,856
where you could curl your baby's
hair using a gel. Yes!

311
00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:13,736
And then what about this buckle?

312
00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:16,096
Quite important.
It's a belt buckle.

313
00:18:16,120 --> 00:18:19,176
It's quite common to the period.

314
00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:22,576
So we're talking sort of 1930s,
1940s, right through to the '50s.

315
00:18:22,600 --> 00:18:26,016
It could well be that this
belonged to one of them.

316
00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:28,616
What else have you got?
There's a bottle top.

317
00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:31,976
Yes, Veno's.
That is a cough medicine.

318
00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:34,216
It just demonstrates
that these children

319
00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:39,096
went from having no medical care
whatsoever, to all of a sudden

320
00:18:39,120 --> 00:18:41,896
to find themselves in a place
where if they got a cough,

321
00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:43,856
they would be given some Veno's

322
00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:46,216
cough medicine
by a nurse or a doctor.

323
00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:49,456
It demonstrates how dramatically
their life changed overnight.

324
00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:53,936
Yeah. And the care that was
suddenly around them. Absolutely.

325
00:18:53,960 --> 00:18:57,176
Do you think finding objects
like this, does it make it feel

326
00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:00,576
as though that time is more distant,
or closer to the present day

327
00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:02,096
when you find these objects?

328
00:19:02,120 --> 00:19:05,496
The sort of argument here
is that, why do we do archaeology

329
00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:07,096
on such a recent period?

330
00:19:07,120 --> 00:19:09,976
Because we already know the answers,
because we've got books

331
00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:12,496
and photographs,
and all sorts of things.

332
00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:14,656
But I think it's important
because archaeologists

333
00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:17,056
look at evidence and data in
a slightly different way. Yes.

334
00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:19,416
So we are asking new questions

335
00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:22,096
of these archive documents
and these data.

336
00:19:22,120 --> 00:19:24,136
So actually,
we can present new evidence.

337
00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:26,576
That's what this project
is all about,

338
00:19:26,600 --> 00:19:29,656
bringing to the forefront
this little section of Windermere

339
00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:32,520
in the 1940s, just to see what
life was like for these people.

340
00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:37,336
We now turn our attention to another
group of people who came

341
00:19:37,360 --> 00:19:39,416
to Britain during the war.

342
00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:42,696
In the build-up to D-Day,
military camps sprung up

343
00:19:42,720 --> 00:19:44,896
right across the country.

344
00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:48,376
As well as housing British soldiers,
these sites were home to

345
00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:51,160
thousands of Canadian
and American troops.

346
00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:54,656
Our next dig comes from Salisbury,

347
00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:57,736
where a team of British
ex-military personnel

348
00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:00,696
are hoping to find
the remains of a barracks

349
00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:03,776
used by the 2nd Battalion
of the US Army's

350
00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:06,936
506 Parachute Infantry Regiment,

351
00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:09,840
otherwise known as Easy Company.

352
00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:14,576
The men of this elite
American parachute unit

353
00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:18,160
also came to be known
as the Band of Brothers.

354
00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:22,056
They came to Britain
in September 1943,

355
00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:24,056
and remained here for nine months,

356
00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:28,680
preparing alongside other allied
troops for the D-Day invasion.

357
00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:34,576
Their training camp was located

358
00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:37,080
near the village of Aldbourne
in Wiltshire.

359
00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:42,696
MoD archaeologist Richard Osgood

360
00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:46,336
is on site with members
of Operation Nightingale.

361
00:20:46,360 --> 00:20:49,496
This is an initiative using
archaeology to support the recovery

362
00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:52,400
of military personnel
injured in conflict.

363
00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:57,376
On the surface, you can see nothing.
This is just a sports pitch.

364
00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:01,136
What we wanted to see if
archaeology could tell us anything

365
00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:03,936
about what lies below this surface,

366
00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:06,336
and link us to those men
from Easy Company,

367
00:21:06,360 --> 00:21:08,800
and take us back
to those days of D-Day.

368
00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:13,896
We know from military photographs
that in 1943 and '44,

369
00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:17,416
this field housed
a number of wooden barracks.

370
00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:20,136
This was the first time
these young soldiers

371
00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:22,080
had left their base in America.

372
00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:25,376
Some of them described it
as the best accommodation

373
00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:27,416
they had in the whole war,
and others said they felt

374
00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:29,296
like they were on a Hollywood
film set

375
00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:31,216
because this village
is so beautiful.

376
00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:34,136
But the paratroopers would soon
leave this quaint

377
00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:35,800
Wiltshire village far behind.

378
00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:40,496
In the early hours
of June 6th, 1944,

379
00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:45,456
the men of Easy Company were dropped
behind enemy lines in Normandy.

380
00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:50,056
Their mission, to seize key bridges
and clear routes leading away

381
00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:53,496
from Utah Beach to allow safe
passage of US ground troops

382
00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:56,736
who would arrive by sea
just a few hours later.

383
00:21:56,760 --> 00:22:01,216
The plan went awry, with many
missing their drop zone.

384
00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:05,336
But they still managed to capture
and destroy four German field guns,

385
00:22:05,360 --> 00:22:07,936
saving countless allied lives.

386
00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:12,016
Easy Company went on to become one
of the best known

387
00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:15,416
allied fighting forces in the war,
even making it all the way

388
00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:18,760
to Hitler's mountaintop retreat
in the Bavarian Alps.

389
00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:26,376
Back at the dig, the team are hoping
to find some personal items.

390
00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:30,016
They want to gain a glimpse
into the lives of these soldiers

391
00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:32,216
when they were stationed
here during the weeks

392
00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:34,096
leading up to the D-Day invasion.

393
00:22:34,120 --> 00:22:36,736
One of the really exciting
bits about archaeology

394
00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:38,816
is when you're able to put
yourselves literally

395
00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:42,160
in the footsteps of people that did
incredible deeds in the past.

396
00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:47,976
Already they're finding telltale
structures just beneath the surface.

397
00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:51,176
Not many people get excited
by concrete, necessarily,

398
00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:52,816
especially 20th century concrete,

399
00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:56,656
but we've got one, two, three,
four pads of a building

400
00:22:56,680 --> 00:22:59,616
that were put it into this field
in the 1940s.

401
00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:03,360
And this is the remnants
of the platoon sergeant's building.

402
00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:08,456
What have you got there?

403
00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:11,896
It looks like some sort of iron
cooking pot...?

404
00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:14,056
Possibly?

405
00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:15,416
It's a coin.

406
00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:19,576
It's a 1944 half penny.

407
00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:22,816
They're also finding artefacts
that directly link

408
00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:25,496
to Easy Company's pivotal
role on D-Day.

409
00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:28,336
Just pulled this out the ground
and didn't have a clue what it was,

410
00:23:28,360 --> 00:23:30,976
but we borrowed Paul's book
and we found exactly what it was.

411
00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:33,816
You see, the handle
for the emergency parachutes.

412
00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:35,936
Yeah, fantastic. Oh, my God.

413
00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:40,120
There are even finds that don't
often survive being buried.

414
00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:45,176
Our military expert
has now identified this

415
00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:47,376
as being parachute silk.

416
00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:50,416
You're standing in a hut
used by Easy Company

417
00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:52,736
and you're touching
a piece of parachute silk

418
00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:55,296
used by those paratroopers,
and that... That is amazing.

419
00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:59,016
That is as good as a link to D-Day
as you're ever going to get.

420
00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:03,216
Eagerly sought personal items
are also surfacing.

421
00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:07,480
They're helping to paint a picture
of life outside of combat training.

422
00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:11,216
This is a fairly fun piece
of evidence.

423
00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:13,696
It's a bottle of Brylcreem
that they'd have put in their hair

424
00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:15,496
to make themselves look presentable,

425
00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:19,080
having had their training and got
themselves ready for an evening out.

426
00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:24,616
One of the local buildings
was a place where the Americans

427
00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:27,296
did a lot of their dancing
with the local girls.

428
00:24:27,320 --> 00:24:30,896
The story goes that they made
such good use of that venue

429
00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:32,536
that, at the end of the war,

430
00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:34,896
they had to pay for the floor
to be re-laid.

431
00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:37,056
The hall still exists today.

432
00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:38,800
The floor's in really
good condition.

433
00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:43,656
The dig is giving a unique insight
into the reality

434
00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:45,976
of daily life for these brave men,

435
00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:51,216
just at that moment before they left
Britain for D-Day in June 1944.

436
00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:54,256
This particular room, and I'm just
standing by the entrance, looking

437
00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:58,456
into the hut, is their last moment
of quiet, peace, tranquillity,

438
00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:00,496
and probably
a great deal of reflection

439
00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:02,776
before they dropped in on Normandy.

440
00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:06,296
And that adds a real element
of pathos, I think,

441
00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:08,240
to this particular site.

442
00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:15,376
I've asked Richard to bring in some
of those personal items

443
00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:16,976
for a closer look.

444
00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:20,416
And you've got some of the finds
here from inside the hut,

445
00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:22,936
including that,
which is extraordinary.

446
00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:25,576
You know, the hairs
on the back of my neck,

447
00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:28,536
when you find something like this,
and we're talking paratroopers,

448
00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:31,416
this is the handle
of a reserve parachute

449
00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:33,856
used by somebody in Easy Company.

450
00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:36,176
So that's for your backup parachute.
That's right.

451
00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:38,496
Your first parachute
is what's called a static line,

452
00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:40,616
it's pulled by the aircraft
itself and it opens up,

453
00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:42,296
and you parachute down, hopefully,

454
00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:44,696
and if that doesn't work,
you've got that to keep you alive.

455
00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:47,576
And you've got some smaller objects.
Talk me through these.

456
00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:49,816
What have we got here? A badge?

457
00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:53,016
Well, that's a little touch of them
being very human, in fact.

458
00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:54,896
It's a basketball supporter's badge.

459
00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:58,456
Let's get it under there. So there's
a little basketball on there...

460
00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:01,056
That's right. It says, "I support",
but tantalisingly,

461
00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:04,456
we don't know who this individual
soldier supported.

462
00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:06,576
So you've got you've got
a little trace

463
00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:08,576
of them being keen
on life back home,

464
00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:10,376
but just whom, we don't know.

465
00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:13,096
And this looks like something which
you'd find on the head of a guitar.

466
00:26:13,120 --> 00:26:15,096
I think it's a mandolin. Oh, right.

467
00:26:15,120 --> 00:26:18,096
They're passing time
playing musical instruments,

468
00:26:18,120 --> 00:26:21,496
one of the ways that they kept
themselves occupied in the evenings.

469
00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:24,616
And what's this?
That is a nylon stocking.

470
00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:26,216
Found in the hut.

471
00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:28,536
I don't know
how far we go into that!

472
00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:31,016
Maybe some chap had used
a lot of Brylcreem

473
00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:33,376
and had done pretty well,
and his dancing skills...

474
00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:35,096
Had a small gift with him.

475
00:26:35,120 --> 00:26:38,176
There are numerous histories
and anecdotes of the guys

476
00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:42,096
giving kids sweets and chewing gum,
things like that,

477
00:26:42,120 --> 00:26:44,376
and luxuries, like these stockings.

478
00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:46,856
So it's all part of that
liaising with the locals

479
00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:48,336
and getting them onside.

480
00:26:48,360 --> 00:26:50,656
It's a nice,
tantalising touch again,

481
00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:53,496
that this soldier might have had
maybe happier things happening

482
00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:55,536
before they went to D-Day. Yeah.

483
00:26:55,560 --> 00:26:58,736
And it is... It is like we're
looking at a little

484
00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:01,456
American colony in 1940s Britain.
That's right.

485
00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:04,176
We've got one small trench,
but it's given us loads of finds

486
00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:07,296
relating to a pivotal
moment in history,

487
00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:09,936
and a really famous group
of young men.

488
00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:11,976
And it is about Americana.

489
00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:14,216
It's about what they're doing
to fight,

490
00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:15,936
what they're doing to try
and stay human,

491
00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:19,856
and it's just a small keyhole
into those days of 1943, 1944.

492
00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:21,736
And, as such, I think it's actually

493
00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:24,976
quite a fascinating
little collection of finds.

494
00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:28,896
And I think what's interesting too
is that you're digging with veterans

495
00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:31,336
who are bringing
their own experiences to bear

496
00:27:31,360 --> 00:27:33,736
on the archaeology
they're uncovering. Completely.

497
00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:38,416
We had several British military guys
with us who have faced combat.

498
00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:41,056
So they know the sorts
of experiences and traumas

499
00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:42,816
that these men have faced.

500
00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:45,096
And for them, that was a really
important and powerful thing

501
00:27:45,120 --> 00:27:48,216
because they could directly connect
to the men of Easy Company,

502
00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:50,496
albeit from
a 21st century perspective.

503
00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:53,896
And therefore, finding
this sort of thing, for them,

504
00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:56,080
was quite an emotional experience,
I think.

505
00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:03,736
We now return to the raising
of the Fairey Barracuda bomber

506
00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:06,696
from the murky waters just off
the South coast.

507
00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:08,776
All of the parts that were recovered

508
00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:12,576
have now been transferred to the
Fleet Air Arm Museum in Somerset.

509
00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:15,656
Our roving archaeologist
Naoise McSweeney is there

510
00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:18,856
to see how the team
is attempting to reconstruct

511
00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:20,880
this long forgotten bomber.

512
00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:27,856
The discovery of an intact Barracuda
bomber was a world first,

513
00:28:27,880 --> 00:28:31,416
but sadly, the salvage team
could not raise it in one piece

514
00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:33,840
and had to bring it up in parts.

515
00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:40,656
At the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Dave
Morris is head of an ambitious

516
00:28:40,680 --> 00:28:46,376
project, to rebuild a whole
Barracuda using only original parts.

517
00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:49,376
For the last 40 years,
they've been collecting fragments

518
00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:51,816
salvaged from various crash sites.

519
00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:55,216
But these are very difficult
to use in the rebuild

520
00:28:55,240 --> 00:28:58,616
because they're so battered
and mangled.

521
00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:02,736
This could all be about to change
with the treasure trove of parts

522
00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:05,920
raised over several days
from the Solent.

523
00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:10,216
So, Dave, where are we
so far with the project,

524
00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:14,016
putting these giant multiple
jigsaw pieces back together?

525
00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:17,536
If you were to look at, basically,
the plan form of a Barracuda

526
00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:20,016
and think,
"OK, let's build one of those",

527
00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:21,696
I think you would stop on day one.

528
00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:23,696
It would just be too mind-boggling.

529
00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:27,456
Chief engineer William Gibbs
has been working on the project

530
00:29:27,480 --> 00:29:28,896
for five years.

531
00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:33,016
He has to identify each specific
part, then work out where they go.

532
00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:34,816
It's a complex process.

533
00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:39,296
So we might put something together
and then it has to come apart again.

534
00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:43,120
OK. Which is annoying,
but it's just part of the process.

535
00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:46,856
So far, he's rebuilt the cockpit.

536
00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:49,216
So just help me visualise
this a bit more.

537
00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:51,936
You've got the pilot sitting here,
you've got the wings over here.

538
00:29:51,960 --> 00:29:53,736
This is the nose of the airplane

539
00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:56,456
going behind us... The engine, yeah.

540
00:29:56,480 --> 00:29:59,576
The engine would fit in front,
there in front of the pilot,

541
00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:01,216
so the engine and propeller there,

542
00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:03,896
and then the remainder
of the aircraft,

543
00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:07,496
and the tail would be 30 or so feet
down in that direction.

544
00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:11,496
So she's a big airplane.
It's... This is a huge plane.

545
00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:15,576
The project is already providing
a glimpse into the working lives

546
00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:19,040
of the people who built these planes
more than 70 years ago.

547
00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:23,256
On here, we've got drawings -
pencil drawings -

548
00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:24,776
done in the factory.

549
00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:27,056
We were the first people
to see those drawings

550
00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:30,016
since they were doodled on
in the factory...

551
00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:33,896
In the factory! Pretty poor factory
behaviour. Well...

552
00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:36,976
You shouldn't go scribbling
and doodling on airplanes,

553
00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:38,776
but this was wartime Great Britain,

554
00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:42,000
and there was a little bit
of camaraderie and morale going on.

555
00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:46,696
Dave is now pinning his hopes
on sections of the Barracuda raised

556
00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:49,696
from the Solent, providing
a mountain of usable parts

557
00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:51,200
to help complete the build.

558
00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:57,056
We started finding there
were hundreds of really valuable

559
00:30:57,080 --> 00:31:00,096
fittings, tube ends,
constructional details,

560
00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:03,376
components for the Barracuda
that we could harvest.

561
00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:07,520
You can't even begin to measure
how useful this is for the project.

562
00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:12,376
As well as large sections, such
as the fuselage and the wing piece,

563
00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:16,176
outside the hangar individual parts
harvested from the Solent wreck

564
00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:18,416
are undergoing
chemical preservation.

565
00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:20,976
So what have you got in these tanks?

566
00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:25,056
What's the magic solution
to get rid of all this gunk?

567
00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:27,736
This is just ordinary fresh water.

568
00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:30,680
Tap water mixed with citric acid.

569
00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:35,856
The citric acid helps reduce
the alkalinity of the sea water,

570
00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:38,776
producing a more neutral
PH solution.

571
00:31:38,800 --> 00:31:43,336
This helps to stabilise the parts
and reduce any further degradation.

572
00:31:43,360 --> 00:31:45,800
Let's see what we've got. Yeah.

573
00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:48,320
Oh!

574
00:31:49,520 --> 00:31:51,896
It's a pipe, bit of connecting pipe.

575
00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:54,376
Then we've got... Ooh! Yuck.

576
00:31:54,400 --> 00:31:58,160
And the rubber's incredibly
supple. Rubber? Yeah. Oh, yeah!

577
00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:01,456
Oh, this one does not smell good.

578
00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:05,496
There's a long way to go
before all the components salvaged

579
00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:07,656
from the Solent wreck
will be ready for use

580
00:32:07,680 --> 00:32:09,616
in the reconstruction of the plane.

581
00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:12,896
But Dave has already made
some astonishing discoveries.

582
00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:16,736
These are a pair of batteries
from the Solent wreck,

583
00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:20,256
two 12 volt batteries,
dated June '43.

584
00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:25,816
We couldn't resist putting a tester
on the batteries, and one of them

585
00:32:25,840 --> 00:32:32,136
still has not a 0.86
residual volts of current in it!

586
00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:36,256
It's absolutely remarkable,
after 76 years on the seabed.

587
00:32:36,280 --> 00:32:37,616
Underwater. Absolutely.

588
00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:41,256
So there are some remarkable,
quirky little finds

589
00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:43,416
coming up from the Solent wreck.

590
00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:46,576
I don't think I've ever seen
a conservation challenge

591
00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:48,576
quite like this one.

592
00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:52,096
I'm used to working out on site
with conservators to put together

593
00:32:52,120 --> 00:32:55,536
ancient pottery,
or other kinds of artefact,

594
00:32:55,560 --> 00:32:58,016
and that's extremely
difficult to do,

595
00:32:58,040 --> 00:33:01,176
but this is something
on a different scale.

596
00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:04,976
The complexity of it
is just ramped up hugely.

597
00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:08,896
The rebuild project has many years
of work ahead, but Dave is now

598
00:33:08,920 --> 00:33:11,416
confident that,
with the Solent wreck,

599
00:33:11,440 --> 00:33:14,736
one day he will be able to wheel out
a complete Barracuda,

600
00:33:14,760 --> 00:33:17,080
the very last of its kind.

601
00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:25,616
We now move from British planes
to German military hardware.

602
00:33:25,640 --> 00:33:29,816
One of the most destructive weapons
developed by Nazi Germany

603
00:33:29,840 --> 00:33:34,336
was the V-2 rocket, the forerunner
to later ballistic missiles.

604
00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:38,776
Each rocket bore a warhead
containing 900kgs of explosives.

605
00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:42,576
It's thought that around 3,000
rockets were launched at allied

606
00:33:42,600 --> 00:33:45,056
targets during the Second World War.

607
00:33:45,080 --> 00:33:48,056
We now join two brothers
who are on the search for

608
00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:52,136
a V-2 rocket, which fortunately
never hit its target

609
00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:54,560
and ended up in a farmer's field.

610
00:33:56,040 --> 00:33:59,680
The hunt is focused near
the village of Mardan in Kent.

611
00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:05,576
Amateur military archaeologists
Colin and Sean Welch

612
00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:09,656
are on the trail of a V-2
that struck here at 2:15 am

613
00:34:09,680 --> 00:34:12,360
on March 9th, 1945.

614
00:34:14,440 --> 00:34:19,200
Aerial imagery taken after the war
shows it came down in this field.

615
00:34:21,360 --> 00:34:26,176
We've excavated several V-2 rockets
and V-1 flying bombs,

616
00:34:26,200 --> 00:34:29,720
so I'm afraid to say
we've become experts.

617
00:34:31,240 --> 00:34:34,576
The V-2 was the fore-runner
to rockets that would eventually

618
00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:36,400
put a man on the moon.

619
00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:40,336
It was invented
in Germany in the 1930s,

620
00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:44,416
and later developed as an explosive
missile by the Nazis.

621
00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:48,136
The key to its long range
was the innovation

622
00:34:48,160 --> 00:34:51,840
of using liquid oxygen and alcohol
to propel the rocket.

623
00:34:55,160 --> 00:34:58,976
At the dig in Kent, the brothers
hope that the remains of the rocket

624
00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:02,680
could reveal clues to its trajectory
and how it detonated.

625
00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:08,160
To help locate the impact site,
they use a portable magnetometer.

626
00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:12,696
If there are large steel parts
in the ground,

627
00:35:12,720 --> 00:35:14,656
that will then cause a disturbance

628
00:35:14,680 --> 00:35:18,216
to the magnetic orientation
in the ground.

629
00:35:18,240 --> 00:35:21,536
The magnetometer will detect
that and give us a signal.

630
00:35:21,560 --> 00:35:25,376
Using the survey results,
they map out what they believe

631
00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:29,280
is the extent of the impact crater,
now buried underground.

632
00:35:31,200 --> 00:35:32,760
And they start to dig.

633
00:35:39,840 --> 00:35:44,176
Just a metre down, and they're
already finding indirect evidence

634
00:35:44,200 --> 00:35:45,576
of the detonation.

635
00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:48,616
There was an orchard here
and obviously the trees

636
00:35:48,640 --> 00:35:53,256
were destroyed, and the damaged
trees were pushed back into the hole

637
00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:55,096
and buried with the infill,

638
00:35:55,120 --> 00:35:58,256
and the one that you can see
standing up just there,

639
00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:00,376
that's got a broken off top,

640
00:36:00,400 --> 00:36:03,520
which would have been caused
by the blast of the device.

641
00:36:06,440 --> 00:36:09,336
Strong magnetometer readings
down in the hole

642
00:36:09,360 --> 00:36:11,560
indicate they're still on target.

643
00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:17,696
The heavy clay soil makes
it difficult to locate small finds,

644
00:36:17,720 --> 00:36:20,016
but it does have its benefits.

645
00:36:20,040 --> 00:36:23,176
This is the tiniest little bit here,

646
00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:27,656
and the aluminium looks almost fresh
in the find.

647
00:36:27,680 --> 00:36:30,096
And that's because of the absence
of oxygen in the hole.

648
00:36:30,120 --> 00:36:31,296
That's a good sign.

649
00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:34,616
It means that any future
finds are going to be

650
00:36:34,640 --> 00:36:36,880
hopefully in a good state
of preservation.

651
00:36:38,360 --> 00:36:42,576
The V-2 had a maximum range
of 320km,

652
00:36:42,600 --> 00:36:47,296
and travelled at over 1000 metres
per second.

653
00:36:47,320 --> 00:36:50,096
It was travelling so fast
that you could be stood on the spot

654
00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:52,856
and not know that a V-2
was approaching.

655
00:36:52,880 --> 00:36:55,856
You wouldn't see it coming.
You wouldn't hear it coming.

656
00:36:55,880 --> 00:37:00,496
Launched at Britain from sites
in the Nazi-controlled Netherlands,

657
00:37:00,520 --> 00:37:04,496
the V-2s caused an estimated
9,000 British civilian

658
00:37:04,520 --> 00:37:06,120
and military deaths.

659
00:37:08,560 --> 00:37:12,136
As the brothers dig deeper,
recognisable pieces of the rocket

660
00:37:12,160 --> 00:37:14,136
are now starting to emerge.

661
00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:17,296
This is one of the support brackets

662
00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:21,480
for either the oxygen tank,
or the alcohol tank.

663
00:37:22,720 --> 00:37:24,336
That's quite a nice find.

664
00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:27,120
Let's just see what my brother
concurs.

665
00:37:28,720 --> 00:37:30,096
Right, well I know what it is.

666
00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:34,576
That's one of the clamps
for the fuel tanks.

667
00:37:34,600 --> 00:37:37,736
I just said that I'd get
you to confirm it with me.

668
00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:40,736
OK. So you haven't...?
I've told them. OK, well...

669
00:37:40,760 --> 00:37:43,536
...that shows what
a pair of nerds we are,

670
00:37:43,560 --> 00:37:46,040
that we know every bit
of a V-2 rocket!

671
00:37:47,240 --> 00:37:50,096
Deeper still, and key parts of the
supersonic engine

672
00:37:50,120 --> 00:37:51,576
are coming to light.

673
00:37:51,600 --> 00:37:55,336
Doesn't look like much at the
moment, but this is a burner cup

674
00:37:55,360 --> 00:37:58,056
from the combustion chamber
of the V-2 rocket.

675
00:37:58,080 --> 00:38:00,176
I can tell that it's a burner cup

676
00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:03,816
because of that little
bit of brass there, which was

677
00:38:03,840 --> 00:38:05,696
an injector nozzle.

678
00:38:05,720 --> 00:38:08,176
So alcohol was pushed through that

679
00:38:08,200 --> 00:38:11,176
to squirt a feed
into the combustion chamber.

680
00:38:11,200 --> 00:38:16,040
There were 18 of these, and this is
the first one out of our excavation.

681
00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:22,160
3.1.

682
00:38:23,920 --> 00:38:27,576
As the excavation continues,
the brothers make an intriguing

683
00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:31,560
discovery, linked to the
precise moment of impact.

684
00:38:33,800 --> 00:38:36,416
When we look down in there,
we can see the clay itself

685
00:38:36,440 --> 00:38:40,376
has changed colour - rather than
the nice bright yellow, orange

686
00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:44,416
of the surrounds,
it's a horrible grey colour,

687
00:38:44,440 --> 00:38:48,080
which I think is due to the
carbonisation of the materials.

688
00:38:49,120 --> 00:38:51,176
The V-2 was exploding

689
00:38:51,200 --> 00:38:54,896
as it travelled into the ground
at three times the speed of sound.

690
00:38:54,920 --> 00:38:59,736
The detonation couldn't keep
up with how fast it was travelling,

691
00:38:59,760 --> 00:39:03,696
so it got in at least
five feet into the ground

692
00:39:03,720 --> 00:39:06,000
before it actually detonated.

693
00:39:07,160 --> 00:39:09,600
This is a fascinating revelation.

694
00:39:10,800 --> 00:39:13,856
The original intention was to try
and create something like

695
00:39:13,880 --> 00:39:15,976
a blast weapon on the surface.

696
00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:18,016
What they didn't bargain for,

697
00:39:18,040 --> 00:39:22,256
the supersonic speed took the rocket
further into soft ground

698
00:39:22,280 --> 00:39:24,056
than they might have expected.

699
00:39:24,080 --> 00:39:29,056
This V-2 rocket had clearly gone
off target when it hit the field,

700
00:39:29,080 --> 00:39:33,416
and it only detonated
once it had penetrated the ground.

701
00:39:33,440 --> 00:39:37,640
The blast from its warhead would
have been absorbed by the clay.

702
00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:40,936
Six metres down,

703
00:39:40,960 --> 00:39:44,720
the brothers finally reach
the bottom of the impact crater.

704
00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:50,376
The plan now is to clean
and preserve the finds,

705
00:39:50,400 --> 00:39:53,200
and scan them
to create a digital archive.

706
00:39:54,440 --> 00:39:59,096
I quite enjoy the physics
of the excavation.

707
00:39:59,120 --> 00:40:03,896
I particularly enjoy
building a representation

708
00:40:03,920 --> 00:40:06,816
of what it was
that happened at the site.

709
00:40:06,840 --> 00:40:11,296
We've found a lot about the geology
and what it does to the finds.

710
00:40:11,320 --> 00:40:14,040
I think we've done pretty well.

711
00:40:15,320 --> 00:40:19,336
Colin and Shaun's excavation
is part of an ongoing investigation

712
00:40:19,360 --> 00:40:23,760
into the role this terrifying weapon
had on Britain during the war.

713
00:40:29,720 --> 00:40:32,536
Prior to D-Day in June 1944,

714
00:40:32,560 --> 00:40:36,176
the allied forces staged a number
of rehearsals of the landings,

715
00:40:36,200 --> 00:40:37,936
all in top secret.

716
00:40:37,960 --> 00:40:40,656
One of these was called
Operation Tiger,

717
00:40:40,680 --> 00:40:43,416
and it would end in
absolute tragedy.

718
00:40:43,440 --> 00:40:46,736
But, because of the secrecy,
very few people knew about it.

719
00:40:46,760 --> 00:40:51,056
Then in the 1970s, one man
uncovered evidence of the event

720
00:40:51,080 --> 00:40:53,616
and fought to bring
the story to light.

721
00:40:53,640 --> 00:40:55,880
Naoise McSweeney met his son.

722
00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:00,896
The incident took place
off the Devon coast,

723
00:41:00,920 --> 00:41:02,480
near Slapton Sands.

724
00:41:05,680 --> 00:41:09,736
Operation Tiger may have remained
a forgotten moment in history

725
00:41:09,760 --> 00:41:12,296
if it wasn't for the amateur
archaeological sleuthing

726
00:41:12,320 --> 00:41:14,800
of a local man named Ken Small.

727
00:41:17,800 --> 00:41:20,800
I'm meeting his son Dean
to find out more.

728
00:41:22,120 --> 00:41:24,296
When did your father
first begin to suspect

729
00:41:24,320 --> 00:41:26,576
that there was something out there?

730
00:41:26,600 --> 00:41:29,056
He was beachcombing and
he came across things like

731
00:41:29,080 --> 00:41:32,176
tunic buttons, empty shell cases,

732
00:41:32,200 --> 00:41:34,136
identity bracelets... Oh, right!

733
00:41:34,160 --> 00:41:38,496
Various parts - all these bits -
knives and forks, spoons,

734
00:41:38,520 --> 00:41:40,056
parts of them, and he thought,

735
00:41:40,080 --> 00:41:42,216
"This is weird.
Why would this be on a beach?"

736
00:41:42,240 --> 00:41:45,056
A local fisherman
added to the mystery.

737
00:41:45,080 --> 00:41:48,296
He told Ken about a spot
just out from the beach

738
00:41:48,320 --> 00:41:51,480
where their nets would snag
on something large underwater.

739
00:41:52,680 --> 00:41:54,696
In the summer of 1974,

740
00:41:54,720 --> 00:41:58,456
Ken persuaded a diver friend
to go down and take a look.

741
00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:01,456
My dad took him out in a boat.
He dived down.

742
00:42:01,480 --> 00:42:04,296
He came up and he said to my dad,
"It's a tank."

743
00:42:04,320 --> 00:42:07,336
My dad said, "What, an oil tank?
A water tank?"

744
00:42:07,360 --> 00:42:09,416
He said, "No, it's like
an Army tank."

745
00:42:09,440 --> 00:42:12,856
My dad just thought,
"This is crazy. How can this be?"

746
00:42:12,880 --> 00:42:17,936
Ken started to search local records
and military archives for answers.

747
00:42:17,960 --> 00:42:21,656
It was then that he stumbled
across a wartime exercise

748
00:42:21,680 --> 00:42:23,720
codenamed Operation Tiger.

749
00:42:26,520 --> 00:42:30,496
Operation Tiger
was carried out in April 1944.

750
00:42:30,520 --> 00:42:33,136
It was one of a number
of practice exercises

751
00:42:33,160 --> 00:42:36,216
involving troops from Britain,
the US and Canada

752
00:42:36,240 --> 00:42:40,280
that all took place in preparation
for the Normandy landings.

753
00:42:42,040 --> 00:42:45,576
30,000 US troops were sent
to Slapton Sands

754
00:42:45,600 --> 00:42:47,760
to rehearse their part in D-Day.

755
00:42:49,640 --> 00:42:52,336
All of this stuff
was completely covered up,

756
00:42:52,360 --> 00:42:54,536
so there was very little evidence
as to what went on,

757
00:42:54,560 --> 00:42:57,920
the actual exercises themselves.

758
00:43:00,720 --> 00:43:03,736
Determined to find out
more about the tank,

759
00:43:03,760 --> 00:43:08,536
in May 1984, Ken took amateur
maritime archaeology to a new level.

760
00:43:08,560 --> 00:43:11,576
With the help of friends
and local divers,

761
00:43:11,600 --> 00:43:14,040
he raised the tank
off the sea floor.

762
00:43:16,560 --> 00:43:18,256
They got a big bulldozer,

763
00:43:18,280 --> 00:43:21,296
they strapped a cable to it
and they started to pull it

764
00:43:21,320 --> 00:43:23,136
along the concrete slipway.

765
00:43:23,160 --> 00:43:26,016
And amazingly,
the tracks started to turn.

766
00:43:26,040 --> 00:43:27,576
It's incredible. Yeah.

767
00:43:27,600 --> 00:43:30,896
And then all the crustaceans, and
stuff that had grown on the tank

768
00:43:30,920 --> 00:43:34,256
over years of being under the water
all started to break away

769
00:43:34,280 --> 00:43:38,456
and crumble, and you could actually
see grease still on the thing.

770
00:43:38,480 --> 00:43:39,920
It's just amazing.

771
00:43:41,200 --> 00:43:45,176
The tank was immediately jet cleaned
and sprayed with rust preventer

772
00:43:45,200 --> 00:43:47,040
to protect it from decay.

773
00:43:48,920 --> 00:43:50,816
So, this is it!

774
00:43:50,840 --> 00:43:52,856
This is the tank. It's enormous!

775
00:43:52,880 --> 00:43:55,656
It's amazing to think
about this under the water.

776
00:43:55,680 --> 00:43:58,696
And of course they were snagging
their nets on it! Yeah.

777
00:43:58,720 --> 00:44:00,416
Dean, this is crazy for me.

778
00:44:00,440 --> 00:44:02,496
I'm used to, when I dig up,
you know,

779
00:44:02,520 --> 00:44:04,296
iron objects from the Iron Age,

780
00:44:04,320 --> 00:44:07,056
they come up as
really crusty, corroded...

781
00:44:07,080 --> 00:44:11,336
It's hard to tell what they are, but
this, it's in fabulous condition.

782
00:44:11,360 --> 00:44:15,600
Ken had recovered an American
amphibious Sherman DD tank.

783
00:44:17,320 --> 00:44:19,776
So what happens
is, all around the tank,

784
00:44:19,800 --> 00:44:22,456
there's this flotation collar,

785
00:44:22,480 --> 00:44:25,896
and it's raised
with compressed air upwards,

786
00:44:25,920 --> 00:44:29,120
and it forms a complete skirt
around the tank.

787
00:44:31,520 --> 00:44:34,256
Fantastic, so it's
a fully amphibious tank.

788
00:44:34,280 --> 00:44:36,480
Tank, boat, tank.

789
00:44:37,640 --> 00:44:39,896
While the DD tank
was ahead of its time,

790
00:44:39,920 --> 00:44:42,016
it could be quite unreliable.

791
00:44:42,040 --> 00:44:45,696
Several of them, including the one
Ken raised off the sea floor,

792
00:44:45,720 --> 00:44:48,336
were known to have sunk
during the D-Day rehearsals

793
00:44:48,360 --> 00:44:50,376
due to mechanical faults.

794
00:44:50,400 --> 00:44:54,576
But, as Ken investigated further,
he discovered that Operation Tiger

795
00:44:54,600 --> 00:44:57,256
wasn't just blighted
by technical problems.

796
00:44:57,280 --> 00:44:59,840
Something far more deadly
had occurred.

797
00:45:01,080 --> 00:45:04,936
By early 1944, the Germans
knew allied forces

798
00:45:04,960 --> 00:45:07,776
were planning to invade
Nazi-controlled France.

799
00:45:07,800 --> 00:45:10,816
They just weren't sure
where or when.

800
00:45:10,840 --> 00:45:13,416
By listening in to the
allied radio chatter,

801
00:45:13,440 --> 00:45:15,800
they got wind of Operation Tiger.

802
00:45:17,040 --> 00:45:21,736
On April 28th 1944, nine German
E-boats were sent out on patrol

803
00:45:21,760 --> 00:45:24,216
and headed for the coast of Devon.

804
00:45:24,240 --> 00:45:27,496
Armed with torpedoes,
these were highly manoeuvrable,

805
00:45:27,520 --> 00:45:29,280
deadly attack craft.

806
00:45:30,600 --> 00:45:33,776
That night, allied ships taking
part in Operation Tiger

807
00:45:33,800 --> 00:45:35,176
came under attack.

808
00:45:35,200 --> 00:45:39,456
Two US tank landing ships were sunk
and three more badly damaged.

809
00:45:39,480 --> 00:45:43,616
More than 700 US servicemen
drowned, or died of hypothermia

810
00:45:43,640 --> 00:45:45,120
as they waited to be rescued.

811
00:45:47,880 --> 00:45:52,576
In 2012, two wartime shipwrecks
known to lie off the Devon coast

812
00:45:52,600 --> 00:45:57,256
were formally identified as the
two tank landing ships, or LSTs,

813
00:45:57,280 --> 00:45:59,856
that were sunk
during Operation Tiger.

814
00:45:59,880 --> 00:46:03,216
As part of a project to grant
the wrecks special status,

815
00:46:03,240 --> 00:46:07,816
maritime archaeologist Graham Scott
is heading out to survey them.

816
00:46:07,840 --> 00:46:10,616
What's really important
about these wrecks

817
00:46:10,640 --> 00:46:12,896
is that they're associated
with D-Day,

818
00:46:12,920 --> 00:46:15,880
and they're associated with
practices for D-Day.

819
00:46:17,200 --> 00:46:22,256
Historic England have asked us
to investigate these wrecks for them

820
00:46:22,280 --> 00:46:25,656
and to advise them
what's left of them,

821
00:46:25,680 --> 00:46:28,600
and how important they are.

822
00:46:29,680 --> 00:46:33,056
Now anchored over the wrecks,
they prepare to send down a remotely

823
00:46:33,080 --> 00:46:35,096
operated vehicle, or ROV.

824
00:46:35,120 --> 00:46:39,016
Equipped with sonar
and specialist low light cameras,

825
00:46:39,040 --> 00:46:41,656
the team can stream a live feed
from 50 metres down

826
00:46:41,680 --> 00:46:44,056
direct to the control room.

827
00:46:44,080 --> 00:46:47,256
OK, mate. That's us.
We've got a visual.

828
00:46:47,280 --> 00:46:49,120
We'll just work out
what we're doing.

829
00:46:50,480 --> 00:46:56,040
Let's orientate ourselves.
Let's move along to the west.

830
00:46:57,560 --> 00:47:00,896
Today, Graham is concentrating
on one of the ships.

831
00:47:00,920 --> 00:47:02,976
He wants to assess
what state it's in,

832
00:47:03,000 --> 00:47:04,856
what equipment it was carrying,

833
00:47:04,880 --> 00:47:08,136
and any potentially live munitions
still on board.

834
00:47:08,160 --> 00:47:11,920
We are wondering
whether we have found a gun here.

835
00:47:14,000 --> 00:47:18,856
We are rather hoping that this is
evidence of the ship's armaments.

836
00:47:18,880 --> 00:47:20,600
We could be wrong.

837
00:47:22,040 --> 00:47:24,280
Start tethering easy.
Tethering easy.

838
00:47:27,320 --> 00:47:30,296
One thing we have to be careful
with on a wreck like this

839
00:47:30,320 --> 00:47:33,400
is the presence of ammunition.

840
00:47:34,440 --> 00:47:36,256
We don't touch any of that.

841
00:47:36,280 --> 00:47:39,416
We back the ROV away
to a safe distance.

842
00:47:39,440 --> 00:47:43,056
We've no real idea whether
these things are still viable.

843
00:47:43,080 --> 00:47:48,376
We've got to treat them as though
they could still potentially explode

844
00:47:48,400 --> 00:47:50,496
if we blunder into them.

845
00:47:50,520 --> 00:47:55,880
Moving along the boat, the ROV
camera captures a lifeboat crane...

846
00:47:57,240 --> 00:47:58,720
...a cargo net...

847
00:48:00,520 --> 00:48:02,040
...and the engine.

848
00:48:04,080 --> 00:48:05,416
The hull is upside down.

849
00:48:05,440 --> 00:48:07,936
These were very
shallow drafted vessels,

850
00:48:07,960 --> 00:48:10,760
and they tended to capsize
when they sank.

851
00:48:11,840 --> 00:48:15,616
We now know that on the night
of the attack, chaos ensued.

852
00:48:15,640 --> 00:48:18,296
The men on board the landing ships

853
00:48:18,320 --> 00:48:22,560
thought that the firing
initially was part of the exercise.

854
00:48:25,040 --> 00:48:28,696
And it was only when
one of the ships was torpedoed

855
00:48:28,720 --> 00:48:31,176
and they saw this massive
explosion that they realised

856
00:48:31,200 --> 00:48:33,296
they were actually under attack.

857
00:48:33,320 --> 00:48:35,560
And then all hell breaks loose.

858
00:48:37,560 --> 00:48:39,536
Everybody starts firing everywhere.

859
00:48:39,560 --> 00:48:41,200
Very confusing.

860
00:48:44,960 --> 00:48:47,336
Following the deadly Nazi attack,

861
00:48:47,360 --> 00:48:51,016
the Operation Tiger disaster
was quickly covered up.

862
00:48:51,040 --> 00:48:54,296
It remained largely unknown
for decades,

863
00:48:54,320 --> 00:48:58,056
until Ken Small found,
and raised, his tank.

864
00:48:58,080 --> 00:49:00,816
While the tank was not sunk
in the enemy attack,

865
00:49:00,840 --> 00:49:04,616
it now stands as a permanent
memorial to all the US servicemen

866
00:49:04,640 --> 00:49:07,456
who lost their lives
during the D-Day rehearsal.

867
00:49:07,480 --> 00:49:12,320
Ken's son Dean still has his
father's collection of artefacts.

868
00:49:14,440 --> 00:49:17,256
These didn't come out of the tank?
Yeah, they did.

869
00:49:17,280 --> 00:49:19,616
Yeah, they... Seriously?
Yeah, they did.

870
00:49:19,640 --> 00:49:22,056
This one here is a range finder.

871
00:49:22,080 --> 00:49:26,696
And this, I believe,
is used to work out

872
00:49:26,720 --> 00:49:30,056
the elevation for the main gun.

873
00:49:30,080 --> 00:49:32,656
The main gun in the turret
of the tank. Yes.

874
00:49:32,680 --> 00:49:35,056
Line of fire. Line of fire, yeah.

875
00:49:35,080 --> 00:49:38,416
In recognition of Ken's
determination to bring the story

876
00:49:38,440 --> 00:49:41,976
of Operation Tiger to light,
and remember the American soldiers

877
00:49:42,000 --> 00:49:44,576
who lost their lives, he received

878
00:49:44,600 --> 00:49:47,576
a letter of gratitude
from the President.

879
00:49:47,600 --> 00:49:50,496
"Dear Mr Small..." Yeah!

880
00:49:50,520 --> 00:49:52,136
"..On behalf of all Americans,

881
00:49:52,160 --> 00:49:55,536
"thank you for your kind
and generous efforts.

882
00:49:55,560 --> 00:49:58,640
"Sincerely, Ronald Reagan".
Yeah, yeah!

883
00:50:01,920 --> 00:50:04,096
I think it's
a really important story

884
00:50:04,120 --> 00:50:06,776
that deserves to be
much more widely told.

885
00:50:06,800 --> 00:50:12,296
I mean, it's a big kind of part
of the preparations for D-Day,

886
00:50:12,320 --> 00:50:14,536
which we just haven't heard about.

887
00:50:14,560 --> 00:50:18,416
It took someone like Ken
to get that story out there,

888
00:50:18,440 --> 00:50:22,496
and to give those people who died,
and their families,

889
00:50:22,520 --> 00:50:26,600
and the survivors, a voice and
something to kind of remember it by.

890
00:50:32,800 --> 00:50:36,416
During the war,
Northern Ireland had 28 airfields,

891
00:50:36,440 --> 00:50:39,976
home to both RAF and
US Army Air Force crews.

892
00:50:40,000 --> 00:50:43,936
Whether through combat damage,
mechanical failure or pilot error,

893
00:50:43,960 --> 00:50:46,360
not every plane returned home.

894
00:50:48,440 --> 00:50:51,256
For our final dig, a team of
archaeologists has been joined

895
00:50:51,280 --> 00:50:53,816
by an army of volunteer
schoolchildren

896
00:50:53,840 --> 00:50:55,896
from both sides of the Irish border,

897
00:50:55,920 --> 00:51:00,160
and they are excavating the site
of a crashed American fighter plane.

898
00:51:03,680 --> 00:51:08,496
On December 17th, 1942,
22-year-old American pilot,

899
00:51:08,520 --> 00:51:10,896
Second Lieutenant Milo Randall

900
00:51:10,920 --> 00:51:14,896
was returning to the Royal Naval
Air Station at Eglinton

901
00:51:14,920 --> 00:51:16,480
when he went off course.

902
00:51:19,760 --> 00:51:23,696
As part of an ongoing project
to highlight the role played

903
00:51:23,720 --> 00:51:26,056
by Northern Ireland during the war,

904
00:51:26,080 --> 00:51:28,576
aviation historian Johnny McNee

905
00:51:28,600 --> 00:51:31,256
has been trying
to find Randall's plane.

906
00:51:31,280 --> 00:51:34,136
Eyewitnesses said a plane
crashed in this direction.

907
00:51:34,160 --> 00:51:36,336
What we're trying to work out
from the archaeology,

908
00:51:36,360 --> 00:51:37,976
is that correct?

909
00:51:38,000 --> 00:51:42,096
And the orientation of the
aircraft - did it go in vertically?

910
00:51:42,120 --> 00:51:46,576
Did it bounce across the field and
then sadly bury itself in a corner?

911
00:51:46,600 --> 00:51:50,696
Randall parachuted
safely down into Northern Ireland

912
00:51:50,720 --> 00:51:54,056
and returned to base,
but his plane hit the ground

913
00:51:54,080 --> 00:51:57,576
somewhere near the town of
Castleblayney in County Monaghan,

914
00:51:57,600 --> 00:52:00,496
just south of the border in Ireland.

915
00:52:00,520 --> 00:52:03,736
While parts of the plane were
recovered at the time of the crash,

916
00:52:03,760 --> 00:52:07,656
it hit the ground so hard
that much of it still lies buried.

917
00:52:07,680 --> 00:52:11,136
We're fairly sure these are engine
parts - lots of cables,

918
00:52:11,160 --> 00:52:15,496
clamps, ducts, bits of very
contorted and smashed up metalwork,

919
00:52:15,520 --> 00:52:18,400
with a distinct aroma of fuel
off it.

920
00:52:20,200 --> 00:52:23,256
It looks to be part of the outside,
we're thinking,

921
00:52:23,280 --> 00:52:25,696
because it has
that greenish paint on it.

922
00:52:25,720 --> 00:52:28,336
I'm 100% sure.

923
00:52:28,360 --> 00:52:31,576
We have a long, hinged object here.

924
00:52:31,600 --> 00:52:33,856
Could be a door. Could be...

925
00:52:33,880 --> 00:52:35,776
It's very light material.

926
00:52:35,800 --> 00:52:39,176
Records reveal that Lieutenant
Randall was flying

927
00:52:39,200 --> 00:52:43,736
a US fighter plane known
as a Lockheed P-38 Lightning.

928
00:52:43,760 --> 00:52:49,496
The P-38 was the first fighter
aircraft to fly faster than 400mph.

929
00:52:49,520 --> 00:52:53,136
With its four nose-mounted
machine guns,

930
00:52:53,160 --> 00:52:56,976
and 20mm cannon,
it was feared by allied enemies.

931
00:52:57,000 --> 00:53:00,456
The Japanese called it
"two planes, one pilot"

932
00:53:00,480 --> 00:53:02,496
because of its unusual design.

933
00:53:02,520 --> 00:53:05,480
The Germans knew it
as "the fork-tailed devil".

934
00:53:08,320 --> 00:53:11,296
Back at the dig, Johnny is now
finding clues that can be

935
00:53:11,320 --> 00:53:14,376
traced back to where the plane
was manufactured.

936
00:53:14,400 --> 00:53:17,616
We're finding lots of these
little fuel clamps.

937
00:53:17,640 --> 00:53:21,336
These clamps hold the insulation
and rubber tubing

938
00:53:21,360 --> 00:53:22,856
around various parts.

939
00:53:22,880 --> 00:53:26,896
You can see the manufacturer,
a patent number

940
00:53:26,920 --> 00:53:32,936
so it's Witex Manufacturing Company,
Chicago, USA.

941
00:53:32,960 --> 00:53:36,440
And look at that.
Still threaded, still working.

942
00:53:37,720 --> 00:53:41,296
We know that Witex made
fuel clamps for the P-38,

943
00:53:41,320 --> 00:53:44,120
so the team are definitely
digging in the right place.

944
00:53:46,880 --> 00:53:51,080
Johnny is now recognising other
specific parts of the plane.

945
00:53:53,880 --> 00:53:56,816
That's a serious bit of sheet steel.

946
00:53:56,840 --> 00:54:00,336
That must be five, six,
seven mils thick

947
00:54:00,360 --> 00:54:03,016
You know, so it's not like
aluminium. It's there for a purpose,

948
00:54:03,040 --> 00:54:05,536
and that purpose would be to stop
bullets hitting the pilot

949
00:54:05,560 --> 00:54:07,056
or the engine components.

950
00:54:07,080 --> 00:54:11,856
Confident they have found
Rundall's P-38 Lightning,

951
00:54:11,880 --> 00:54:14,696
the layout and condition
of the wreckage

952
00:54:14,720 --> 00:54:17,736
is also providing clues
as to how it crashed.

953
00:54:17,760 --> 00:54:21,096
The debris that we're getting
here suggests that the aircraft

954
00:54:21,120 --> 00:54:24,456
did enter the ground, but almost,
I would say, at about

955
00:54:24,480 --> 00:54:26,976
a 70, 80 degree angle
into the ground.

956
00:54:27,000 --> 00:54:31,016
You've got to imagine this
iconic design, twin engines,

957
00:54:31,040 --> 00:54:33,456
without a pilot,

958
00:54:33,480 --> 00:54:35,256
roaring from across the sky,

959
00:54:35,280 --> 00:54:37,936
running low on fuel, from the West.

960
00:54:37,960 --> 00:54:41,816
It's come in almost vertical
into a stony field,

961
00:54:41,840 --> 00:54:45,496
and this iconic design has been
turned in a matter of seconds

962
00:54:45,520 --> 00:54:48,640
into this crumpled pile
of metal that you can see.

963
00:54:50,720 --> 00:54:52,776
For the schoolchildren volunteers,

964
00:54:52,800 --> 00:54:57,096
the dig is giving them a tangible
connection to the brave young pilots

965
00:54:57,120 --> 00:55:00,240
that were based near here
almost 80 years ago.

966
00:55:02,720 --> 00:55:04,536
So it is bringing history to life.

967
00:55:04,560 --> 00:55:07,976
So it's like relating the artefacts
to what we're learning,

968
00:55:08,000 --> 00:55:10,256
and we can see really what happened,

969
00:55:10,280 --> 00:55:14,040
and how it would have looked from
an outside perspective.

970
00:55:17,200 --> 00:55:20,216
I've asked Johnny to bring in some
of the finds to see what else

971
00:55:20,240 --> 00:55:23,160
we can learn about this plane
and its pilot.

972
00:55:24,280 --> 00:55:25,696
So, what have we got here?

973
00:55:25,720 --> 00:55:28,896
Where do these parts belong
on the Lightning?

974
00:55:28,920 --> 00:55:31,736
You've got little inlet
exhaust valves from the engine,

975
00:55:31,760 --> 00:55:36,016
broken bits of the cockpit - that
locks the cockpit latches down

976
00:55:36,040 --> 00:55:37,976
when you shut it and go flying.

977
00:55:38,000 --> 00:55:40,936
You can see the little
serrated buttons here,

978
00:55:40,960 --> 00:55:43,736
just for locking your cockpit
closed. Yeah.

979
00:55:43,760 --> 00:55:45,856
We've some of the Perspex,

980
00:55:45,880 --> 00:55:50,456
still with the distinct wartime
olive drab paint on it. Yeah!

981
00:55:50,480 --> 00:55:55,256
And some of the very fearsome
nose armament

982
00:55:55,280 --> 00:55:56,976
was also recovered.

983
00:55:57,000 --> 00:55:58,536
We have two 50-calibre bullets.

984
00:55:58,560 --> 00:56:01,816
There are four 50-calibre Browning
machine guns on the front,

985
00:56:01,840 --> 00:56:04,696
plus a 20mm cannon.

986
00:56:04,720 --> 00:56:07,296
And then there's a plate here. Yes.

987
00:56:07,320 --> 00:56:10,776
That was one of the star finds
by the pupils.

988
00:56:10,800 --> 00:56:13,616
I mean, they really were
forensically going through the soil.

989
00:56:13,640 --> 00:56:16,936
And one of them said, "Oh, I've got
a little plate with writing on it."

990
00:56:16,960 --> 00:56:19,696
And you can see there all
the drawing information -

991
00:56:19,720 --> 00:56:22,736
the contract, the date,
it tells you the oil capacity.

992
00:56:22,760 --> 00:56:26,536
And then right at the bottom,
"Lockheed Aviation Corps".

993
00:56:26,560 --> 00:56:29,616
So that 100% proves that
we were dealing with the crash

994
00:56:29,640 --> 00:56:32,176
of a Lockheed P-38.

995
00:56:32,200 --> 00:56:34,816
That was a good find.
What on earth are those?

996
00:56:34,840 --> 00:56:37,976
They came out, if you can imagine,
in our profile with engine wreckage,

997
00:56:38,000 --> 00:56:39,816
cockpit wreckage
and engine wreckage,

998
00:56:39,840 --> 00:56:41,296
these were in the cockpit.

999
00:56:41,320 --> 00:56:43,736
There was a lot of head scratching
amongst the team.

1000
00:56:43,760 --> 00:56:46,256
People were suggesting
they were like butter paddles,

1001
00:56:46,280 --> 00:56:48,576
or they were something agricultural.
Yeah.

1002
00:56:48,600 --> 00:56:52,616
And we put some articles into
the P-38 Association magazine

1003
00:56:52,640 --> 00:56:55,176
in America and said, "Does
anybody know what these are,

1004
00:56:55,200 --> 00:56:58,176
"before we make some grand
announcement and look stupid?!"

1005
00:56:58,200 --> 00:57:01,016
And a guy came back and said
the plane was going to fly

1006
00:57:01,040 --> 00:57:03,256
in the Mediterranean theatre
of operations.

1007
00:57:03,280 --> 00:57:06,576
Those go into the air intakes
to stop that sandy wind

1008
00:57:06,600 --> 00:57:08,536
from blowing in and
clogging up your engines.

1009
00:57:08,560 --> 00:57:10,536
You can see traces of yellow paint
on the handle.

1010
00:57:10,560 --> 00:57:13,256
They would flag up as you're doing
your walk around in the morning -

1011
00:57:13,280 --> 00:57:14,816
"Right, I'd better take these out."

1012
00:57:14,840 --> 00:57:16,736
You don't want to fly with
them still in, do you?

1013
00:57:16,760 --> 00:57:18,016
No. That would be a bad thing.

1014
00:57:18,040 --> 00:57:20,736
And what happened to
the pilot himself? Yes, so...

1015
00:57:20,760 --> 00:57:24,896
...Second Lieutenant
Milo Randall from Iowa,

1016
00:57:24,920 --> 00:57:27,576
he then goes to Tunisia,
and less than a month later,

1017
00:57:27,600 --> 00:57:30,216
he was shot down and he ends
up being captured,

1018
00:57:30,240 --> 00:57:32,656
and then taken to Stalag Luft III,

1019
00:57:32,680 --> 00:57:35,296
and he was there for the rest
of the war, and he was there

1020
00:57:35,320 --> 00:57:38,096
during the time when the
great escape was taking place.

1021
00:57:38,120 --> 00:57:41,736
Is he still with us? No.
Sadly, he passed away in 2006.

1022
00:57:41,760 --> 00:57:45,656
But, as his daughter tells us,
he was a great patriot,

1023
00:57:45,680 --> 00:57:49,256
loved the P-38, and he did a lot
of flying after the war as well.

1024
00:57:49,280 --> 00:57:51,376
But a lot of time for the P-38.

1025
00:57:51,400 --> 00:57:54,896
When I said, "What do you think
he would think of what we

1026
00:57:54,920 --> 00:57:56,616
"and the pupils are doing here?"

1027
00:57:56,640 --> 00:57:59,656
They said, that generation,
he would have laughed and said,

1028
00:57:59,680 --> 00:58:03,336
"What are you doing, you know, looking after
my old P-38? What's all the fuss about?" Yeah.

1029
00:58:03,360 --> 00:58:06,856
He was just that generation,
that type of a character.

1030
00:58:06,880 --> 00:58:11,376
Although the Second World War
happened just 80 years ago

1031
00:58:11,400 --> 00:58:14,296
and we have plenty of
historical records of the time,

1032
00:58:14,320 --> 00:58:17,336
archaeology provides us
with different insights

1033
00:58:17,360 --> 00:58:20,256
and personal connections
with this important episode

1034
00:58:20,280 --> 00:58:21,976
in our country's history.

1035
00:58:22,000 --> 00:58:24,736
That's all from us for this year.

1036
00:58:24,760 --> 00:58:26,376
I hope you'll join us next time

1037
00:58:26,400 --> 00:58:28,960
when we continue
Digging For Britain.