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V2 Rocket relics


ChrisR

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Thought I’d post a couple of photos of V2 bits in my collection.

First is this servo motor I acquired in the 1980’s.

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It is one of 4 found on a V2, and is part of the steering controls. – Near the engine outlet - No29 on the diagram below (if you can see the small print?)

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Another image off the net shows them better.

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I got it from the chap who picked it up as a boy during the war. He said it came from a V2 air-burst over Burnham, Essex. I know of three v2s that came down in that area, all in December ‘44, but can’t pin it down which one airburst as they all are recorded as exploding on the ground. - I know that sometimes the missiles broke up, with fuel tanks exploding in the air, yet the warhead came down on its own, exploding independently on impact.

I’m particularly interested in V-weapons that didn’t work right – didn’t go off, to the point I wrote a book about them a while ago – Disarming Hitler’s V-Weapons’, (Not that there were many V2s that’s warheads failed to detonate on impact!)

One that didn’t go off, also in Essex, was the one below. – It had malfunctioned and tumbled and hit the ground horizontally without exploding at Creasey’s Farm, Hutton.

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Same spot when I visited in 2010 –

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All the old hedgerows have gone with modern farming methods. It came down in the middle of this now very large field. I didn’t have the farmer permission to trample his crop or have a metal detector with me, so didn’t investigate further than the edge of the property. I imagine the backroom boys were pretty thorough and had all the bits away, as a complete V2 was quite a catch.

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Another V2 relic in my collection is this frame with some fibreglass insulation that was kept as a souvenir by someone involved in the recovery of some V2 bits in the 1970s. Don’t know where exactly, but Essex again.

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One of the problems the V2s had was the outer skin got really hot as a result of friction of air molecules passing across the surfaces. (Bear in mind they travelled faster than the speed of sound.) So they used fibreglass, similar to loft insulation, around the fuel tank.

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I’m always on the lookout for interesting original photos relating to V weapons, and bought this snapshot a while ago. It was taken in June 1945 at Oyle, Germany (between Bremen and Hanover). It shows a warhead with a note painted on it by the RAF’s 6228 Bomb Disposal Flight.

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Hope this stuff is of interest - I'll post some V1 bits on another thread shortly.

 

 

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Hello Chris,

Excellent collector pieces from the dreaded V2......I wish I could find some....Many Thanks for showing us.

Here are a few images from the V1 Rocket site I visited in France 2 years ago.

Best to you & Thanks.......Desert Rat

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Considering that's all outside, it looks very well looked after.

I have some snapshots of a bombed launch site, but don't know where they were taken.

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  • 3 months later...
  • Major General

Lovely :)   I had a guidance gimble for one of these. Sold about 10 years back on ebay if a recall?

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