A rare World War II-era V-2 rocket has been uncovered by a team of amateur archaeologists after being asked to examine several craters at a former Nazi test range.
The discovery was made in Blizna near Rzeszow in Poland at the former German missile test site, with the details released on 15th November.
Local authorities had asked history and military enthusiasts to check several craters at the location, which Nazi Germany used to test its V-2 long-range missiles.
The guided missiles were produced towards the end of the war and were the first to reach the edge of space.
Few examples survived because most rockets were destroyed on impact.
Archaeologists from the DENAR Kalisz historical association and a local V-2 search group took part in the dig.
They used an excavator to lift the rocket parts from the crater.
The item turned out to be a test model used for training purposes.
DENAR Kalisz said its team had recovered a large engine element with 18 injectors that pumped fuel made from 75 per cent ethyl alcohol and liquid oxygen, and the training warhead with the second segment jammed into it.
The group said that “for a moment” they were “in space again”.
According to the association, the missile they found had crashed shortly after launch during wartime tests.
Its warhead did not detonate because it was a training model without explosives.
Combat V-2 warheads carried around 780 kilogrammes of TNT, which typically destroyed the rockets.
The archaeologists said fuel inside the missile – more than four tonnes of ethyl alcohol and liquid oxygen – detonated instead, burying the front section.
A museum recalling the history of the WWII-era test site now stands at the location in Blizna.
The museum said the new discovery was extraordinary.
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