World War Two Catapult Unearthed

Recently a World War II Catapult was unearthed near Harwell Science and Innovation Campus. This is a prototype that has been known about for a while, but never discovered. Now, because of its uncovering, scientists at the Museum of London Archaeology were able to create a 3D replica of the remains. 

After examining the catapult, scientists found amazing information about it! The catapult took three years to design, and it was built from 1938 to 1940. Although the catapult took lots of work to make, it was scrapped because it didn’t fit the fighter jets that were used in the war. It was buried underneath a more newly built runway for years before this excavation. 

The catapult consisted of two runways and a large turntable that could rotate between them. The catapult was designed to have a shorter runway to help planes loaded with more fuel. It was also made to have shorter take off times. High-pressured air would be forced into a pneumatic ram (a kind of piston that uses air), which would then expand the runway to a set length. 

Though the prototype was not actually used during the war, it inspired other successful designs for WWII, such as the CAM (Computer-Aided Manufacturing). Archaeological discoveries like this can tell us so much about technology and innovation in the past, especially during desperate times such as years of war. 

Sources (information and photos): 

MOLA - mola.org 

BBC News - bbc.com