DP World London Gateway. Archaeology from the Sky. The Air War over the Thames Estuary

Wessex Archaeology

The discovery of the remains of a crashed Junkers 88 aircraft in the outer Thames Estuary during dredging for the DP World London Gateway project was both unexpected and exciting. The seabed off the south and east coasts of England contains one of the highest concentrations of crashed aircraft in the world. It is particularly rich in military aircraft, as a result of the pivotal role that air power played in the Second World War. However we know where only a few of these crashed aircraft are and it can be difficult to identify crash sites when they are found.

Crash sites offer tangible evidence of air battles and raids; they also have the ability to offer information and a means of understanding the past in ways that are not available from other sources. This was spectacularly the case with this crash site. Finds recovered showed that the aircraft concerned was a T series Ju 88. This aircraft was only produced in very limited numbers and only one is known to have crashed in UK waters. As the only extant example of this rare Ju 88 prototype, the aircraft represents an important part of the estuary’s marine and military heritage. As a result of the work undertaken by Wessex Archaeology, the aircraft vividly illustrates a past, which although relatively recent, is now fading from memory. In a single episode the crash site intertwines the stories of secretive Luftwaffe units, the contribution of allied nations to RAF units, decorated fighter aces and veteran test pilots.