A PIECE of equipment designed to power one of Nazi Germany’s terrifying V1 flying bombs has been donated to a museum.

Eden Camp Modern History Theme Museum, near Malton, has been donated a gyroscope, which acted as an automatic pilot guiding the weapons from their launch to their intended targets in the UK.

The bombs, also known as Doodlebugs and Buzzbombs, were developed in 1939 by the Nazi Germany Luftwaffe during the Second World War and were used to bomb targets in the UK from launch sites on the French and Dutch coasts or from a modified bomber aircraft.

“It’s quite a unique bit of kit,” said the museum’s manager Nick Hill.

“The V1s were pilotless bombs - there was nobody steering them. German scientists calculated the distance from where they were launching from to the intended target and worked out how much fuel to put in. It kept its course with the gyroscope which would keep it travelling straight and level.”

The piece of equipment was donated by Joseph Derek Wright in Chesterfield. It was a souvenir from his father, Joseph Sydney Wright, who acquired it whilst serving with the Royal Artillery in Germany at the end of the war.

Along with the gyroscope, he also had a “Receipt for Surrendered Article” issued by the military Government of German, signed by an Officer of the Luftwaffe, describing the surrendered article as “Synchronising gear from rear of Flying Bomb.”

The bombs flew using an early form of jet engine which drew air in at the front and burned petrol in a series of explosions and producing a jet of flaming exhaust gas from the tailpipe. They were nicknamed Buzzbombs because of the distinctive noise they made.

The fuel would cut off automatically at a predetermined range and they would drop out of the sky.

Nick said: “When the fuel cut off you would have 20 seconds while it was falling to earth. If you heard the explosion then you were ok. People who were hit would never hear the explosion because of how fast sound travels.”

At the height of their use, more than 100 V1s a day were launched at South-East England.

Of the Of 6,725 V1s that reached England, 2,420 fell on London, killing more than 6,000 people, injuring nearly 18,000 and causing severe and widespread damage.

Anti-aircraft guns controlled by radar shot down 1,859 of these flying bombs between June 1944 and March 1945.

The RAF used everything at their disposal to intercept the deadly equipment. Only the Hawker Tempest, Spitfire Mk IX and the Gloucester Meteor aircraft, had the speed to intercept these weapons and pilots had to fire at just 180m, or 200 yards to be sure of a hit.

Once they had hit a V1, they had no time to avoid the subsequent explosion and flew through the centre of a fireball.

Some pilots would fly alongside and place their wingtip under that of the V1 and gently raise it. This upset the Doodlebug's gyroscopic guidance system and sent it crashing to earth.

The gyroscope is now on display at Eden Camp alongside the museum’s life-sized replica of a V1.