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Mysteries Unearthed with Danny Trejo - Season 2 Episode 15 -
Lost in Battle
Lost in Battle
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00:12Mysteries can be buried anywhere, under the earth, beneath the sea, or even right under
00:22our own feet. And when we stumble upon them, sometimes what we find can change history.
00:34Tonight, long-lost relics of war resurface, like a deadly weapon dredged from a river.
00:41And it looks an awful lot like a bomb. And it's sitting right next to two gas lines.
00:48To a World War I bunker, frozen in time.
00:53They start finding empty wine bottles, newspapers, and a rusty camp bed.
00:59As they continue digging, they find a much more sobering discovery. 21 skeletons.
01:06To a legendary blade, pulled from the depths.
01:11The archaeologist takes one look at the sword and gets goosebumps.
01:16Join us now, because nothing stays hidden forever.
01:30Construction crews are used to unexpected finds. Pipes, rubble, even the occasional time capsule.
01:37But on one side in England, they uncovered something much more explosive.
01:44It's February 7th, 2023, in Great Yarmouth, a seaside town on England's east coast.
01:51Crews are dredging the river Yair, prepping for a new bridge crossing.
01:56Suddenly, one worker freezes.
01:59The dredger has pulled something out of the mud.
02:03It's metallic, about three feet long, and it looks an awful lot like a bomb.
02:09What's worse, it's sitting right next to two gas lines.
02:15The site is evacuated immediately.
02:18Police pour in.
02:19In comes the bomb squad.
02:22It is all hands on deck.
02:25The bomb unit moves in carefully.
02:28They study the object, and based on the shape and known bombing patterns, they soon have a sense for what
02:34they're dealing with.
02:36It appears that this is a 550-pound German bomb from World War II.
02:42And it's still live, armed, and deadly.
02:46A blast from a bomb of this size in a crowded city would be catastrophic.
02:51It's a terrifying find, and a reminder of Great Yarmouth's role in World War II.
02:59Great Yarmouth was an important military port, not only to clear the English Channel from mines and the German threat,
03:06but it was also a launching point for much of the Allied shipping that was used.
03:11So it's a prime target for the Germans to bomb.
03:15The Germans dropped over 81,000 tons of bombs on Britain.
03:20Around 10% of those failed to detonate, which means thousands of hidden threats still lurk underground.
03:26That's why the moment this bomb is uncovered, the response is swift and extreme.
03:36The bomb squad works nonstop building a protective barrier with over 440 tons of sand.
03:43It's their only protection.
03:45Old bombs like this get more dangerous with the passage of time,
03:49because simple things such as heat or pressure or friction can set them off in the present day.
03:56After three-tenths days, the site is finally secure, and army specialists prepare to disarm the bomb.
04:03The plan is to cut the fuse and then haul it out of the city for a controlled detonation.
04:10As they use high-pressure water jets to cut the fuse, the sand barrier starts to collapse.
04:16The site becomes compromised, and the crew is in increasing danger.
04:21With the clock ticking, the workers try something else.
04:25They rebuild the sand barrier, and then they cut into the bomb casing in an attempt to burn off the
04:32bomb filler slowly,
04:33so that it doesn't produce a high-order explosion, but rather a low-order release of energy that doesn't endanger
04:40lives.
04:41And then, without warning, boom!
04:45The bomb goes off, sending a shockwave through the site.
04:49Debris flies everywhere.
04:51Car windows shatter.
04:53A flood wall cracks.
04:55The shockwave is felt 15 miles away.
04:58Thanks to the barrier, the explosion is contained and there are no injuries.
05:02But it came dangerously close.
05:06Decades earlier, another World War II find surfaces in a more surprising place, the African Desert.
05:16It's November 1958, and a team of British geologists working for the Darcy Oil Company
05:23are flying high over the Libyan desert, scouting for drilling sites.
05:27From their vantage point, 10,000 feet in the air, they see something on the desert floor below them.
05:34It looks to be wreckage of an airplane.
05:38The company sends a team to the site, led by a surveyor named Gordon Bowerman.
05:45When Bowerman arrives, he finds a perfectly preserved military aircraft,
05:51complete with operable radios and machine guns.
05:55He sees no sign of crew, but he does find uniforms with names stitched inside.
06:01He also finds maintenance records that identify the plane as a B-24D liberator.
06:09Bowerman contacts the nearby U.S. Air Force base at Wheelis.
06:13Turns out, it's an American bomber of World War II.
06:16And it's been missing in action for 15 years, known as the Lady Be Good.
06:24But the discovery leaves one terrifying question.
06:29What happened to the airmen who vanished with it?
06:32Search teams scour the desert for months.
06:35Now, about 19 miles from the crash site, they do find a pair of flight boots,
06:39and this serves as the first sign of life.
06:42More clues follow.
06:44Parachutes held down with stones, likely left there to guide rescuers.
06:48But the trail leads to the Calancio Sand Sea,
06:52a vast expanse of dunes rising to 400 feet.
06:56Unfortunately, no bodies are found.
07:00Then a year later, the search team gets a little unexpected help from Mother Nature.
07:05The dunes are constantly shifting with the winds.
07:09And in February 1960, petroleum workers make a grim discovery.
07:16Five bodies on a plateau in the Sand Sea.
07:20One of them is Lieutenant Robert Toner.
07:23Among the remains is Toner's Journal, which chronicles the airmen's final mission.
07:29Back in April of 1943, 25 of these B-24D liberators took off from Libya on a bombing mission.
07:39Their target, Naples, Italy.
07:42One of the last planes to lift off is the Lady Be Good.
07:46It's its first combat mission.
07:49Inside are nine crew members, but they quickly run into bad weather,
07:54strong headwinds, and poor visibility.
07:56By 7.50 p.m., the mission is scrubbed, and the plane turns to head back toward its base.
08:03On the return flight, things go from bad to worse.
08:07At 12.12 a.m., the plane's pilot, William Hatton, radios back to base.
08:14Navigation system is malfunctioning.
08:17They're flying blind.
08:19Running out of fuel, the men make a drastic decision.
08:22The men bailed out around 2 a.m. on April 5th.
08:27Now, one of the airmen wasn't with the rest of the group because his parachute didn't open.
08:35The remaining eight of the nine airmen end up traversing this incredibly vast, incredibly hot desert
08:42with only half a canteen of water between them.
08:44They traveled 85 miles in blistering 130-degree heat.
08:51Eventually, five couldn't go on, and they stopped.
08:54The remaining three continued forward, but they didn't make it either.
09:01Search teams continue to follow the trail the men left behind
09:05and eventually find two more bodies.
09:09In all, eight of the nine bodies of the airmen who were lost to the Lady Be Good are recovered.
09:16After this tragic discovery, the book closes on one of the great mysteries of American Army aviation.
09:24But the most important thing is the closure given to the families of the brave crewmen
09:32who lost their lives on the heroic mission of the Lady Be Good.
09:40During the chaos of war, enemy secrets are usually uncovered by highly trained spies.
09:46But for one soldier, a stroke of luck leads to a critical piece of intel.
09:54It's September 1862 near Frederick, Maryland.
09:59The Civil War is at a boiling point and could tilt either way.
10:04General Robert E. Lee has just led the Confederate Army across the Potomac into Maryland,
10:08striking distance of Washington, D.C.
10:13At this point, the stakes are very high.
10:16Every battle promises to be a decisive engagement.
10:21On the morning of September 13th, soldiers from the 27th Indiana Volunteer Infantry
10:28are on a skirmish line out ahead of the main Union Army.
10:32After hours of marching, 27th Indiana eventually reaches a farm
10:37recently abandoned by Confederate forces.
10:40Two of the men, Corporal Barton Mitchell and Sergeant John Bloss,
10:45they sit down to cook some tea when Mitchell notices something in the grass.
10:50He spots a bulky envelope.
10:53He picks it up, and inside, there are three cigars,
10:56bundled up in an official-looking sheet of paper.
10:59Mitchell unrolls the wrapper, glances at the heading, and then calls Bloss over.
11:04His voice is shaking.
11:05The document is dated September 9th, 1862, and it carries a heading that says,
11:11Headquarters, Army of Northern Virginia, Special Order 191.
11:18This isn't just routine correspondence.
11:21It looks like the Confederacy's strategic blueprint, and now it's in Union hands.
11:28The Order outlines Lee's plan to divide his army into four groups to secure garrisons,
11:33seize supplies, and capture federal forces at key locations.
11:38Then, they plan to reunite for a final march north.
11:41The discovered document has rushed up the Union chain of command,
11:46but it seems too good to be true.
11:48They decide it's a ruse.
11:50This is some kind of Confederate trip.
11:51They need some kind of confirmation.
11:55The document bears the signature of Colonel Robert Chilton,
11:59who is Robert E. Lee's adjutant.
12:02One Union officer who worked with Chilton in a bank in Detroit
12:08recognizes Chilton's handwriting.
12:11That seals it.
12:13This is authentic.
12:15Once confirmed, the plans are quickly sent to General George McClellan.
12:21He sends a wire to President Abraham Lincoln that says,
12:25I have all the rebel plans and will catch them in their own trap.
12:30But news of the discovery reaches Lee,
12:33so he scrambles to launch a counter move of his own.
12:37Lee quickly begins to mobilize all of his forces heading for Antietam, Maryland.
12:45Then, at dawn on September 17th,
12:48more than 1,000 Union soldiers advance through a cornfield.
12:51When they emerge, Georgia troops rise and fire.
12:58Antietam becomes the single bloodiest day in American history,
13:03with over 23,000 casualties.
13:09The battle was a stalemate with no clear victor.
13:12But the Union army under McClellan forced Lee to retreat to Virginia.
13:16This gave Abraham Lincoln the win he'd been looking for
13:20to issue the Emancipation Proclamation,
13:22which freed the enslaved in Confederate territory.
13:25The victory at Antietam, the Emancipation Proclamation,
13:30and ultimately, the Union victory in the Civil War,
13:32all began with those two Union soldiers
13:35taking a break in that farm field where they found Order 191.
13:43Next, another Civil War discovery is made 150 years later
13:48near one of America's most famous battlefields.
13:54August 4th, 2011.
13:57Maintenance crews at the Gettysburg National Military Park
14:00have a big job on their hands.
14:02A massive oak tree has fallen at Culp's Hill,
14:06and the crews have to clear it away.
14:09One of the workers fires up his chainsaw
14:12and begins cutting the tree into pieces.
14:16But the chain hits something hard,
14:19comes at it again from a different angle,
14:21and, yeah, same result.
14:23They quickly realize what it is that's jamming the chain.
14:28Two bullets buried deep in the trunk of this tree.
14:32The maintenance crew calls in the experts,
14:34and they find a .54-caliber bullet and a .58-caliber.
14:39They're on the east side of Culp's Hill,
14:41and so it's clear where the bullets are from,
14:44the turning point of the American Civil War,
14:47the Battle of Gettysburg.
14:51Culp's Hill saw some of the most intense fighting of the Civil War.
14:55The Union Army was holding the higher ground of Culp's Hill
14:58and were fighting off wave after wave of Confederate forces.
15:02You had over 20,000 soldiers that were fighting at Culp's Hill,
15:06each of them carrying about 60 rounds of ammunition,
15:09and every round was shot.
15:13When it was over,
15:15thousands of soldiers were killed, wounded, or missing.
15:18But the North held the hill and the momentum.
15:22After the discovery,
15:24the section of the tree containing the bullets
15:27is moved to the Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center,
15:31where it joins other remnants that bear the scars of war.
15:35A hundred years ago,
15:37it wasn't all that unusual to find bullets lodged in trees in Gettysburg,
15:41but not so much today,
15:43because many of those trees didn't survive.
15:46Some of them would die off due to lead poisoning,
15:48others were lost due to either age or storms.
15:52These two bullets prove that this tree was there
15:56for some of the bloodiest fighting of the war.
16:03In the French countryside,
16:06a routine gig takes a dark turn
16:08when workers uncover something
16:10that hasn't seen daylight in nearly a century.
16:15It's October 2010.
16:18Road construction is underway
16:20in the small town of Carsebach
16:21in the Alsace region of France.
16:24As workers start grading and leveling
16:26a site known as Lerkenberg Hill,
16:28they hit something unexpected.
16:30Timber.
16:32Digging deeper,
16:33the crew finds what looks like
16:36the remains of a wooden tunnel.
16:40They then start finding artifacts.
16:44A cigarette tin,
16:45empty wine bottles,
16:47newspapers,
16:47and a rusty camp bed.
16:51Work grinds to a halt.
16:53They call in archaeologists
16:54to begin an excavation of the site.
16:57And as they do that,
17:00they discover a vast underground complex.
17:0520 feet underground,
17:07450 feet long.
17:09This structure is remarkably well preserved.
17:13It's eerie.
17:14It's like a time capsule
17:16that was sealed yesterday.
17:18As they continue digging,
17:19they find a much more sobering discovery.
17:2321 skeletons.
17:26The team doesn't need to conduct
17:28extensive identification research
17:30to understand who these bodies are.
17:32They're wearing tattered military uniforms
17:35that identify them as German soldiers.
17:38In the 6th Company,
17:4094th Reserve Infantry Regiment
17:42from World War I.
17:44That's when they realize
17:46this is a famous World War I
17:48megastructure
17:49known as the Killian Shelter.
17:53Built by the Germans in 1916,
17:56Killian Shelter was a massive barracks.
18:00The shelter could house
18:01as many as 500 men
18:04with wartime luxuries
18:06like heat,
18:07electric light,
18:08a telephone,
18:09and, crucially,
18:1116 exits.
18:13So how did a place built
18:15to protect these soldiers
18:17become a sealed tomb?
18:20By early 1918,
18:22World War I
18:23had settled into a deadly stalemate
18:25across 475 miles
18:27of trench warfare.
18:29And to hold their lines
18:30on the Western Front,
18:31the Germans dug
18:32an extensive network
18:33of tunnels and bunkers.
18:35The Killian Shelter
18:36was among the largest.
18:37Then,
18:38on March 18, 1918,
18:41the Germans launched
18:42a brutal gas attack.
18:44The French retaliated
18:46with artillery
18:47and most likely,
18:49one shell
18:50hit an ammunition dump
18:51in the Killian Trench,
18:57sealing it off
18:58for years.
19:00With the tunnel
19:01sealed by soil,
19:03air and moisture
19:04aren't able to get in.
19:06Archaeologists
19:07compared it to Pompeii,
19:10frozen in an instant,
19:11preserved for all time.
19:13For decades,
19:15the Killian Shelter
19:16and the remains
19:17of the trapped soldiers
19:19stays hidden.
19:20But in 2013,
19:22upon the construction
19:24crew's discovery,
19:25the bodies
19:26are finally laid to rest.
19:27The remains
19:28of all 21 soldiers
19:30are buried
19:31at the German
19:31Military Cemetery
19:32of Ilfurt.
19:33In a simple
19:34but dignified ceremony,
19:36the book
19:36on these missing soldiers
19:38is finally closed,
19:3995 years
19:40after their deaths.
19:43Relics of war
19:44aren't always unearthed
19:46by the professionals.
19:47Sometimes,
19:48all it takes
19:49is a little curiosity
19:50and a kid
19:52with muddy knees.
19:55On July 15th, 2018,
19:58eight-year-old
19:58Saga Vanacek
19:59is savoring
20:01her summer vacation
20:02on the shores
20:03of Lake Wittestorn
20:04in southern Sweden.
20:06It has been
20:07an unusually hot summer
20:09and a drought
20:10has brought
20:11the lake level down
20:13lower than anyone
20:14can ever remember.
20:16She's in a shallow area,
20:18her hands and knees
20:20in the mud
20:20and she's searching
20:22for smooth stones
20:24to skip.
20:25But then she bumps
20:26into something
20:27and it doesn't feel
20:29like a stone.
20:30She reaches down
20:31and starts to try
20:33to figure out
20:33what this thing is.
20:35She thinks at first
20:36that it's maybe a stick.
20:37It's long,
20:38so she starts pulling on it
20:39and when she finally manages
20:41to pull it out of the muck,
20:42she realizes
20:43it's something
20:44much more important.
20:47It's heavy and solid
20:48and there's rust on it
20:50and the end is pointed.
20:52Saga pulls it out of the water,
20:53lifts it up,
20:54looks at it
20:55and yells,
20:55Daddy,
20:56I found a sword.
20:59For confirmation
21:01on where it came from,
21:03Saga and her dad
21:04bring the object
21:05to a local archaeologist.
21:07The archaeologist
21:08takes one look
21:09at the sword
21:09and gets goosebumps.
21:13This artifact
21:14isn't just old,
21:15it's ancient
21:16and more incredibly,
21:19it still appears
21:20to have pieces
21:20of its leather
21:22and wood scabbard
21:23affixed to the blade.
21:25These are things
21:25that would normally
21:26rot away over time
21:28on swords this old.
21:29So the archaeologist
21:31begins combing
21:32through reference material
21:33to try to date it
21:34more precisely.
21:35She notices
21:36a similarity
21:36between the sword's hilt
21:38and those of the Vikings
21:40between the 8th
21:41and the 9th century.
21:42Carbon dating
21:43of the scabbard
21:43and the hilt
21:44confirm the dates.
21:46This really is
21:47an ancient Viking sword.
21:52Hoping to find
21:53more Viking treasures,
21:54divers searched
21:55the rest of the lake
21:56where Saga found the sword.
21:58They find a few other
22:01ancient Viking relics.
22:02One of them
22:03is a brooch
22:04that they believe
22:05to be about
22:061,500 years old.
22:09They also find
22:10a fibula,
22:11which is a sort of
22:11clasp
22:12that they think
22:13is dated between
22:14300 and 400 A.D.
22:16The more researchers
22:18learn,
22:18the clearer it becomes.
22:20Saga's sword
22:21is a remarkable piece
22:23of a much older story.
22:25And with that in mind,
22:26she decides
22:27the discovery belongs
22:29somewhere it can be
22:31shared with everyone.
22:32Saga decides
22:33to donate her sword
22:35to the
22:35Yon-Shopin County Museum.
22:37When the story
22:38finally comes out,
22:40Saga becomes
22:41a media sensation.
22:42She's called
22:43the Queen of Sweden,
22:45a kind of
22:45modern-day take
22:46on the King Arthur myth.
22:48King Arthur having
22:49also famously
22:50pulled a sword
22:51from the lake.
22:52And among the most
22:53impressed
22:54are Saga's classmates
22:56who celebrate
22:57her discovery
22:58with cake
22:58and balloons
22:59at school.
23:03It's just another
23:04workday in
23:05Savannah, Georgia
23:05until a team
23:07pulls up something
23:08lost a long
23:09time ago.
23:12It's February
23:14of 2021
23:15and the U.S.
23:17Army Corps
23:17of Engineers
23:17is dredging
23:19the Savannah River
23:20in Georgia.
23:22This is part
23:23of a nearly
23:23$1 billion
23:24upgrade
23:25to
23:26deepen
23:27a key
23:28shipping channel
23:29to make it
23:30passable
23:30by modern
23:31super tankers.
23:34One day
23:35they dredge up
23:35an object
23:36that's
23:37about
23:37five feet
23:38long.
23:38It's metallic.
23:40It's covered
23:40in rust
23:41and it's
23:41covered in
23:41mussels.
23:42But despite
23:43that,
23:43they can still
23:44see the
23:44general outline
23:46of a cannon.
23:50Soon the team
23:51finds another
23:53and then another
23:55and then another.
23:56So the Army Corps
23:57stops the dredging
23:58and they start
23:59calling in
24:00archaeologists,
24:01sonar techs
24:02and divers.
24:04But in the
24:05murky river,
24:06finding answers
24:07isn't easy.
24:09Divers are
24:10working blind
24:11in pitch black
24:12water with
24:13strong current
24:13pulling at their
24:14gear.
24:15They only get
24:15brief windows
24:16during which they
24:17can conduct a
24:18search.
24:18Between the
24:19turning tides
24:20and the passing
24:20freighters,
24:21every dive
24:22becomes a
24:23sprint.
24:25The team
24:26keeps at it
24:27and eventually
24:28recovers more
24:30of these
24:30rusted cannons,
24:3219 in all.
24:34When Army Corps
24:36archaeologists
24:37study the cannons
24:38up close,
24:39the mystery
24:40deepens.
24:41At first,
24:42they think
24:42these cannons
24:43belong to
24:44CSS Georgia,
24:45a Confederate
24:46naval vessel
24:47that was active
24:47on the Savannah
24:48River during
24:49the Civil War.
24:50When Navy
24:51historians take
24:52a look at
24:52these cannons,
24:53they don't
24:54exactly match
24:56up with that
24:56particular time
24:57period.
24:58These cannons
24:58look a little
24:59bit older.
25:00They look more
25:00like 18th
25:01century weapons,
25:03which means
25:03that it's
25:04possible that
25:04these cannons
25:05didn't come
25:05from the Civil
25:06War, but from
25:07the American
25:08Revolutionary
25:08War.
25:11In 1778,
25:12the British
25:13captured the
25:13city of Savannah
25:14and then shifted
25:15their offensive
25:16to the South.
25:16They felt that
25:17the region was
25:19more loyal to
25:19the crown and
25:20that the people
25:21would rise up
25:22against the
25:22rebels.
25:23But the
25:23following year,
25:24in a daring
25:24move, George
25:26Washington moved
25:27to retake the
25:28city.
25:30In October 1779,
25:32American and
25:33French forces
25:34launch a bloody
25:35campaign, the
25:37siege of Savannah.
25:39The French
25:40Navy pushes up
25:41the Savannah
25:41River with a
25:42force of 33
25:42warships.
25:43In contrast,
25:45the Royal Navy
25:45has one-fifth
25:47that number.
25:48To prevent the
25:49French Navy's
25:50advance, the
25:51British sink
25:52their own
25:52ships to
25:53block the
25:53river.
25:54And by
25:55sinking these
25:56gunships, that
25:57means everything
25:58goes down under
25:59the water.
26:00That includes
26:00cannon, that
26:01includes ammunition,
26:02basically everything
26:03on the ship
26:04except for the
26:05crew.
26:05Well, the
26:06scuttling of the
26:06ships worked.
26:08The French fleet
26:09can't make it into
26:10Savannah.
26:10They turn around,
26:11and with hurricane
26:12season coming, they
26:13have to get out of
26:14the way.
26:15As a result,
26:16Savannah stays under
26:17British control until
26:18the end of the war.
26:19Over time, most of
26:21the ships rotted
26:22away, but the
26:23cannons remain until
26:25the salvage operation
26:27unearthed them over
26:28200 years later.
26:31Finding a cannon
26:31from the
26:32Revolutionary War is
26:33rare.
26:33Finding 19 of
26:35them is a
26:36jackpot.
26:39Today, American,
26:41British, and
26:42Georgia officials are
26:43working together to
26:44properly restore these
26:46cannons, and once
26:47restoration is complete,
26:48these cannons will go on
26:49display at the
26:50Savannah History
26:51Museum.
26:53Next up, an even
26:54older form of
26:55ammunition is
26:57uncovered in
26:57England.
27:00In June 2024,
27:02Kenilworth Castle,
27:03near Birmingham,
27:04England, is
27:05undergoing a major
27:06renovation.
27:07Workers are
27:08expanding some of
27:09the walkways around
27:10this 900-year-old
27:12fortress, making
27:13them more
27:13accessible.
27:15It's routine
27:16work, but one
27:18day, the crew
27:18digs into the
27:19lawn and hits
27:20something solid.
27:22It seems like a
27:23big rock, nothing
27:24unusual, until
27:26they try to move
27:27it.
27:27It's round,
27:29smooth, and way
27:30too heavy for its
27:31size.
27:31This isn't a
27:32typical garden
27:33stone.
27:33It's more like an
27:35ancient bowling
27:35ball.
27:36For more
27:37insight, the team
27:39calls in the
27:40castle's
27:41archaeologists.
27:42The archaeologist
27:43begins an
27:44excavation.
27:45One stone becomes
27:46two, and then
27:47three.
27:48Eventually, eight of
27:49them are found, all
27:50perfectly spherical and
27:52well-preserved.
27:53That's when it
27:54clicks.
27:55These aren't rocks.
27:56They're weapons.
27:58They're catapult shot
27:59left over from the
28:00Middle Ages.
28:03Their discovery ties
28:05directly to one of
28:06Kenilworth Castle's
28:07darkest moments, when
28:09a violent rebellion
28:10nearly topples England's
28:12very young king.
28:14King Henry III rose to
28:16the throne at only
28:18nine years old.
28:19His father had died
28:21during a feud with
28:22his barons.
28:23The official cause was
28:24listed as dysentery, but
28:26many suspected that he
28:27had actually been
28:28poisoned.
28:29The early years of the
28:31young king's reign are
28:32defined by rebellion.
28:34The barons are fed up
28:36with taxes, endless
28:38wars, with the crown
28:39itself, and so they
28:41rise up and rebel.
28:42The rebels were led by
28:44Simon de Montfort, the
28:46king's own brother-in-law,
28:47and his base of
28:48operations was
28:49Kenilworth Castle.
28:51The rebellion carries on
28:52for decades and culminates
28:54in 1266, when the king's
28:58troops try to take back
29:00the castle in a decisive
29:02last stand.
29:03For 172 days, King Henry's
29:06forces surround the
29:08fortress.
29:09Nine siege engines, which
29:10are basically massive
29:11catapults, hurl stone
29:13after stone at the walls.
29:16The rebels fired back.
29:18Hundreds of pounds of
29:20massive rocks flew both
29:21ways.
29:22But the rebels in the
29:23castle don't fall to
29:25firepower.
29:26They are brought down by
29:28something else.
29:32Eventually, starvation and
29:34disease weaken the rebels
29:36inside Kenilworth.
29:38Six months later, they
29:39surrender, and the king
29:40takes the castle.
29:42Today, Henry III is best
29:44remembered for rebuilding
29:46Westminster Abbey and
29:47founding the first three
29:48colleges of Oxford.
29:50But the siege at Kenilworth
29:51remains one of his most
29:53dramatic accomplishments.
30:00Imagine taking a walk with
30:01a friend.
30:02It's the perfect time to
30:03catch up and enjoy the
30:05scenery.
30:05But for one pair, it
30:07connects them to a lost tale
30:09of war and conquest.
30:13It's 2016 in the remote village
30:16of Kokoria in Siberia.
30:19Two friends are walking
30:20through the woods when they
30:22notice something strange.
30:24In the face of a nearby
30:26cliff, they notice this
30:29crack.
30:30And luckily enough, it's wide
30:32enough to step into, so they
30:35figured they're going to go and
30:36investigate.
30:37They pop their heads in and
30:39look around, and they see
30:41arrowheads on the ground.
30:43Lots of them.
30:44So naturally, they go in to
30:46investigate further.
30:48They see a large rectangular
30:50wooden box.
30:52They manage to pry off the lid.
30:55And as they peek inside, they
30:57are shocked.
30:59Inside is a pouch of some kind,
31:02couple of engraved plaques, and
31:06human bones.
31:08This box is a coffin.
31:12Realizing they've stumbled on
31:14something extraordinary, the
31:16friends notify the authorities.
31:18Officials from the Museum of the
31:19Gorno-Altesk State University
31:21arrive, and they confirm this is
31:23a major archaeological discovery.
31:26They catalog iron arrowheads,
31:29arrow shafts, silt ribbons, and a
31:32birch bark quiver, and they date
31:34it to between the 13th and the
31:3615th century.
31:37Based on these arrowheads,
31:39archaeologists surmise that this
31:41person was probably a hunter.
31:43But as the archaeologists examine
31:45the size of the arrowheads, they
31:47realize they might not be for
31:50hunting prey.
31:50The person in the sarcophagus isn't
31:52a hunter, it was a warrior.
31:56The discovery makes headlines
31:57around the world, and the warrior
31:59is dubbed the Siberian Robin Hood.
32:02But when the researchers investigate
32:04further, they figure out that this
32:06warrior's quiver doesn't match those
32:08typically found in Siberia.
32:10As they compare the quiver to samples
32:12from other regions, they determine
32:14that it much more closely resembles
32:16quivers found in the Altai region,
32:19across the border in Mongolia.
32:22Archaeologists then wonder whether the
32:24man buried here might have been part of
32:26the Mongol Empire believed by some to
32:28have conquered this part of Siberia in
32:30the medieval era.
32:32During the 13th century, Genghis Khan's
32:34ascendants swept through Central Asia,
32:37absorbing vast swaths of land,
32:40including this part of Siberia.
32:42By 1240, this entire area is under the
32:46occupation of General Batu Khan.
32:49He's actually the grandson
32:50of the great Genghis Khan.
32:52Artifacts from this era are exceedingly
32:56rare, and the careful placement of them
32:59around the body suggests that he was a
33:01high-ranking officer or even a general.
33:05Today, that 13th century warrior's bow,
33:09quiver, arrows, and arrow shafts are still
33:11being studied by researchers at Gorno-Altaisk
33:14State University.
33:16Fines that are as complete as that one are
33:19incredibly rare, and we're going to be
33:21learning about that warrior for years to
33:23come.
33:26Next up, another arrowhead points to a
33:29different kind of battlefield mystery on a
33:31small Polish farm.
33:35In the fall of 2023, a Polish farmer named
33:39Jaroslaw Lipiec is finishing up a long day of
33:42plowing the field on his commune.
33:44He hops off his tractor and pauses to
33:48admire the neat rows of dark, overturned soil.
33:52As he looks over his handiwork, something
33:55catches his eye.
33:56It's the glint of a small, sharp object
33:59sticking out of the dirt.
34:00Curious, he walks over, picks it up out of
34:03the ground, and realizes it's a small
34:06arrowhead.
34:07He thinks it's a nice keepsake, so he
34:09decides to put it in his pocket, and then
34:11he just keeps walking.
34:12A few steps later, something else catches
34:15his eye.
34:17It's also protruding from the dirt, but this
34:19is a little different.
34:20It's gray-brown, chunky, and has some flecks of
34:23white.
34:25Unsure what he's found, he brings both items
34:29to the local conservatory of monuments for more
34:32information.
34:33He takes a look at the arrowhead first, and
34:37determines that it's not actually an arrowhead.
34:40It's the flint tip of a spear, or a javelin.
34:44And it is ancient.
34:47Analysis dates the weapon to the Bronze Age
34:51between 1900 and 1500 BC.
34:54The farmer's second find is even more
34:58interesting.
34:59It's part of the blade of a multi-faceted axe
35:04crafted for power and precision.
35:07Thousands of years ago, these had many purposes.
35:12Clearing land, butchering animals, and settling
35:16arguments the hard way.
35:20Further analysis reveals that the axe was crafted
35:24by members of the funnel beaker culture, a Neolithic
35:27people who were known for their distinctive
35:29pottery, especially their funnel-shaped beakers.
35:33The funnel beakers were the first farming society across
35:38Northern Europe, thriving from 4,000 to 2,800 BC.
35:44But until now, no trace of them had ever been found
35:48in this part of Poland.
35:50Up until this point, experts thought that no one
35:55lived in that area of Poland during the Neolithic period.
35:59And now, as it turns out, there was a proper civilization
36:03hunting and farming, and probably fighting in this area
36:08thousands of years before anyone thought possible.
36:12The discoveries are currently being prepared
36:16for exhibition at the local museum in Bilgaraj.
36:21But the search for more isn't over.
36:23Researchers are planning excavations to explore the area further,
36:27because once the Earth gives up one secret,
36:29you never know how much more it's hiding beneath the soil.
36:37The spoils of war are often forgotten.
36:40But when one family takes a closer look at a World War II trophy,
36:44it ignites a remarkable and emotional journey.
36:50It's September 1945, and the war is over.
36:53But Joseph Kasser, who's known to his friends as Benny,
36:57is waiting for his transfer from his base at Okinawa.
37:02And in order to clear his head, he takes a walk along the beach.
37:06As he's taking his walk, he sees something strange in the sand.
37:11As he gets closer, he realizes that half-buried is this ornate Japanese sword.
37:20So he does the natural thing.
37:22He digs it up and decides to take it home with him.
37:25The sword ends up in Benny's basement in Chicago,
37:30where it remains for decades.
37:33Benny's grandsons love hearing their grandfather's war stories,
37:38and he'll often bring down the sword as an exciting prop to augment storytelling.
37:44But after the stories are over,
37:46the sword always is carefully returned to its place in the basement.
37:50In 2021, one of his grandsons, named Kevin, is visiting.
37:54He's now in his 30s.
37:56And during this visit, he takes a closer look at the sword.
37:59Now an adult, Kevin takes an interest, not just in the sword,
38:03but also in the wooden tag attached to its hilt.
38:07Written in English, it reads,
38:09I am very glad to have the honor to ask your favor to send my sword to my home.
38:15It has been handed down from generation to generation
38:18to keep my family safe and comfortable.
38:21On the other side of the tag is a name, Colonel Tumesuke Umeki,
38:25as well as the name of a town in Japan.
38:29Recognizing the sword's importance,
38:31Kevin anxiously approaches his grandfather.
38:35Kevin has an idea.
38:36What if they try to return the sword to its owner?
38:39When he proposes this idea to his grandfather, Benny,
38:44doesn't hesitate.
38:45He's all in.
38:46Kevin digs in, determined to track down Colonel Umeki.
38:52A Japanese family friend suggests to Kevin
38:54that maybe they can contact the local government,
38:57and they might know.
38:58To his surprise, the town of Takaharu replies quickly.
39:03But disappointingly, Colonel Umeki is no longer alive.
39:07However, his son, Takamitsu, is still alive.
39:12Benny and Kevin send letters to Takamitsu
39:16in both English and Japanese, along with photos of the sword.
39:20Eventually, Takamitsu responds,
39:22tells them that he is now 96 years old.
39:25He writes that he still remembers his father's sword
39:30and is incredibly grateful at the idea
39:33that the sword might be returned home.
39:36In July of 2022, Kevin travels the 6,000 miles to Japan.
39:42Benny, now 99, unfortunately can't make the trip,
39:45but he sends his love and blessing.
39:49When Kevin finally gets to Japan, he meets Takamitsu,
39:53and he sees that Takamitsu has actually created a little bit of a shrine.
39:56There's a picture of his father, there's flowers,
40:00and there's a display case for the sword.
40:03Takamitsu has invited his family and friends,
40:06and there's journalists there to document
40:08this really historic occasion.
40:10Back in Illinois, Benny watches a live stream of the ceremony,
40:15and he reflects that really there probably wasn't very much difference
40:20between Colonel Umeki and himself,
40:22only they happen to be born on opposite sides of the world.
40:29Cannons buried in a river,
40:31a forgotten World War II bomb,
40:33and medieval weapons built to crush a castle.
40:36These relics lost in battle
40:38tell the real stories of the fights that forged our past.
40:43I'm Danny Trejo.
40:44Thanks for watching Mysteries UnEarth.
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