Panjandrum, known also as the The Great Panjandrum, was one of a number of highly experimental projects, including
Hajile and the
Hedgehog, that were developed by the
Admiralty's
Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development in the final years of
World War II. The DMWD had been asked to come up with a device capable of penetrating the ten-
foot high, seven-foot thick
concrete defences that made up part of the
Atlantic Wall. It was further specified that the device should be capable of being launched from
landing craft since it was highly likely that the beaches in front of the defences would act as a killing ground for anyone attempting to deliver the device by hand.
Sub-Lieutenant Nevil Shute calculated that over one
ton of explosives would be needed in order to create a tank-sized breach in such a wall. The delivery method for such a quantity of explosives posed a significant problem, and one of the concepts discussed ultimately resulted in the construction of the prototype "Great Panjandrum". The proposed device was composed of two gigantic wooden wheels, ten feet in diameter with steel treads a foot wide, joined by a central drum fitted with the explosive payload. It was to be propelled by sets of
cordite rockets attached to each wheel. It was predicted that when deployed with a full 4,000
lb load, Panjandrum would achieve speeds of around 60
mph, simply crashing through any obstacles to reach its target. The name "Great Panjandrum" was chosen by Shute as a reference to
Samuel Foote's poem of the same name, in particular the closing line "till the gunpowder ran out at the heels of their boots".
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