Escafarc Posted January 23, 2011 Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 http://www.paleofuture.com/blog/2011/1/21/the-trench-destroyer-1917.html The WWII version It also was in the JL cartoons A Savage Time parts I & II nad JLU I am Legion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austenandrews Posted January 23, 2011 Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 Re: The original War Wheel 1917 Reminiscent of the Tsar Tank. Probably would have worked as well, too. Interesting how it was considered a viable possibility at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st barbara Posted January 23, 2011 Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 Re: The original War Wheel 1917 Looks very like "The Grand Panjandrum" a device that was actually experimented with by the British during World War II. That one was two huge metal wheels joined by an axle (which may have contained an explosive charge) and remote controlled. The idea (i think) was to let it loose against the obstacles on the French beaches during the invasion; it was to tear up those obstacles until it hit something really solid (like a bunker or gun emplacement) at which point it could be blown up. Film of the test (in shich the Grand Panjandrum got out of control and chased the audience before falling over !) is very amusing ! Oh yes, and to add to the effect the huge wheels had flares or fireworks attached which were going off as it rolled across the sand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escafarc Posted January 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 Re: The original War Wheel 1917 Looks very like "The Grand Panjandrum" a device that was actually experimented with by the British during World War II. That one was two huge metal wheels joined by an axle (which may have contained an explosive charge) and remote controlled. The idea (i think) was to let it loose against the obstacles on the French beaches during the invasion; it was to tear up those obstacles until it hit something really solid (like a bunker or gun emplacement) at which point it could be blown up. Film of the test (in shich the Grand Panjandrum got out of control and chased the audience before falling over !) is very amusing ! Oh yes' date=' and to add to the effect the huge wheels had flares or fireworks attached which were going off as it rolled across the sand.[/quote'] "The Grand Panjandrum" starts at around 2:00 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Mackinder Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 Re: The original War Wheel 1917 "The Grand Panjandrum" starts at around 2:00 Very good. Despite the title, not all were follies however - PLUTO and the flail tank were both successfully used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 Re: The original War Wheel 1917 Very good. Despite the title' date=' not all were follies however - PLUTO and the flail tank were both successfully used.[/quote'] Indeed the "funnies" - modified tanks used in the D-day landings - were one reason the Commonwealth troops were able to make rapid progress off the beaches, even though they faced some of the heaviest defences. Just a comment, the "flares" on the Grand Panjandrum are actually the rockets that drove it: rockets around the rim of the wheel provided the motive force ... unfortunately, they had a habit of tearing free or going out after being dunked in water, rendering the entire device "a wee bit unstable" - all the more fun considering it was supposed to carry over a half-ton of cordite in the central box! cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st barbara Posted January 26, 2011 Report Share Posted January 26, 2011 Re: The original War Wheel 1917 Indeed the "funnies" - modified tanks used in the D-day landings - were one reason the Commonwealth troops were able to make rapid progress off the beaches, even though they faced some of the heaviest defences. Just a comment, the "flares" on the Grand Panjandrum are actually the rockets that drove it: rockets around the rim of the wheel provided the motive force ... unfortunately, they had a habit of tearing free or going out after being dunked in water, rendering the entire device "a wee bit unstable" - all the more fun considering it was supposed to carry over a half-ton of cordite in the central box! cheers, Mark Ah ! In hindsight that is pretty obvious I guess. I somehow had got the idea that the rockets on the rim were either a "special effect" or were designed to blow up obstacls or something.If they were the motive force they certainly appear to have been spectacular, and less than reliable ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Mackinder Posted January 26, 2011 Report Share Posted January 26, 2011 Re: The original War Wheel 1917 If they had solved the direction problem, it would have looked REALLY impressive, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted January 26, 2011 Report Share Posted January 26, 2011 Re: The original War Wheel 1917 If they had solved the direction problem' date=' it would have looked REALLY impressive, though.[/quote'] Hey - anything that involves a half ton of cordite moving at high speeds deserves a round of applause! (From a safe distance of course!) It's also worth noting that bizarre as it seems, that this device was actually based on an earlier, functional device used in the first world war called a wheeled petard - basically a big bomb on a cart: it was used to breach defences like pillboxes, or messes of barbed wire and actually worked pretty well. You had a metal shield behind the bomb that was supposed to protect the engineer as he ran it up to the fortifications. The catch, of course was that it was basically a suicide run - since you had to then run away from the giant bomb and its protective shield, before it went off ... in front of a fortification full of pissed-off enemy - or stay behind the shield and die in a huge explosion. So the goal was to try and move a big box of explosives over barbed wire and obstacles, without requiring someone to die in the process. Nice idea .... but. cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Mackinder Posted January 27, 2011 Report Share Posted January 27, 2011 Re: The original War Wheel 1917 So the goal was to try and move a big box of explosives over barbed wire and obstacles' date=' without requiring someone to die in the process. Nice idea .... but.[/quote'] Ayup, it's always those insignificant details that trip up the really GREAT ideas. :| Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted January 27, 2011 Report Share Posted January 27, 2011 Re: The original War Wheel 1917 Dear God. How did we ever win? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st barbara Posted January 28, 2011 Report Share Posted January 28, 2011 Re: The original War Wheel 1917 Dear God. How did we ever win? Well, some of the ideas that the OTHER side came up with were even wackier ! In addition Germany had a dictator who kept changeing the procurement priorities, apparently on a whim. Plus a few other advantages such as code breaking and , in the case of the United States, immense manufacturing capacity which the Axis powers could neither compete with, nor destroy ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted January 28, 2011 Report Share Posted January 28, 2011 Re: The original War Wheel 1917 Well' date=' some of the ideas that the OTHER side came up with were even wackier ![/quote'] Hmm. Good point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted January 28, 2011 Report Share Posted January 28, 2011 Re: The original War Wheel 1917 Dear God. How did we ever win? Also, we mock the ideas that failed, but the geniuses that came up with these ideas also came up with: "We're short of metal! Let's build a plane entirely out of wood!" The Mosquito, one of the best multirole aircraft of the war "What if we could detect objects by bouncing high frequency radio waves off them?" Radar. Say no more. "Let's make a round bomb that bounces until it hits its target!" The bouncing bomb that became famous with the Dam-busters And of course: "What if we could make enough uranium for a self-sustaining fission reaction?" Ask the people at Hiroshima about that! Not every idea was gold - and even the good ones often came out looking a bit eccentric -but the Brit.s came up with an amazing array of useful devices (well, useful for killing people) during the war. cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Carman Posted January 28, 2011 Report Share Posted January 28, 2011 Re: The original War Wheel 1917 I understand that the Japanese weren't so concerned about nuclear power, but were really worried by another odd-ball idea: bats carrying incendiaries. The idea was that they roost under a building's eves for the day, and burn it down when the bombs go off; the US military lost one or more warehouses (not the intended targets!) testing them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yansuf Posted January 29, 2011 Report Share Posted January 29, 2011 Re: The original War Wheel 1917 I understand that the Japanese weren't so concerned about nuclear power' date=' but were really worried by another odd-ball idea: bats carrying incendiaries. The idea was that they roost under a building's eves for the day, and burn it down when the bombs go off; the US military lost one or more warehouses (not the intended targets!) testing them.[/quote'] The US did briefly look at that idea, but it was worthless for many reasons. Not the least of which was dropping the incendiaries from B-29s worked quite well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Mackinder Posted January 29, 2011 Report Share Posted January 29, 2011 Re: The original War Wheel 1917 From that font of all wisdom .... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat_bombs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenAge Posted January 29, 2011 Report Share Posted January 29, 2011 Re: The original War Wheel 1917 From that font of all wisdom .... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat_bombs http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php/83830-The-Bat-Bomb! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted January 29, 2011 Report Share Posted January 29, 2011 Re: The original War Wheel 1917 I understand that the Japanese weren't so concerned about nuclear power' date=' but were really worried by another odd-ball idea: bats carrying incendiaries. The idea was that they roost under a building's eves for the day, and burn it down when the bombs go off; the US military lost one or more warehouses (not the intended targets!) testing them.[/quote'] Of course the Japanese then replied with their own wacky weapon--the balloon bomb. Which was even more successful than the bat one. To say nothing of suicide aircraft, torpedoes, submarines, boats, and piloted bombs, of course. p.s. If you follow that link, do not click the one about Unit 731. You are better off not knowing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.