Panjandrum, also known as The Great Panjandrum, was a massive, rocket-propelled, explosive-laden
cart designed by the British military during World War II. It 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 the war. The Panjandrum
was never used in battle.
Development The DMWD had been asked to come up with a
device capable of penetrating the 10-foot-high, 7-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 1 long 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 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-pound 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 famous extempore nonsense paragraph, and in particular
to its closing line "till the gunpowder ran out at the heels of their boots".
Testing
The prototype was secretly constructed at Leytonstone and transported by night to the
testing grounds at Westward Ho!, Devon. However, once there the secrecy surrounding the project
broke down, as the beach chosen as a test site was also a popular destination for holidaymakers
and from the first test on 7 September 1943 onwards, every trial was witnessed by large
citizen audiences despite the DMWD's warnings concerning the safety of the weapon. Since
nothing remotely resembling the Panjandrum had ever been constructed before, the trials
began with a good degree of trepidation — only a handful of cordite rockets were attached
to the wheels, and the payload was simulated by an equivalent weight of sand. When Shute
gave the signal, the rockets were ignited and the Panjandrum catapulted itself forward,
out of the landing craft used as a launchpad, and a fair distance up the beach before a
number of the rockets on the right wheel failed and the weapon careened off course. Several
further attempts were made with more and more rockets, but on every occasion the Panjandrum
lost control before reaching the end of the beach.
After tinkering with the project for a further three weeks, the Department returned to the
beach. Panjandrum was now equipped with over seventy cordite rockets and a stabilising
third wheel. When launched, it hurtled towards the coast, skimming the beach before turning
back out to sea. A number of the 20 lb rockets detached and whipped wildly above the heads
of the gathered audience or exploded underwater. Despite these failures, Shute and his team
persevered, removing the third wheel and attaching steel cables to the remaining two wheels as
a basic form of steering. Panjandrum proved to be too powerful however, snapping the cables
and whipping them back across the beach when they were used. More weeks were spent testing
every conceivable variable from thicker cables to heavier rocket-clamps without success before
the DMWD received notification that the weapon was only required to be consistently able
to travel in the general direction of the enemy. With some degree of confidence, a final
trial was scheduled to be performed in January 1944, in front of a number of Navy officials
and scientists, as well as an official photographer. The final test
The day of the test was described in detail by Brian Johnson, for the 1977 BBC documentary
The Secret War:
At first all went well. Panjandrum rolled into the sea and began to head for the shore,
the Brass Hats watching through binoculars from the top of a pebble ridge [...] Then
a clamp gave: first one, then two more rockets broke free: Panjandrum began to lurch ominously.
It hit a line of small craters in the sand and began to turn to starboard, careering
towards Klemantaski, who, viewing events through a telescopic lens, misjudged the distance
and continued filming. Hearing the approaching roar he looked up from his viewfinder to see
Panjandrum, shedding live rockets in all directions, heading straight for him. As he ran for his
life, he glimpsed the assembled admirals and generals diving for cover behind the pebble
ridge into barbed-wire entanglements. Panjandrum was now heading back to the sea but crashed
on to the sand where it disintegrated in violent explosions, rockets tearing across the beach
at great speed.
Given the results of the trial, it is perhaps not surprising that the project was scrapped
almost immediately over safety concerns. However, it has since been claimed that the entire
project was a hoax devised as part of Operation Fortitude, to convince the Germans that plans
were being developed to attack the heavily fortified defences surrounding the Pas-de-Calais
rather than the less-defended Normandy coastline. Reconstruction
On the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the Normandy Landings a replica was constructed
and set off on the original beach in Devon. The wheel, commissioned by the local Appledore
Book Festival, was 6 feet high and 3 feet wide and loaded with fireworks fitted by Skyburst
of Bristol, instead of explosives; it was expected to travel 500 metres at a speed of
up to 24 km/h. In the event, it travelled in a straight line, but only for 50 metres.
A video of the event can be seen on YouTube. In popular culture
Although not named as Panjandrum, a similar device was the focus of an episode of the
comedy Dad's Army, "Round and Round Went the Great Big Wheel". The device malfunctions
in a similar way to the original, although it was operated by remote control and for
comic purposes it is more manoeuvrable and remains active far longer.
Panjandrum was the name of a rock band from Houston, Texas fronted by Johnny Goudie.
The Panjandrum tests are featured in the film Overlord by Stuart Cooper.
The Panjandrum was mentioned in The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe.
Footage from the final test is shown in Episode 17 of the ITV documentary series The World
at War. The Panjandrum is mentioned as the cause of
the character England's illness in a strip from Axis Powers Hetalia. It is also mentioned
along with the Busby Stoop Chair in England's character song, 'Pub & Go!'.
The term "Panjandrum" is used frequently in Anathem by Neal Stephenson.
Lytton Strachey, author of Queen Victoria, a literary biography, described the Queen
as a "Great Panjandrum." See also
Hobart's Funnies References
Notes
Bibliography Pawle, G. The Secret War, White Lion, 1972.
ISBN 0-85617-120-4 Johnson, B. The Secret War, BBC Publications,
1978. ISBN 0-09-920790-7 External links
"The Great Panjandrum" by Samuel Foote, on Wikisource.
Eye witness account by Thomas William Leeson On BBC WW2 People.
Imperial War Museum Collection Search:
"ADM 1308 - The Great Panjandrum". Retrieved 30 June 2012.
"IWM FLM 1627, The Great Panjandrum at Westward Ho!". Retrieved 30 June 2012.
John Garth: "The Great Panjandrum rolls again… Secret weapon designed for D-Day roars back
to life for anniversary", 5 June 2009, Daily Mail