In 1943, during World War II, the British Admiralty tasked a specialized group with developing a unique weapon to breach the heavily fortified Atlantic Wall, a defensive system built by Nazi Germany along the western coast of Europe. This group, known as the Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development—nicknamed the "wheezers and dodgers"—was responsible for creating unconventional weapons. One of their most ambitious projects was the Great Panjandrum, a massive rolling explosive device. Designed to roll unaided across the beach and destroy German defenses, the device was built using a steel drum filled with 1.8 tonnes of explosives, mounted on two large wooden wheels, and powered by dozens of cordite rockets fixed to the rims. The Great Panjandrum was engineered by a team led by Sub-Lieutenant Nevil Shute Norway, an engineer and novelist. The goal was to create a weapon capable of penetrating a 3-meter-high and 2.1-meter-thick concrete wall. The device was constructed by a manufacturer in Leytonstone, east London, and featured 18 solid-fuel rockets, later increased to 66, to propel it forward. The plan was to launch it from a landing barge, allowing it to roll toward the shore at speeds of up to 97 kilometers per hour. The device was expected to break through any obstacle using its sheer momentum and explosive power. Testing of the Great Panjandrum began in September 1943 on the beach at Westward Ho! in Devon, a popular tourist spot. Despite warnings from the Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development about the dangers involved, the tests attracted large crowds of curious onlookers. The first test was plagued by mechanical issues, with several rockets detaching from the right wheel, causing the device to veer off course. Engineers attempted various modifications to improve stability, including increasing the number of rockets and trying to guide the device with heavy cables connected to winches. However, the smoke and flames from the rockets made it impossible for the operators to see the device's trajectory clearly. The primary problem with the Great Panjandrum was not the explosive charge or enemy interference, but a fundamental design flaw. The rockets, mounted on the periphery of the wheels, were subjected to centrifugal forces they were not designed to handle. This led to repeated failures in the fastenings, causing rockets to detach and creating directional instability. Despite these issues, the Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development continued testing the device. In January 1944, a final test was conducted in front of a group of senior military officers. However, the device veered off course, nearly hitting a cameraman who had been filming the event. The officers scrambled for cover, and the demonstration ended in failure. The Great Panjandrum was never used in combat, and the project was abandoned. It would not be until 2009 that a replica of the device was tested again on the same beach, rolling about fifty meters before coming to a stop, far short of its intended target.