![\"US](\"https:\/\/secondbysecondworldwar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Wbazooka-300x242.jpg\")
<\/a>US soldier holding a bazooka, 1943 [Public domain, wiki]<\/p><\/div>The iconic hardware of World War II, items that took on a larger-than-life persona and captured the public’s attention both during and after the war included the Spitfire<\/em>, the Jeep, even Germany’s MP-40 machine pistol.<\/p>\n This week in the war, on 27 March 1943, the US War Department added another such item to the list by revealing a new weapon: the bazooka<\/em>.<\/p>\n Named after the musical instrument, the bazooka was designed as a portable anti-tank weapon. Unlike the PIAT<\/em>, which was the nearest British equivalent and which fired its projectiles by means of a powerful spring (!), \u00a0the bazooka was essentially a tubular rocket-launcher. Once loaded into the tube, the rocket was ignited electrically and then propelled itself forward at high velocity. The bazooka could knock out most enemy tanks within a range of 100 yards.<\/p>\n German soldier aims ‘Raketenpanzerbuchse’, 1944 [Bundesarchiv Bild 101l-671-7482-08A, author: Lysiak]<\/p><\/div>Almost half a million bazookas were manufactured during the course of the war. The Germans captured some during the North Africa campaign and copied the design for their own Raketenpanzerb\u00fcchse<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The iconic hardware of World War II, items that took on a larger-than-life persona and captured the public’s attention both during and after the war included the Spitfire, the Jeep, even Germany’s MP-40 machine pistol. This week in the war, … Continue reading ![\"German](\"https:\/\/secondbysecondworldwar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Wraketenpanzerbuchse-300x200.jpg\")
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