The author was one of a group of officers with engineering or scientific backgrounds who were charged with the task of winning the struggle for scientific mastery between the Allies and the Germans in what Churchill enthusiastically called 'the wizard war'. Their work ranged from early stop-gap weapons like the steam-powered Holman projector, via great success stories like the Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar, to futuristic experiments with rockets, a minefield that could be sown in the sky, and the spectacularly dangerous Great Panjandrum, a giant explosive Catherine-wheel intended to storm enemy beaches.
The development of these and many other extraordinary inventions, their triumphs and disasters, is told with panache and humour, and a diverse group of highly imaginative and eccentric figures emerge from the pages.
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Well written by Gerald Pawle, "The Wheezers & Dodgers", the inside story of clandestine weapon development on World War II, follows the development of various Rube Goldberg inventions designed to defend against German invasion and eventually carry the war to the Germans. It documents the difficulty in acquiring "official" approval of various projects. The inventors had a wonderful sense of humor when dealing with the slow-moving red tape and conservative superiors. I intent to send a copy of the book to my father, who is retired as a project engineer. It took great courage for these inventors to test these ideas that not only saved the allies resources, but lives as well. Any film producer worth his salt should read this book and make it a film. I'm certain that if a screen play is developed, including the hilarious antics, a classic title would spring forth.
One of my specialties is WWII Naval Ordnance history. This is a very fine short treatise on ordnance development in the UK (including Canadians) and I highly recommend it. For scholarly research you will need to go further, but the introduction to Charles Goodeve is useful, and the book gives a broad overview of ordnance research begun before the U.S. started gearing up for war with the establishment of the National Defense Research Committee (Office of Scientific Research and Development) in 1940 under Dr. Vannevar Bush. Most of my work on this subject appears in The Submarine Review, including development of a new magnetic-induction/inertia-contact detonator in the last year of the war, and a two part set of papers on degaussing, which also concerned the British considerably and is discussed in this book.
Highly recommended for the WWII enthusiast who is looking for "off the beaten track" historic information.
A exceptionally well written book, that turned what might be seen as a rather 'dry' subject into a witty compelling read.My father read this book with rather more insight into the subject than most people and said that it was one of the most acurate texts that he had ever read on this particular subject area.
This book is an mini-national treasure in defining how men and women in the back rooms played their part in helping Britain and her Allies to win the Second World War.
This is a great history of the weird things that happened in WW2. The book is good, but the printing is bad. Looks like it was photocopied off center.
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