The Great Panjandum: Britain's Most Ridiculous Weapon

The Great Panjandum was a massive contraption consisting of two 10-foot wooden wheels with rockets attached to the rim, designed to be a self-propelled mine-clearing device. It was tested on beaches in Devon and was an absolute catastrophe. The rockets fired unevenly, the wheels wobbled, the thing caught fire, and it eventually careened uncontrollably across the beach toward military officers and journalists filming the demonstration. A cameraman was actually killed in a related test. Winston Churchill was reportedly delighted by footage of the failure.