大象传媒

This contribution to WW2 People鈥檚 War was received by the Action Desk at 大象传媒 Radio Norfolk. The story has been written and submitted to the website by Rosalie Davis Gibb (Volunteer Story Gatherer) with the full permission and on behalf of James Arthur Rose.

Having served 2陆 years in the Navy on landing craft, I became friends with Lieutenant Commander PG Sanderson RN when he retired to Norwich, who told me this story.

鈥榋鈥� guns, as they were known, fired rockets like 4鈥� drain pipes, with 4 fins riveted at one end. Inside the pipes were several projectiles which burst out just like a firework after reaching three thousand feet. Each projectile contained a parachute-piano-wire and a small bomb.

A report from an Incident Book stated that at 01.19 hours on Tuesday 16 September 1941 a number of canister-like objects linked together by long wires were draped over trees, shrubs, chimney-pots and lamp-posts in Norwich. This was rather strange as there were no records of any raids during this time in the City鈥檚 files. At first they were thought to be anti-personnel bombs. Several people had lucky escapes as they pulled at the trailing wires, which in some cases detonated explosive charges in the canisters.

Since there had been no enemy air activity, it was thought the canisters must have been accidentally dropped by British aircraft. The idea was that they would be shot from our planes into the path of oncoming enemy aircraft and the wires would entangle themselves around the propellers thus exploding the canisters.

These 鈥榋鈥� gun rocket launchers were not really guns at all as they had neither breeches nor rifling. On one occasion when Winston Churchill was carrying out an inspection in Dover an order was given for one gun to be fired. As there was an onshore wind blowing, Lieutenant Commander Sanderson was very reluctant to fire, but as it was an order, one gun was fired with ten projectiles. One went off course and burst outside Vice Admiral Ramsay鈥檚 balcony. Others burst and drifted and covered Dover. Eventually all the balloons were shot down over the harbour.

These launches and Sanderson were banished to the Middle East, as there were plenty of customers waiting to receive them in Bewshazi, Tobruk, Nalfa etc.

Eventually, 3 launchers turned up in Malta with their crew during the siege of that island. I call them the Ghost Weapons of Malta as I have tried all sources to find out more about them. I now have evidence that they existed. After 3 visits to Malta and numerous letters I have found only one person, a journalist with the Maltese Times during the war, who saw them in Corradino, above Valletta Heights.

After 10 years trying to dug up evidence I still think I have just scratched the surface in bringing to light the bravery of this Navy crew. I am currently waiting for a reply to my queries from a Historian in Malta.

Commander Sanderson gave me a pair of his special boots and a log book. Being a Naval gun site, everything was recorded. I would like to know who do I leave the log book to, priceless according to people in Malta, and where were these rockets made in England?

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