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, on 27 March 1943, the US War Department added another such item to the list by revealing a new weapon: the bazooka.

Named after the musical instrument, the bazooka was designed as a portable anti-tank weapon. Unlike the PIAT, which was the nearest British equivalent and which fired its projectiles by means of a powerful spring (!), the 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.

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 Raketenpanzerbüchse.