Lier, Belgium

The idea of using rockets as an artillery weapon is not new. The Chinese, who invented and developed the first propelled rockets, already used a primitive version of the rocket launch unit in the 10th century A.D., consisting of a number of arrows positioned in a canvas cone, filled with gunpowder in the closed rear end which was then set ablaze to fire the "rockets". Because this weapon was handheld its operation was not without danger. Rocket propelled projectiles have been known to reach western battlefields somewhere around 1250 through the Arab world. Historical proof of a rocket-propelled javelin was found in Sweden and dated back to the early 16th century but the first real rocket artillery system was developed by a man named Congreve who, around 18M, already had the idea of firing the rockets from a moveable platform. Further developments finally resulted in more reliable artillery rocket systems such as those used in WWII with the German Schwerer Wurfrahmen 40and Nebelwerrer 41, the US M4 Sherman -mounted T34 Calliope and the notorious Soviet katvusna (or Stalin orqan). ( )