Q Branch - German Rocket Pack - WW2

The problem of enabling infantry to cross battlefield obstacles such as barbed wire or minefields has been addressed in a number of ways.

It was possibly inevitable that sooner or later some kind of personal means of flying over them would be tried. Late in World War 2 German experiments are reputed to have led to a simple, individual rocket pack.

The pack consisted of two units. One duct was strapped to the user's chest, the other to his back. Both were small, low-powered rockets, working on a pattern known as the Schmidt pulse-tube.

The front unit was of slightly lower power than the back. This disparity in thrust produced a tendency towards forward movement. Both tubes had to be ignited at exactly the same time, otherwise the user could expect disastrous results.

One experimental unit is reputed to have tested the rocket packs, achieving leaps of up to 60 yards. They were cheap to run, burning only about 100 grams of fuel a second. Despite this, there is no record of them having seen action.