the assembled admirals and generals diving for cover behind the pebble ridge into barbed-wire entanglements. Panjandrum was now heading back to the sea but crashed on to the sand where it disintegrated in violent explosions, rockets tearing across the beach at great speed. Given the results of the trial, it is perhaps not surprising that the project was scrapped almost immediately over safety concerns. However, it has since been suggested that the entire project was a hoax devised as part of Operation Fortitude, to convince the Germans that plans were being developed to attack the heavily fortified defences surrounding the Pas-de-Calais rather than the less-defended Normandy coastline. Reconstruction On the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the Normandy Landings a replica was constructed and set off on the original beach in Devon. The wheel, commissioned by the local Appledore Book Festival, was high and wide and loaded with fireworks fitted by Skyburst of Bristol, instead of explosives; it was expected to travel 500 metres at a speed of up to 24 km/h. In the event, it travelled in a straight line, but only for 50 metres. The event was recorded on video. Neil A Downie described the science and fabrication of a 'Turbo Panjandrum', a Panjandrum driven by 2 or more high power electric motors with propellers attached to a pair of large bicycle wheels. Turbo Panjandrums made by different teams have been raced against each other. In popular culture Although not called Panjandrum, a similar device was the focus of an episode of the comedy Dad's Army, "Round and Round Went the Great Big Wheel", although it was operated by remote control and for comic purposes it was more manoeuvrable and remained active far longer. The Panjandrum tests are featured in the film Overlord by Stuart Cooper. The Panjandrum was mentioned in The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe. The Panjandrum is mentioned as the cause of the character England's illness in a strip from Axis Powers Hetalia. It is also mentioned along with the Busby's stoop chair in England's character song, 'Pub & Go!' The term "Panjandrum" is used frequently in Anathem by Neal Stephenson. In the anime feature film Girls und Panzer der Film, the Panjandrum is mentioned when the Ōarai Rabbit Team shoots a Ferris wheel off its mountings, sending it rolling down a slope in order to break up an enemy formation. The invention was explored