The Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development (DMWD), known colloquially as the Wheezers and Dodgers, was a department of the Admiralty

Admiralty

The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...

 responsible for the development of various unconventional weapons during World War II. The nickname was derived from their original title, the Inspectorate of Anti-Aircraft Weapons and Devices, IAAWD, which was corrupted to "Instigator of Anti-Aircraft Wheezes and Dodges".

The Director was Sir Charles Goodeve, who was also responsible for its expansion from an Inspectorate and widening of its role. Among the staff was Lieutenant-Commander N. S. Norway, RNVR (better known by his pen name

Pen name

A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...

 - Nevil Shute

Nevil Shute

Nevil Shute Norway was a popular British-Australian novelist and a successful aeronautical engineer. He used his full name in his engineering career, and 'Nevil Shute' as his pen name, in order to protect his engineering career from any potential negative publicity in connection with his novels.-...

) and renowned motor racing photographer Louis Klementaski.

Projects

DMWD was responsible for a number of devices of varying practicality and success, many of which were based on solid fuel rocket propulsion. As might be expected of a small, dynamic and highly experimental group, their output encompassed both resounding successes and sublimely comical failures, notable among which were the Panjandrum

Panjandrum

Panjandrum, known also as The Great Panjandrum, was a massive, rocket-propelled, explosive-laden cart designed by the British military during World War II. It was one of a number of highly experimental projects, including Hajile and the Hedgehog, that were developed by the Admiralty's Directorate...

 rocket-propelled beach defence demolition weapon and Hajile

Hajile

Hajile was one of a number of highly experimental projects, including the Hedgehog and Panjandrum, that were developed by the British Admiralty's Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development during the final years of World War II...

, a rocket-powered alternative to parachutes for dropping materiel

Materiel

Materiel is a term used in English to refer to the equipment and supplies in military and commercial supply chain management....

.
A scheme to camouflage bodies of water, used as navigation markers by bombers, was undertook by a group named "Kentucky Minstrels

Kentucky Minstrels

The Kentucky Minstrels were a team formed under the leadership of Duncan Bruce to study a scheme during World War II to cover the River Thames with soot in order to conceal it from German Bombers....

". It involved spreading coal dust

Coal dust

Coal dust is a fine powdered form of coal, which is created by the crushing, grinding, or pulverizing of coal. Because of the brittle nature of coal, coal dust can be created during mining, transportation, or by mechanically handling coal.-Explosions:...

 from a ship, ironically named "HMS Persil".Persil being a brand of washing powder The scheme failed due to the actions of wind and tide but did produce some confusion when the coal-covered waters were mistaken for tarmac in the blackout.

Its successful and important developments included the Hedgehog

Hedgehog (weapon)

The Hedgehog was an anti-submarine weapon developed by the Royal Navy during World War II, that was deployed on convoy escort warships such as destroyers to supplement the depth charge. The weapon worked by firing a number of small spigot mortar bombs from spiked fittings...

 anti-submarine weapon and Squid

Squid (weapon)

Squid was a British World War II ship-mounted anti-submarine weapon. It consisted of a three-barrelled mortar which launched depth charges. It replaced the Hedgehog system, and was in turn replaced by the Limbo system....

 anti-submarine mortar, as well as the Harvey Projector, an anti-aircraft rocket battery designed to be mountable on naval vessels and the system of degaussing

Degaussing

Degaussing is the process of decreasing or eliminating an unwanted magnetic field. It is named after Carl Friedrich Gauss, an early researcher in the field of magnetism...

 used to protect ships against magnetic mines, and above all an instrumental role in developing parts of the Mulberry harbour

Mulberry harbour

A Mulberry harbour was a British type of temporary harbour developed in World War II to offload cargo on the beaches during the Allied invasion of Normandy....

 used in the D-Day

D-Day

D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...

 landings.
Hedgehog was developed after the Lt-Col Blacker

Stewart Blacker

Lieutenant-Colonel Latham Valentine Stewart Blacker OBE was a British Army officer and inventor of weapons.He invented the Blacker Bombard, laid the basis of the PIAT - both based on the spigot mortar - and the Ayre Petard...

's spigot mortar weapons were shown to the DMWD by MD1

MD1

Ministry of Defence 1 , also known as "Churchill's Toyshop" was a British weapon research and development organisation of the Second World War....

 ("Churchill's Toyshop").

Several experimental weapons were trialled at Brean Down Fort

Brean Down Fort

Brean Down Fort was built above sea level on the headland at Brean Down, south of Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England.The site has a long history, because of its prominent position...

, a satellite unit of HMS Birnbeck

Birnbeck Pier

Birnbeck Pier is a pier in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England. It is situated on the Bristol Channel approximately south west of Bristol...

 in Weston-super-Mare

Weston-super-Mare

Weston-super-Mare is a seaside resort, town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, which is within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is located on the Bristol Channel coast, south west of Bristol, spanning the coast between the bounding high ground of Worlebury...

, North Somerset

North Somerset

North Somerset is a unitary authority in England. Its area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset but it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters is in the town hall in Weston-super-Mare....

. Some of the better known weapons trialed were the seaborne Bouncing bomb

Bouncing bomb

A bouncing bomb is a bomb designed specifically to bounce to a target across water in a calculated manner, in order to avoid obstacles such as torpedo nets, and to allow both the bomb's speed on arrival at the target and the timing of its detonation to be pre-determined...

 designed specifically to bounce to a target such as across water to avoid torpedo nets, Anti-submarine missile

Anti-submarine missile

An anti-submarine missile is a standoff weapon including a rocket designed to rapidly deliver an explosive warhead or homing torpedo from the launch platform to the vicinity of a submarine.-History:...

AMUCK and the expendable acoustic emitter (designed to confuse noise seeking torpedoes).