Just when you think that you have a pretty good handle on lots of the weaponry and innovations that came out of WWII you learn that the Germans were using small, remote controlled tanks packed with dynamite to blow up stuff on battlefields all over Europe. Called Goliath tracked mines or Goliath demolition vehicles they carried between 50 and 130lbs of explosives and they had a half mile long spool of cable that was connected to a control stick and a detonator button. Powered by electric motors and batteries and then small gasoline engines, these things packed a wallop but were considered a failure because they were easily blown up in the field, only went about 6mph, and were expensive to produce (for something that was guaranteed to be destroyed if used properly).
This video is amazing because it shows a pair of these Goliath tanks that were captured by Allied forces and taken apart to see how they worked and what they were. At one point a soldier hops in the thing and his buddies turn it on. With no control stick to operate it, the thing just makes some wide circles. The guys all seem pretty entertained, though. Believe it or not more than 7,000 of these things were produced and used everywhere from Normandy to Anzio. 20-30 of them survive today and they can be found in various military museums around the world.
German car companies Borgward and Zundapp produced the Goliath mini-tanks at their converted factories and the whole thing was based off of a miniature French tracked vehicles that the Germans confiscated in 1940. While its intentions are nefarious and bad we can’t help but laugh when we see the video of the GI sitting on top of it with his buddies running to get out of the way.
