The 30th and 90th Infantry Divisions’ 743rd and 712th Tank Battalions were among the first to receive T34 Calliope rocket launcher kits. These launchers were named after the Calliope (pronounced Kal-lee-ohp by some and Kal-lieoh-pee by others) steam-powered organ played at carnivals and circuses. The launcher’s frame couldn’t stand up to the main gun’s recoil, so the crews became dedicated rocketeers, forgoing their main gun completely.

Each Calliope rocket launcher system fired a bombardment of sixty 4.5” (114mm) rockets. Individually, these rockets may not cause much damage, but group 60 to 240 of them into a single salvo and the enemy will have nowhere to hide.

Calliope launcher kits were attached to tanks from an infantry division’s tank battalion. This meant that the Calliope crews were full-time tankers but only part-time artillerymen without much, if any, specialised training.
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