M20 3.5-Inch Rocket Launcher (Bazooka)
Ernesto "Che" Guevara, in "Guerrilla Warfare" [written in 1961], noted: "The bazooka is a heavy weapon that can be used by the guerrilla band because of its easy portability and operation. ... Naturally, it will be a weapon taken from the enemy. The bazooka is ideal for firing on armored vehicles, and even on unarmored vehicles that are loaded with troops, and for taking small military bases of few men in a short time; but it is important to point out that not more than three shells per man can be carried, and this only with considerable exertion. ... the bazooka .. for the guerrilla force is a decisive weapon but difficult to acquire, at least in the first stages."
The M20 3.5-Inch Rocket Launcher (Bazooka), although on the drawing board since the end of World War II, had not been put into production due to cutbacks in defense spending. The rockets had been in production only 15 days before the Korean War started.
On June 25, 1950, the North Korea People's Army executed a surprise invasion of the poorly prepared Republic of Korea (ROK) and overwhelmed the ROK Army. President Harry S. Truman authorized reinforcement of the ROK Army by U.S. Army units stationed in Japan. American defenders faced overwhelming enemy forces outside Osan, South Korea - fewer than 600 Americans with mortars versus some 6,000 North Koreans with dozens of tanks. They described how they lacked the right weapons - their bazooka shells literally bounced off the oncoming North Korean tanks. The heavy armor plating on the T-34 ranged from 0.79 inches to 3.54 inches. None of the newer, more effective 3.5-inch launchers in the Army inventory had been issued to Far East units.
The larger M20 was ordered into production and the manuals were hastily written by the weapons department at Fort Benning in just two weeks. It is a measure of the speed with which the Americans could react that, within five days of MacArthur's request for the new launchers, the first batch was airlifted to Korea, accompanied by instructors. The new and highly effective 3.5-inch bazooka reached Korea while the battle for Taejon was raging. The 24th Division received the first consignment of the new 3.5-inch anti-tank rocket launcher. The weapon was flown to Korea and was credited with knocking out eight T34 tanks on the first day it was used in combat. On 20 July 1950, the second day of the battle, a number of North Korean tanks entered the city without infantry support. The 3.5-inch bazookas, used in battle for the first time, accounted for 8 tanks.
Major General William F. Dean, commander of the 24th Infantry Division during the early stages of the Korean War, personally used the newly arrived 3.5-inch bazooka against the enemy's T-34 tanks. Dean languished as a POW for almost two more years and was not repatriated until September 4, 1953, a week after the Armistice. Dean was surprised to learn that he had been regarded as a hero in the United States ever since his disappearance. The American government had awarded him the first Medal of Honor for service in the Korean War for his personal bravery with the 24th Division at Taejon.
These rocket launchers were placed into the eager hands of the infantry as rapidly as they could be flown to the front from the US. The troops found the 3.5-inch bazooka to be an effective close-range antitank weapon. Firing a nine-pound rocket with a shaped charge designed to focus its full force forward in a jet, it could and did stop North Korean tanks. There were neither weapons nor troops enough, however, to hold the communists.
The North Korean People’s Army (NKPA), particularly early in the war, failed to send infantry along with its tanks in the attack. As a result, once the United States and Republic of Korea Army (ROKA, South Koreans) obtained the 3.5-inch bazooka rocket launcher, communist tank losses soared. This, coupled with heavy armor losses from United Nations Command (UNC) air attacks, ended the threat of NKPA armor.
Described by one Infantry officer as "The answer to a rifleman's prayer for a tank killer.," the 3.5 was so effective that it was decided not to limit its use to battalion level but to extend it to the rifle company as well. A new TOE dated 15 May 1952, authorized three of these "superbazookas" and placed them in the rifle platoon headquarters. The 3.5 bazooka effectively eliminated the 57mm recoilless by providing about the same power and effectiveness in a lighter package.
