us airborne bazooka light mortar teams 1944 45The American Bazooka was first used in North Africa and on Tarawa in November 1942. The final version was longer (1. 55m) and improved the range from 200 250 yards to 300 yards. The M6 HEAT rocket could easily penetrate 76mm of armour at 30 or 110mm at 90. The standard light mortar was of relatively large calibre at 60mm. It fired a correspondingly larger and more effective shell over a greater range than the smaller mortars used by the Germans and