Gene Bane ©Stars and StripesBaumholder, Germany, November, 1955: Two members of the 265th Field Artillery Battalion stand by as a giant M65 "atomic cannon" hurls a 280mm projectile (visible to the left of the smoke) toward its target during the 2nd Armored Division's nontactical firing demonstration. The weapon could fire a shell — conventional or atomic — a distance of 20 miles; several of the cannons were deployed in Europe through the 1950s.

RELATED MATERIAL:Video of a test of a 280mm nuclear shell in Nevada.