I watched the curve of the smoke trails curl away up into the clear blue sky of the Southern Crimea. Only the day before I had been reading about the Royal Navy using these missiles in the Sea of Azov (not far away) during the Crimean War 1854/5. But here we are in the Peninsular War of 1808/14 - and we are just beginning to learn how to use these rockets after a rest of around one hundred and eighty years. Actually we are in 1993 making a film about the Peninsular War, "Sharpe's Enemy, in which the script requires Congreve rockets.

There remain on view here in England several pieces of equipage that was an integral part of the Congreve Rocket system. We found in the Science Museum and the Woolwich Arsenal enough information - including the loan of Congreve's Manual - on rockets to be able to construct the hardware, and enough technical data to establish the 'software'.

The reason why rockets were not considered a fit weapon to have on a battlefield was that they could not be brought to be accurate enough to serve as a useful tactical arm - could we with our advantage in technology and understanding, bring these rockets to a degree of usefulness so as to be reliable and accurate?

We had two types of rockets made, in England and in the Ukraine, with differences between them, mainly in weight and the propulsion unit. An experiment -- an early one -- with the propulsion unit designed to give out four exhausts to compel the rocket body to turn in a similar way to a rifle bullet in order to improve range and trajectory, was deemed 'not possible' due to the weight of the stick which was a balance to the rocket body which caused it to 'oscillate' rather than spin; strangely enough it made them accurate but at a very reduced range. The rocket bodies weighed between three and six pounds, with a full length of stick being an extra one and a half pounds. This also meant that we had to be pretty careful where these missiles were pointed -- one could fetch someone a nasty thump!

Launching the rockets from an inclined plane meant we could introduce a degree of elevation into the launch. The 'troughs' had an adjustable stand so the launch angle could be varied between 0 degrees and 60 degrees. The stick could also be trimmed in length.

The sticks gave stability to the rocket body, and it was found that fins did the same - but in Congreve's day fins were not fitted. It was generally found that the longer the stick, the higher the rocket flew and the further a short stick gave the rocket a flatter trajectory but a shorter range. The other factor that a 'rocketeer' must take into account is the wind. This is the factor, along with faulty assembly of the rocket, that accounts for the greatest variance in launching.

That is not to say that there is, every now and then, a rocket which seems to have been taken over by some intemperate demon and flown in such a manner as to introduce a degree of head- scratching and debate into our findings. Our first launch of ten rockets saw the third along very wildly to the left and smack into the camera, giving our cameraman a bloody nose. This particular rocket, when examined, gave no clue as to why this should have occurred. Similarly, the next launch sent one rocket climbing so far and so high that it seemed bound for Mars.

All I can see in my notebook kept at the time is the tape used to secure the stick was not robust -- using a wider tape and keeping it under stress whilst applying it gave a much improved grip and eliminated another variable. That the stick should be in line with the rocket body to a tight tolerance also proved to be critical to performance.

After the 'training' sequence - very much an experimental scene as we did not know if the rockets would fly at all more thought was given to how to set up the missiles so as to give the required range and accuracy. A launch against French infantry from an elevated height, with correctly set up rockets, proved so much of a success that all the rockets landed in a square of twenty metres, but this success was over-shadowed by the explosion of same which ignited the tinder-dry grass and caused a fire which destroyed over five acres of Crimean hillside.

The success of the launch took our Ukrainian Fire Brigade comrades quite by surprise! What our French troops thought about all this you can see from the film - we legged it as fast and as far as we could!

Time permitting, I believe we could have created a system of rockets that was both accurate and adjustable to range. The best launch we had was ten rockets at 500 yards all landing within 50 metres of the target, and three landing within 5 metres. The target was ten metres square.

Our Rocket Troop was taken from the manual too - we noted the several 'unofficial' adoptions by the Troop, and built them into our 'creation'. Several illustrations are available of contemporary troopers, and we used them all.

The creation of the Rocket Troop, the use of practical rockets, and the fact they did become accurate enough to be considered 'tactical' by us, is something you'll see reflected in the film - altogether a very rewarding exercise for a re-enactor like myself; the horses, the troopers, the strange 'technological' aspect to the rockets, the smoke, the noise, the feeling you get when you see a rocket reach the top of its trajectory and drop towards you - fantastic! Not something you'll ever see in the Napoleonic Association though ... who knows ?

(Sharpe's Company, Sharpe's Enemy and Sharpe's Honour can be seen on Central Television in May 1994).

Richard Moore Military & Technical Adviser Sharpe Film

Richard Moore is a long-term member of the Napoleonic Association and a muzzle loading shooter of twenty years experience. An avid exponent of 'living history' through many and varied guises, he is best known as a rifleman of the NinetyFifth Regiment (Rifles).

Notes on the photographs.

1 Captain Gilliand and the Troop; deployed for firing 'by bombardment'.

2 Rocket troopers mounted

3 The rocket cart deployed but not in use as a 'launching platform'. Note rockets nearby of the six-pound incendiary type.

4 Rockets deployed and firing on a target (a small barn) at 500 yards. One has just exploded and another is just exploding.

5 A close-up of rockets taking off; of this early launch seven rockets flew 'true', one exploded on take-off, and two more hit the ground ten metres away and spectacularly 'brewed-up!'