This reminds me of my favorite part of this story. In 1943, the first Quebec Conference between the US and UK military brass was a very contentious and heated a

This reminds me of my favorite part of this story. In 1943, the first Quebec Conference between the US and UK military brass was a very contentious and heated affair, with the top generals and admirals on either side almost coming to blows. At one point they all dismiss their aides and go into a closed session, and Lord Mountbatten takes this opportunity to brief everyone on Project Habbakuk, using some samples of pykrete to demonstrate its resilience compared to ordinary sea ice. At one point in the demonstration, he draws his service revolver and fires at the pykrete. Now, both the US and UK aides and staff officers are outside the room where this is happening, and they don’t know what’s going on, but they all remember how heated the earlier discussions were, so naturally, when they start to hear gunshots from inside the room, they all panic and assume the worst and burst through the door. Fortunately, everyone was unharmed—the bullet ricocheted off the pykrete and embedded itself into the wall, only grazing the trouser leg of Ernest King.