How to use a PIAT

Somebody has kindly scanned in the entire War Office PIAT pamphlet:

http://www.lexpev.nl/downloads/smallarmstrainingpiat1943.pdf

Loads of manuals and training material on the site, and it's free:

Scanned manuals on ammunition and weapons.

 

One last word about the PIAT. The idea that one could run with it, is so damned idiotic, that it does not bear serious concern. The Bomb is just "Placed" in the front tray...Loose! Now I challenge anyone to run with a PIAT without losing the bomb out the tray.

As to using it against infantry? That is even more idiotic, The PIAT when it hits makes little burned hole..only an inch or so, it is the force that follows through that hole that does the damage.
That's all, so what chance has anyone of hitting a single infantry man with a projectile.The very idea is so stupid. The blast is directed forward making a PIAT useless for close combat.

Firing from the hip??? You would not hit a barn door with if you were running. Thats if the projectile was still in the tray? After running across uneven ground?

If this site appreciates the views of those that fought from Sword Beach to Bremen? then they had better start listening to them, rather than some author sat at a desk somewhere. Or to some Military expert that has never seen battle or used the weapons that are discussed here.
I would also point out that that bit of film showing a PIAT being loaded and fired showed one thing.....There WAS NO BOMB IN THE TRAY! You will also notice the great strain needed to load the spring, Try that in action lads... Then look at the recoil WITHOUT THE BOMB! 6 foot recoil back is not that unusual! Close your legs and roll as you fire that will prevent the tail fin ramming down your throat. OR at least taking your head off....
lastly.. for all those knowledgeable folk, don't believe what you read in books or doubtful experiences.

I still recall the tale here of the Bedford lorries that broke down so often, In all our time we never had a breakdown. That includes the marathon drives on overloaded Bedfords to bring up supplies for Normandy to the Market garden offensive, A nonstop day and night drive for days on end...in vastly overloaded trucks. never a single breakdown, and only one minor traffic accident.
Sapper

 

I've seen videos of the PIAT on YouTube. It wasn't fired with a 'bomb' but it was loaded in a sitting position. Also I cannot get into my head why you need to roll when it's fired. I know you say the fin can take your head off, but from pictures I've seen, the fin would be in front of you wouldn't it?

And Finally Sap, Please tell me why you have a 99% chance of dying by firing one.

Sorry for sounding naive Sapper, but you are the man to ask.

many thanx
marcus

 

When the projectile explodes, it forms a solid shot that penetrates the armour and the force follows through. During that explosion the fin is blown back towards the firer. It does not differentiate between friend and foe!
To use the PIAT one has to get very close indeed, if there is to be any chance at all of success. it is a clumsy ugly thing that needs great force to load the spring. It is not an accurate weapon, far from it. and has to be within a very short distance to viable. damn near point blank range. That it will take out a tank is beyond question.

Its kickback is "FIERCE" so you don't want anything behind you, or your virility will quickly disappear! Ted Brown (Queens) he served Western Desert, Sicily, Italy and Normandy had a mate that had his head removed when the fin was blown back. Fire and roll at the same time. Legs closed!

Why would you be killed when firing a PIAT? Simple! Panzers are always accompanied by Panzer Grenadiers and your chances of getting away after firing a PIAT, are pretty small being so close. But I will leave that to you to think about.

Should you accidentally lift the back end the projectile will drop out the tray..It is only kept there by gravity. The driving force is by Spring!

Panzer Grenadiers.... Do you think you could get away? The way it is dicussed here is sometimes farcical. Just as though there is only one in the field of conflict. If the truth is told everyone hated the ugly ungainly thing.
Sapper

 

When the projectile explodes, it forms a solid shot that penetrates the armour and the force follows through. During that explosion the fin is blown back towards the firer. It does not differentiate between friend and foe!

Ah! So what you're saying is the the fin of the actual rocket, once it's left the PIAT and explodes, then shoots back from the force of the explosion towards you?

Why would you be killed when firing a PIAT? Simple! Panzers are always accompanied by Panzer Grenadiers and your chances of getting away after firing a PIAT, are pretty small being so close. But I will leave that to you to think about.

Question answered. Cheers Sap!

marcus

 

Huge grin! The best way to fracture your spine ...And other bits of bone! would be to try and fire a PIAT from the hip. One thing I can absolutely guarantee, is that after firing you will end up being thrown back in an ugly heap with substantial damage to your torso somewhere or other.
As to firing a bren from the Hip? no argument! we were trained to fire from the hip while running, Your chances of hitting anything NIL matey NIL. The natural sway of the body makes the Gun swing from side to side, and try as you may its bloody impossible to keep it straight, Thing is, as the bullet spray in a 180 degree arc.. for Gods sake do not let any of your mates get in front of you......The enemy killed enough of our men without anyone else joining in!
Sapper

 

Well that was quite a heated disscution....as i have no experience with either the Bren or the PIAT i cannot really comment........the gimpy however is a lovely weapon to fire from the hip as im sure owen will agree with me....

Donnie

 

yup.....he does like to admit how good his trigger control was with the gimpy...

Donnie

 

In Secret Warfare by Pierre Lorain it is mentioned that 1,205 PIATs each with 20 rockets were parachuted to the French Resistance for attacks on rail or road convoys and fuel depots.

 

Lovely! Ron mate.
You can see it here at times, where what has been written has been seen differently and Bingo!
One of my most abiding interests has been to attempt to somehow unravel the Legends about 1944 that Hollywood has created, for many of those legends are seen by the young people as the genuine history.
When in fact much is utter rubbish
Sapper


Too true like John Wayne winning the war in the pacific and in Europe single handedly, when in truth, despite the fact that many members of The screen actors guild, signed up and went to war, good old Shirley stayed in Hollywood.. Pity really when you think how he used to walk he could have fired a Piat between his legs and silenced everyone. I came to this thread because I was looking for stuff about Hillman and Morris outside Caen.....Interesting debate....Pity some folks have to chuck their toys out of the pram isn't it?

Spitbloke over and out

 

This is from George MacDonald Fraser's Quartered Safe Out Here:

"... I went off to renew acquaintance with projector, infantry, anti-tank, commonly called the Piat. It was the British counterpart of the American bazooka, and might have been designed by Heat Robinson after a drunken dinner of lobster au gratin. It's easy to describe, and I may have forgotten some of its finer points, such as its exact measurements, but I'll do my best.

From memory, then, it consisted of about four feet of six-inch steel pipe, one end of which was partly cut out to leave a semi-cylindrical cradle about a foot long, in which you laid the bomb. At the other end of the pipe was a thick butt pad which fitted into your shoulder when you lay on the ground in a firing position, the body of the pipe being supported on a single expanding leg. The bomb, a sinister black object fifteen or so inches overall, had a circular tail fin containing a propellant cartridge, a bulging black body packed with high explosive, and a long spiked nose with a tiny cap which, when removed, revealed a gleaming detonator.

Within the body of the pipe was gigantic spring which had to be cocked after each shot:you lay on your back and dragged the Piat on top of you, braced your feet against the projecting edges of the butt pad, and heaved like hell at something or other which I've forgotten. After immense creaking the spring clicked into place, and you crawled out from under, gamely ignoring your hernia, laid an uncapped bomb gently in the front cradle, resumed lying firing position, aligned the barleycorn sight with gleaming nose of the bomb, pressed a massive metal trigger beneath the pipe, thus releasing the coiled spring which drove a long steel plunger up the tail fin of the bomb, detonating the propellant cartridge, you and the Piat went ploughing backwards with recoil, and the bomb went soaring away - about a hundred yards, I think, but it may have been farther. The whole contraption weighed about a ton, and a bombs came in cases of three; if you were Goliath you might have carried the Piat and two cases."

 

A photo from the NARA.

Caption reads:

"Platoon Sgt. Fred G. Hipkin demonstrates the firing position
of a Piat, British antitank weapon, weighing 35 lbs. It can
be manned by a 1 or 2 man team. Mt. Trocchio area, Italy.

"2nd Bn. London Irish rifles, 78th Div."

Date: 25 March 1944.

III-SC 189039, Credit NARA.


Dave