Piats

Discussion in 'Weapons, Technology & Equipment' started by kingarthur, Jun 24, 2010.

  1. kingarthur

    kingarthur Well-Known Member

    Does anybody have any knowledge on what it was like to fire a Piat.


    Dave
     
  2. idler

    idler GeneralList

  3. Paul Reed

    Paul Reed Ubique

    I'm sure Brian (Sapper), one of our Veteran members, will be able to give you his viewpoint on the weapon, but try a search for PIAT and you'll find quite a few threads.
     
  4. sol

    sol Very Senior Member

  5. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    I remember my father talking about this weapon.

    He never spoke of using it in anger, but did mention trying a shot on a knocked out panzer. He never mentioned the type, which was more than likely a Mk IV.

    He was not impressed as he said the projectile just bounced off without causing much damage.

    He did say it was a beast to recock in the prone position.

    Having said that, one was used at Pegasus bridge and knocked out a Panzer causing the rest to retreat thinking that the attackers had AT guns.

    Regards
    Tom
     
  6. kingarthur

    kingarthur Well-Known Member

    Thanks guys,knew I could rely on you lot.


    Cheers

    Dave
     
  7. Paul Reed

    Paul Reed Ubique

    And here's the weapon in question (from the Dover WW2 day):

    [​IMG]
     
  8. kingarthur

    kingarthur Well-Known Member

    You prompted my next question Paul,I was going to ask if anyone had a decent photograph of one.

    What was its firing Range?

    Dave
     
  9. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    What was its firing Range?


    Quoted as 100 yards.

    It was a strong spring and spigot projection for the missile.

    PIAT - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    The closer the better I would think with this weapon.
    The best feature was that it was silent and therefore no trace of where it was fired from, unlike rocket propelled projectiles.

    Regards
    Tom
     
  10. kingarthur

    kingarthur Well-Known Member

    Thanks Smudge
     
  11. idler

    idler GeneralList

    I read an Arnhem article somewhere about an attempt to fire a PIAT from an upstairs window: on aiming down, the bomb slid off the tray, landing on the pavement without detonating. The No.2 rushed downstairs to retrieve it as it was the last one. Can't remember whether they got the target, though.
     
  12. kingarthur

    kingarthur Well-Known Member

    Great story Idler, love hearing things like that. As a writer it puts an image to play with in your head.


    Dave
     
  13. Tom Canning

    Tom Canning WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    I seem to recall that some V.C.'s were awarded in Italy in order to promote the use of the PIAT when they were introduced as they had a very bad reputation for "blasting" back to the firer -usually killing him - and as a result were not too popular with the Infantry......they did improve however and knocked out a few panzers - and it was a later model whcih "Smokey" Smith of the Seaforths of Canada won his V.C. by lnocking out one Panther and scaring the hell out of two more - one of which we recovered and used against the makers

    Cheers
     
  14. kingarthur

    kingarthur Well-Known Member

    What model was used at Arnhem?
     
  15. TomTAS

    TomTAS Very Senior Member

    Hi Dave

    Major Cain used a Piat a lot at Arnhem until one blow up in his face.. But something for you Recce in the woods at Arnhem...

    Cheers
    Tom
     

    Attached Files:

  16. kingarthur

    kingarthur Well-Known Member

    Nice picture Tom
     
  17. TomTAS

    TomTAS Very Senior Member

    Thanks Dave,

    Its a posed one like the famous one of the 4 Soldiers in Oosterbeek... You can just make a jeep out in the woods and a sign I can only just read...

    Cheers
    Tom
     
  18. gaspirator

    gaspirator Member

    Photo attached of me some years ago trying to work out how you cocked the thing whilst prone - a nightmare!

    The deact process has weakened the spring by welding about 5 turns together and even then it was still tough trying to extend the butt pad back far enough to engage the sear.

    I've heard it said that you needed to be 6 feet tall to do this and I would agree. Whether every PIAT gunner was 6' is another matter - I was actually quite nervous that I was going to injure myself!

    The weight is about 20kg - nearly two Brens and uncocked it's muzzle heavy. Cocked and without a bomb, it's actually perfectly balanced above the pistol grip.

    Dry-firing is a strange experience; there's a half-second delay between squeezing the trigger and the spigot moving forward (poss because the spring was welded); the whole weapon lurches forward as the balance changes - even without a bomb to induce the recoil it's quite fearsome.

    I've yet to find anyone who ever fired it for real who has anything positive to say about it!

    - Pete
     

    Attached Files:

  19. idler

    idler GeneralList

    Aha! Found it: PIAT P0RN (their words, not mine!)
     
  20. kingarthur

    kingarthur Well-Known Member

    Well spotted Tom.

    Love the picture Pete,certainly looks bloody hard work
     

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