Piats

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

  1. BiscuitsAB

    BiscuitsAB Member

    I have this on my harddrive. I wonder if the up-armoured Conq. was meant to represent a new Russian vehicle that never actually entered service. The DART warheads didn't actually come out of the trial with flying colours but then my experience of duff ammo as always involved American, sorry North American, ammo. My apologies to any Americans reading this but that's my experience.
     
  2. Wills

    Wills Very Senior Member

    BAOR we had an 'uparmoured' Centurion (1970s) which we bounced TPTP (target practice tracer projectile) rounds off as she trundled around on the ranges. The order do not aim at the red painted areas deliberately (periscopes) a stupid thing to suggest! Wonder where she is now?
     
  3. BiscuitsAB

    BiscuitsAB Member

    The Americans claim the hit was from a Kornet AT missile, other sources say it was an obsolete Fagot missile.
     
  4. Jonathan Ball

    Jonathan Ball It's a way of life.

    "Le Port Church, from where snipers caused the 7th Battalion many problems on the 6th June. The situation was restored when Corporal Killeen blew a hole in the tower with a PIAT bomb. When the paratroopers later entered the Church, they found the bodies of twelve snipers in the tower."

    Pic_LePortChurch.jpg
     
  5. Cee

    Cee Senior Member Patron

    Jonathan,

    There are quite a few stories involving the Church at Le Port on D-Day. According to Neil's book (page 234) when the Commandos came in 2 tanks from the 13th/18th Hussars were used to blast the Church tower. Also member tmac writes in his account of the True Loyals that on the evening of June 6 40mm guns fired on the tower to dislodge yet another sniper resulting in a big hole.

    http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/17655-true-loyals-7th-battalion-the-loyal-regiment-92nd-loyals-laa-rgt-ra-1940-1946/

    So you really have to wonder what went on there. If anything it indicates how utterly chaotic and fluid the situation was.

    Regards ...
     
  6. idler

    idler GeneralList

    The book Devices of War has a short chapter on the PIAT. It doesn't really deliver but is a useful potted bio of Blacker:
     
  7. Gary Kennedy

    Gary Kennedy Member

    There's a nice bit of 'PIAT propaganda' (positive for once) in 21 Army Group Infantry Notes, No.9 (Nov44).
     

    Attached Files:

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  8. Don Juan

    Don Juan Well-Known Member

    This confirms my general impression that whether a particular unit liked or disliked the PIAT largely depended on whether they had the initiative to use it as a general support weapon rather than just as an anti-tank weapon.

    Canadian units seem to have been much quicker on the uptake in this regard, in comparison to British ones.
     
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  9. Chris C

    Chris C Canadian

    That is a very interesting report! Thanks for sharing it, Gary!
     
  10. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    I think you are right in thinking outside the box with use of the weapon. On Chindits 1 the PIAT was used to assault enemy boats on the major Burmese rivers.
     
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  11. PackRat

    PackRat Well-Known Member

    I wonder if a lot of inventive uses for PIATs were found in Burma, given the general lack of enemy armour to use them on 'properly'.

    36 Infantry Division never encountered a single enemy tank (or even any light armour) either in the Arakan or their 10-month air-supplied journey down from the Mogaung Valley to Mandalay. They did, though, run into many Japanese bunker systems, where the 'bunkers' were typically one-man foxholes with very thick headcover. Masses of these were built during the Japanese retreat with the 'assistance' of local villagers, far more than could be actually manned. They would often be found empty one day, then reoccupied the next.

    The 25-pounders were unable to demolish properly constructed ones, nor was US air support (when available) always effective against them. The engineers used demo charges against empty ones to stop them being reoccupied, but they were usually so well sited and mutually supporting that this couldn't be attempted against manned positions. Therefore, the PIAT became a crucial tool for the infantry.

    The 425 fuze was apparently useless for the job, but the 426 graze fuze did the trick. This is from a quartermaster's letter in an appendix to 36 Div HQ War Diary:

    PIAT 36Div.jpg
     
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  12. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    I think they were PackRat. From my reading of Chindit 2 books, the Gurkhas especially used the PIAT as a frontal attack weapon at the start of any road blocks or ambushes. They used the weapon to take out the lead vehicle and then proceeded with the attack with more conventional weaponry such as the Bren.
     
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  13. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    £6250 for a tube & spring!
    Strewth...
    https://www.milweb.net/webvert/a5082/99684

    [Standard Militaria Tale]Was offered one for £50 years ago... seemed expensive at the time.
    Tits.
    [/Standard Militaria Tale]
     
  14. idler

    idler GeneralList

    Someone's just paid nearly £800 for two Tommy cookers and one tin of hexamine blocks on Ebay. I think the PIAT works out better value by weight.
     
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  15. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    SAS, SPECIAL FORCES, TACTICAL, no doubt.
    Ebay's almost funny again lately.
     
  16. AB64

    AB64 Senior Member

    I own about 1/6th of a PIAT (and Vickers and 3" Mortar) - don't ask me which 1/6th
     
  17. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    £1041.67 worth.
    Apparently...
     
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  18. idler

    idler GeneralList

    Quite the opposite, in this case. It was someone's grandad's kit. The regiment was mentioned but it wasn't anyone excessively sexy.
     
  19. Listy

    Listy Well-Known Member

    I'd point out its actually cheaper to get a live PIAT from the US. Going price in the US seems to be about $3,000. FAC: £80, Sec5: £200. Gun safe: £800, that leaves quite a bit to arrange the imports.
    The bomb is about £3-400 alone. That brings it down to close to the price range of the other long standing PIAT for sale, which has been listed for sale for several years and costing about £5,000. I'd also point out that they're worth what people are willing to pay, not what the seller thinks. Especially, when you can get a cracking replica for £800.
    For obvious reasons I'd love to own one to help with my research. But historians are not rich people.
     
  20. brithm

    brithm Senior Member

    upload_2022-6-19_23-5-56.jpeg
    upload_2022-6-19_23-6-54.png
     
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