The innovative PIAT anti-tank weapon equipped British and Commonwealth
troops during some of the most important battles of World War II. This
ground-breaking study brings together first-hand accounts, technical
manuals, contemporary reports, and archive photography to create a
definitive overview of the PIAT's history.
Designed in 1942, Britain's innovative Projector, Infantry, Anti-Tank
(PIAT) provided British and Commonwealth troops with a much-needed means
of taking on Germany's formidable Panzers. Replacing the inadequate Boys
anti-tank rifle, it was conceived in the top-secret World War II
research and development organization known colloquially as "Churchill's
Toyshop, alongside other ingenious weapons such as the sticky bomb, the
limpet mine, and the time-pencil fuse.
Unlike the more famous US bazooka, the PIAT had its roots in something
simpler than rocket science. Operated from the shoulder, the PIAT was a
spigot mortar which fired a heavy high-explosive bomb, with its main
spring soaking up the recoil. The PIAT had a limited effective range.
Troops required nerves of steel to get close enough to an enemy tank to
ensure a direct hit, often approaching to within 50ft of the target, and
no fewer than six Victoria Crosses were won during World War II by
soldiers operating PIATs. A front-line weapon in every theater of the
conflict in which Commonwealth troops fought, from Europe to the Far
East, the PIAT remained in service after 1945, seeing action during the
Greek Civil War, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the Korean War. This
illustrated study combines detailed research with expert analysis to
reveal the full story of the design, development and deployment of this
revolutionary weapon.
