On September 21, 1944, in the thick of the Battle of Arnhem in the Netherlands, Major Robert Henry Cain and his company from the British Army’s South Staffordshire Regiment faced annihilation at the hands of two Waffen-SS Panzer Divisions.
Cut off from their battalion, barely a hundred men were left.
Surrounded, with no hope of reinforcements, and deep in the Netherlands, they had sparse resources: a few rifles, Bren guns, and his weapon of choice, the Projector, Infantry, Anti-Tank, PIAT.
The Projector, Infantry, Anti-Tank was specifically designed for lone foot soldiers to counter tanks. That day, it also gave him the upper hand, as it had a unique mechanism that allowed it to launch a powerful anti-tank grenade without revealing the shooter’s position.
Determined to hold on as long as possible, as the Allies were now closer than ever to the Rhine, Cain decided to wield his PIAT, despite its less-than-stellar reputation and clunky design, and turn it into the ultimate one-man tank destroyer.
Two 50-ton enemy Tiger Tanks armed to the teeth and ready to strike wandered into his sights. Cain positioned himself and, in a breathless moment, pulled the trigger of his Projector, Infantry, and tank weapon.
source
161 Canadian army officers: we rate PIAT the most effective of 31 infantry weapons
Internet: if it's not got 50cals on it, or made of Krupp steel it's rubbish.
it had a bigger warhead than the wartime US Bazooka, so was more likely to work against heavy armour
The PIAT was not silent. Every time it was fired, the operator exclaimed "Ow! Fuck!"
A lot of of misinformation here, the PIAT weapon didn't blow up, in an account I've read the round hit a corner of a building that Cain was using as cover, causing his injuries.
In times of crisis, you have to use the best thing you have available. It’s always easy to look back and point out the negatives, but it proved a very effective weapon at the time. The brave soldiers who used it should never be forgotten.
"Bring up the PIAT!"….Anthony Hopkins; "A Bridge Too Far"
It helped to hold Pegasus bridge on D day but the paras were not too confident it would work properly
Major Cain didn’t know when to quit!
It was a single Stug lll the first day, not two Tiger l's. Embellishment is a disservice to the man.
FYI, it was Major Johnny Frost and my ex battalion, 2 Para, that made it to and held the bridge at Arnhem. It would have been nice to give them a mention. Plus your description of the working of the PIAT is well off.
if Monty had listened to the Dutch underground he wouldn't of launched Market garden
Victoria Cross Citation
“In Italy on the night of 21st/22nd October, 1944, a Canadian Infantry Brigade was ordered to establish a bridgehead across the Savio River.
The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada were selected as the spearhead of the attack and in weather most unfavourable to the operation they crossed the river and captured their objectives in spite of strong opposition from the enemy.
Torrential rain had caused the Savio River to rise six feet in five hours and as the soft vertical banks made it impossible to bridge the river no tanks or anti-tank guns could be taken across the raging stream to the support of the rifle companies.
As the right forward company was consolidating its objective it was suddenly counter-attacked by a troop of three Mark V Panther tanks supported by two self-propelled guns and about thirty infantry and the situation appeared almost hopeless.
Under heavy fire from the approaching enemy tanks, Private [Ernest Alvia "Smokey"] Smith, showing great initiative and inspiring leadership, led his Piat Group of two men across an open field to a position from which the Piat could best be employed. Leaving one man on the weapon, Private Smith crossed the road with a companion, and obtained another Piat. Almost immediately an enemy tank came down the road firing its machine guns along the line of the ditches. Private Smith’s comrade was wounded. At a range of thirty feet and having to expose himself to the full view of the enemy, Private Smith fired the Piat and hit the tank, putting it out of action. Ten German infantry immediately jumped off the back of the tank and charged him with Schmeissers and grenades. Without hesitation Private Smith moved out onto the road and with his Tommy gun at point blank range, killed four Germans and drove the remainder back. Almost immediately another tank opened fire and more enemy infantry closed in on Smith’s position. Obtaining some abandoned Tommy gun magazines from a ditch, he steadfastly held his position, protecting his comrade and fighting the enemy with his Tommy gun until they finally gave up and withdrew in disorder.
One tank and both self-propelled guns had been destroyed by this time, but yet another tank swept the area with fire from a longer range. Private Smith, still showing utter contempt for enemy fire, helped his wounded friend to cover and obtained medical aid for him behind a nearby building. He then returned to his position beside the road to await the possibility of a further enemy attack.
No further immediate attack developed, and as a result the battalion was able to consolidate the bridgehead position so vital to the success of the whole operation, which led to the eventual capture of San Giorgio Di Cesena and a further advance to the Ronco River.
Thus, by the dogged determination, outstanding devotion to duty and superb gallantry of this private soldier, his comrades were so inspired that the bridgehead was held firm against all enemy attacks, pending the arrival of tanks and anti-tank guns some hours later.”
(London Gazette, no.36849, 20 December 1944)
The PIAT wasn't a perfect weapon but it still got the job done.
His daughters husband did a documentry on the victoria cross and her husband was one jeremy clarkson and its a great documentry aswell
Major Robert Caine. Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear fame, married his daughter.
This guy pushes out vid after vid that look good but almost always are full of misinformation. Very frustrating when there is such good content available elsewhere. (And not very bright if he thinks a spring propelled a warhead over these distances…)
….and stens which you keep showing in the film😂
from this came rpg?
Typical youtube bollocksn😂😂
You really do spout some shite sunshine 😂😂
Omg……every soldier on EVERY front was up against 100 tiger tanks lol…….mind you the Germany only made a few of them……but they were all up against the tiger…..must have been over 100,000 of them
It was a "Hilarious" Joke, truly a pile of RUBBISH!….Clearly more of a Problem for the "USER"….than Enemy Tanks!.
Nothing outstanding about it…."I Owned One"…it was designed and put into action out of total desperation for lack of any viable alternatives.
Smokey Smith also got a V.C. in part for using a P.I.A.T. and taking out a tank from 30 feet. That was in 1944 in Italy.
The Piat was too weak for the tiger, so only a lucky hit from close range from the side or behind could have caused any damage. In Arnhem it was a Stug III and three Panzer IVs. That's quite an achievement!
The soldier in the main picture is Fusilier Frank Jefferson, Lancashire Fusiliers. He knocked out the pz 4 in the pi ture in Italy. He was awarded the VC.
My grandad told me that a Victoria Cross was included in every box of PIAT ammo as you needed to be stupidly brave to get close enough to hit it anything with it.
I watched an interesting documentary on the FIBUA fighting in Caen and the PIAT was found to be very useful when “mouse holing” from house to house to stay off the street. It was also useful as a makeshift mortar for short distances in FIBUA.
I’ve never heard anyone say they liked the PIAT. I HAVE heard lots of people curse it however!
At 4:12
Are the infantrymen carrying Lee Enfield EM2s?
The Americans gave 5,000 M1 Bazookas to the British Army in 1942, in time for the Tunisian Campaign. The British test-fired the M1 Bazooka in North Africa. They were dismayed at the large backblast and danger rear area caused by the bazooka. Its firing revealed the location of the bazookaman. Disillusioned, the Brits put all the M1 Bazookas back into storage where those remained for the war's duration. The British Army went on to standardize on their PIAT, despite its limitations, had no backblast or danger area to the rear.
The penetration of the PIAT and the M1 Bazooka were comparable. Each system carried its distinct advantages and limitations.
At war's end, the British Army regarded the PIAT as obsolete. The M1A1 and M9A1 bazookas could be accused of obsolescence as much but the Americans did not rest on their laurels. In the works was the upcoming M20 Super Bazooka, capable of penetrating six inches of plate armor. The cost was the greater weight and bulk of the M20 compared to its predecessors.
The British Army being practical, saw advantage in adopting the M20 Super Bazooka until such time as domestic British arms industries could design and produce a modern anti-tank weapon system.
The Americans had shown the way with the rocket Bazooka. The future would belong to guided missile, portable, manheld anti-tank launch systems. The British possess one of the best anti-tank, infantry-carried anti-tank missile weapons. Even an older British generation of anti-tank missiles is highly effective. NATO nations have quickly discovered the effectiveness of their current and even earlier generation of anti-tank weapon systems in the Russo-Ukraine War. This is not surprising as post-WW2 European and American infantry anti-tank weapons were designed to stop Soviet-built tanks and other armored vehicles.
The former West Germans devised several, highly effective infantry portable anti-tank weapons. An earlier 1970s West German anti-tank weapon based itself on the old WW2 Panzerfaust bomb dispenser system. It was aptly named Panzerfaust III. These Panzerfaust IIIs, pulled out of old storage, showed their continued effectiveness in Ukraine.
At 7.26 Arnhem is mentioned, but we see a city sign of Antwerp (Belgium). As so often in these documentaries, there are faults in the material.
10.01. That's not a 6pounder.
Thank you.
Perjectile infantry anti tank . A hand held mortar .