PIAT - Operational History

Operational History

The PIAT entered service with British and Commonwealth units in mid-1943, and was first used in action by Canadian troops during the Allied invasion of Sicily. The 1944 war establishment for a British platoon, which contained 36 men, had a single PIAT attached to the platoon headquarters, alongside a 2-inch (51 mm) mortar detachment. Three PIATs were issued to every company at the headquarters level for issuing at the CO discretion - allowing one weapon for each platoon. British Army and Royal Marines commandos were also issued with PIATs and used them in action. The Australian Army allocated a PIAT (which was also known as Projector Infantry Tank Attack in Australian service) to each infantry platoon in its 'jungle divisions', which differed from the standard British organisation, from late 1943.

A contemporary (1944–45) Canadian Army survey questioned 161 army officers, who had recently left combat, about the effectiveness of 31 different infantry weapons, in that survey the PIAT was ranked the number one most “outstandlingly effective” weapon, followed by the Bren gun in second place.

An analysis by British staff officers of the initial period of the Normandy campaign found that 7% of all German tanks destroyed by British forces were knocked out by PIATs, compared to 6% by rockets fired by aircraft. However, they also found that once German tanks had been fitted with armoured skirts that detonated hollow-charge ammunition before it could penetrate the tank's armour, the weapon became much less effective.

The PIAT was used in all theatres in which British and Commonwealth troops served, and remained in service until the early 1950s, when it was replaced by the American bazooka. The Australian Army briefly used PIATs at the start of the Korean War alongside 2.36-inch (60 mm) bazookas, but quickly replaced both weapons with 3.5-inch (89 mm) M20 "Super Bazookas". As part of the Lend Lease agreement, between October 1941 and March 1946 the Soviet Union was supplied with 1,000 PIATs and 100,000 rounds of ammunition. The PIAT was also utilized by resistance groups in Occupied Europe. During the Warsaw Uprising, it was one of many weapons that Polish Underground resistance fighters used against German forces. And in occupied France, the French resistance used the PIAT in the absence of mortars or artillery. After the end of the Second World War, the Israeli Haganah used PIATs against Arab armour during the 1948 Israeli War of Independence.

Six Victoria Crosses were awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces for actions using the PIAT.

• On 16 May 1944, during the Italian Campaign, Fusilier Frank Jefferson used a PIAT to destroy a Panzer IV tank and repel a German counterattack launched against his unit as they assaulted a section of the Gustav Line.
• On 6 June 1944, Company Sergeant Major Stanley Hollis, in one of several actions that day, used a PIAT in an attack against a German field gun.
• On 12 June 1944 Rifleman Ganju Lama used a PIAT to knock out several Japanese tanks that were preventing his unit from advancing in an area of Burma.
• Between 19–25 September 1944, during the Battle of Arnhem, Major Robert Henry Cain used a PIAT to disable a Tiger tank advancing on his company position, and force another three German Panzer IV tanks to retreat during a later assault.
• On the 21 October 1944, Private Ernest Alvia ("Smokey") Smith used a PIAT to destroy a German tank and help repel a German attack against his unit, as it secured a beachhead on the Savio River.
• On 9 December 1944, Captain John Henry Cound Brunt utilised a PIAT, amongst other weapons, to help repel an attack by the German 90th Panzergrenadier Division.