Bring Up The PIAT! - A Bridge Too Far Scene Analysis 

Quite a guy indeed, one of the most impressive VC actions with a PIAT!

Apparently he had chunks of metal falling out of him for decades! His name is engraved amongst the colonial VCs on the memorial at the top of Constitution Hill here in London.

Did they have Batman back in those days? ( Just kidding)

@@TheArmourersBench Major Henry Cain VC, now that's an action with a PIAT, won during Arnhem too!

@@Georgeson95 immensely impressive!

That's a brilliant bit of trivia! He did do a great job! Shows the PIAT could have the desired accuracy!

I noticed that too, was incredibly realistic and definitely added to the scene despite that empty PIAT gaff just before.

Seriously, for such a good film it looks so terrible. Wooden Tiger from Kelly's Heroes looks better than this one.

Pain in ass trower

In real life it was a half track not a Panther. The hit was on the engine compartment. The Germans thought they’d been hit by an AT gun and went about looking for it. PIAT had a very low launch signature so was often not spotted.

@@mixererunio1757 In 1976, there was no WW2 German armor running anywhere.

@@sillyone52062 Actually, a healthy amount of surviving German armor was still in existence. While definitely not an easy find, there were some around in running order. Specifically, the Panther. Romania alone received 13 alone in 1946 from the USSR (obv previously captured tanks).

That’s all they had.

Lots of brilliant little details you notice each time you watch Theirs Is

Exactly! Not a pleasant prospect. Thanks for watching

Well, you get to kill a tank and toast your marshmallows.

@@nowthenzen Yeah...... but also blow yours ears inside out and toast Everything not just the marshmallows.......mmmmmmh....marshmallows....

@@nowthenzen if you can hit hit anything the scenes are total bullshit.

This scene is shit. Most of the killes were made by the battalion’s 6 pdr anti tank guns, not the PIATs

Yes indeed! They had some 6pdrs at the bridge that did excellent work. They just had to hold on too long. Thank you!

Thanks for this information. I live in Arnhem and try to make a good story of what happened at the brigde...

There was a pic of a knocked out King Tiger in Arnhem, the kill attributed to a 6 pdr.

How many tanks and armour vehicles did they take out?

@@Jarod-vg9wq : FYI in the Normandy Campaign (1944) alone, the PIAT’s operational use statistically accounted for 7% of all German Armour (SS & Wehrmacht combined) destruction by all British, Canadian & also other Allied Forces using this weapon-system there then!

Wonderful, thanks for sharing Hugh.

@@TheArmourersBench Your video is first class and thank you for your complement

He did, phenomenal account I refer to it in my book on the PIAT. They're fascinating weapons.

A bit of good reading for you is Churchill’ ministry of ungentlmanly warfare, Jefferis the mad inventor is mentioned a lot, Really good read, and explains a lot about stuff we take for granted, The CIA’s origin story as well.

I've read it. Good book. Shame there isn't more on that area of the war. McRaea's Churchill's Toyshop is a good read too.

@@TheArmourersBench There`s an interesting (and hair-raising) account of the PIAT engagement in Peter Whites` `With the Jocks` too, where his platoon take on a Tiger at very close quarters.

In the town? And the Tigers got trapped? I think I know the one you mean!

Absolutely fascinating thanks for watching and thanks for sharing that.

Well I suppose a 16" naval gun lobs a shell of similar weight to a Fiat 124

If the shot was longer than 50yrds that's long enough for a Fiat to break down .

A brave man! Thank you for sharing.

God bless him.

Great uncle you have there Tom.

Commendations to your uncle and his comrades, Tom. What a thing they did.

Perfect choice from that period's actors I think.

Two excellent books on the subject are by Robert Kershaw-'It Never Snows In September' (Arnhem from the German perspective) and 'A Street In Arnhem' (mainly about one street from the perspective of both sides, but more importantly, the view of the civilians.

Thank you! Yes, it definitely was. A much misunderstood weapon.

Does indeed look like a Char B, the way the hull door at the side flies open when the tank is hit.

The Germans did deploy Char B tanks to Arnhem I can’t remember the name of the unit. The front gun was replaced by a flamethrower so again the clip is accurate in depicting the tank firing flame at the men. The famous picture of the Border Regiment 6 pounder called Gallipoli 2 was taken as they engaged a Char B on the Utrechtsweg just after it had seriously injured a young officer (who subsequently succumbed to his injuries) with its flame thrower.

They're intriguing weapons aren't they Colin! Be sure to subscribe I've got anither very interesting PIAT video coming on Sunday. Thanks for watching

Yes I have subscribed

Exactly Dan, bloody hard to gauge lead on a moving vehicle, especially if it's moving obliquely to the AT weapon. There's an early 1944 British report that describes just how hard evaluating troops found it. Thanks for watching and sharing some personal insight!

Yeah I agree, that's a story worthy of telling. Sadly A Bridge Too Far never attempted to show specific actions. Theirs is the Glory does show some AT gun action (which kind of mirrors Badkeyfield's actions) but all too briefly!

Thanks Patrick, glad you enjoyed it. Highly recommended, a forgotten gem of a war film!

Exactly!

Yes!! Amazing isn't it.

Indeed and I think that it was a technological dead end (couldn't really extend its range) meant that other tech like rockets and recoilless roles which could be (and have been) perfected quickly surpassed it post war. Thanks for watching!

Also the fact that it could double as a light mortar, honestly it wasn't that bad if you compare the amount of kills the damn thing made, it would just be a lot better on ambushes than on assaults or defences of known locations

I don't think it was his grandpa, I think Major Cain VC was his wife's father. I actually discuss his VC winning actions in my book on the PIAT. Clarkson did do a rather good documentary all about him.

Hans KC There's a modern Russian film "Battle for Sevastopol" about a female sniper in WW2. I remember her being issued with a semi-auto rifle in one scene, and this being treated as a prestige weapon.

Yes! I was going to mention those but thought I'd go for the iconic scene. But in hindsight I could have squeezed them in! Thanks for watching!

Quite right! Thank you, Theirs Is The Glory is brilliant, you'll definitely enjoy it.

Bargain at any price

Thanks for watching! We discussed it on the first episode of our Fighting On Film war movie podcast a few weeks ago. Be sure to check it out once you've watched the film!

Theirs is the glory is here on RU-vid these days. Years ago it was hard to find, but also for sale as a dvd at the Hartenstein museum shop in Oosterbeek here in the Netherlands.

Thank you, glad you enjoyed it. We'll have a proper in depth video on the PIAT soon.

Thanks Rob, when I do a full video on the PIAT I'll definitely try and include some individual action analysis, thinking of some of the VC winning actions.

@@TheArmourersBench Looking forward to it!

It remained in service into the early 1950s but was increasingly relegated with the improved range offered by the M20 superbazooka. It certainly wasn't declared unsafe for the operator. It continued to be used by other nations, France, Netherlands, Israel to name a few into the early 50s.

On my last visit to Bovington I happened to come across a young boy getting a refund because the arcade style game he tried to play was ineffective.....................

Ahh thank you, I've done a series of videos about the PIAT and will have a proper video on its design and history in the new year. Thank you! It's available direct through my site (www.historicalfirearms.info/shop) along with some cool PIAT stickers. Thanks for watching.

It really does have a lot of oil drums haha

Thank you, so glad you enjoyed it!!

Thank you Jeff, glad you enjoyed it. Its much misunderstood and I enjoy shedding new light on it. Thanks for watching.

Thank you sir!

@@TheArmourersBench Stay safe and healthy!

If I recall he was an Army intelligence that analysed bombing effects. He apparently saw some absolutely awful things during the war, including Belsen. Paul Maxwell, who played Major General Maxwell Taylor was also a NW Europe veteran too I believe!

Wel have I a fun fact! The British military advisor for the film Major John Waddy commander of B (?) company 156th parachute battalion ,Arnhem veteran, played as a extra (officer) in the scene were Urqhart briefs about the withdrawl. He only can be seen from the back.

Great fact!

@@TheArmourersBench I believe John Addison the composer was also at Arnhem

@@davidfrost2819 and D- Day as well.

Thanks Gary! Got a fascinating 'real life' PIAT video coming up this week. Thanks for watching.

Yeah it's definitely fired I think the film armourer will have mm knocked up a bomb (without payload) for firing. Bit more smoke and flash than we would have seen in reality but pretty good.

Robert Cain was a legend. He was featured in Jeremy Clarksons programme about the VC. Worth watching.

Thank you Dan!

@@TheArmourersBench loved this movie since I was a kid watching it with my dad on TV. But it breaks my heart too much to watch it often.

@@DanDavisHistory an all time favourite of mine too. Currently working on an video about the PIAT scene in the Longest Day.

I certainly see what you mean. It has that sometimes clunkier delivery of some of the cast members and the soliderly like enactment of scenes. Thank you, and thank you for listening, glad you enjoyed it.

@@TheArmourersBench I felt more like it was a very odd form of group therapy for the survivors. Not a great film, but an incredible historical document!

Yes, definitely a very important and pretty unique historical document. We did a podcast on it not so long ago (it's on this channel) and we talking about what It must have been like for them coming back to Arnhem with it looking much as they'd left it.

I met the last known survivor of the cast of Theirs is the Glory. He told me there was no script initially they sat with the director and told their experiences, some of those were then put into the film. They also cleared up the area and he said that they discovered a couple of British bodies on the polder near the river down by Oosterbeek church. It’s interesting as there’s no top bill and no credits in the movie as each man was viewed as equal. A fine piece of cinematic history directed by Brian Desmond Hurst himself a 1st World War veteran.

You're very Welcome Robin. We discussed the film on our war film podcast (you can find that here on the channel).

What video is that exactly.

Shame really, would have been nice to have seen a scene or two with them. Perhaps Baskeyfields VC action.

@@TheArmourersBench I just checked my own book Battles on Screen which has a chapter on the film A Bridge Too Far. Three six - pounders (not two) were acquired for the film. One can be seen in the scene just after the gliders land. They are never seen in action. In the real incident early in the battle when German armour charged the bridge ,three six -pounders contributed to the carnage. In the film we only see the PIATs. I know about Baskeyfield. I have a VHS copy of an amateur film called Baskeyfield VC which depicts the action. The German tanks in this film are played by Centurions!

Excellent, thank you. I think the lack of the air-landing RA batteries is a shame in Bridge Too Far. Oooh I will have to try and find Baskeyfield VC, that sounds interesting!

A Bridge Too Far is a film where I would gladly sit down and watch all the cut material.

Considering the alternative Hollywood armor attempts, such as M47 Pattons standing in as 'King Tigers,' I always thought the ABTF prop wranglers did a perfectly fine job having the Leo stand in as a Panther. At least it's German.

@@TheSaturnV Yeah, it was actually in service at the time in the Dutch army who supplied lots of soldiers as well asextras and aforementioned tanks. I actually saw it being filmed

@@TheSaturnV You wanna see tank cosplay done right? Watch the 1984 film "Red dawn" They managed to make M48/60 (I was never able to find out which) Pattons look almost PERFECTLY like T-72s. They also managed to almost perfectly recreate Shilka AA platforms and they did a fairly good job at BTRs too. Note that Red dawn had a vastly smaller budget than a bridge too far. They have no excuse. Actually that's a lie, having seen the material on the making of this film and the behaviour of the locals, yeah they have an excuse, but you know what I mean

A muzzle brake would have been a nice detail to add, about like the rear deck details on the “Tigers” in Kelly’s Heroes.

In reality it should have been either a Panzer III or IV of Kompanie Mielke a Tiger I of Kompanie Hummel or a Stug III of Brigade 280. No Panthers arrived in Arnhem until the 20th, after the fighting at the bridge was over.

Yes, It's quite a film! And directed by the same director as The Battle of the Bulge too if I recall correctly. But yes, the PIAT depiction in Paper Tiger isn't bad. Niven is rather good in that film, always enjoy his performances.

@@TheArmourersBench I wrote a book called Battles on Screen which has chapters on A Bridge Too Far, The Longest Day and Battle of the Bulge plus many others. See Amazon and my own website www.colinbarron.co.uk

That's actually not the case! There's a small spring clip at the base of the bomb which slides into a pair of guides which hood it secure. I mention it in my second video about the PIAT in this movie. Thanks for watching.

Thanks for watching!

Hope you found it useful!

Only so much a PIAT can do against concrete because its a HEAT charge, HEAT superheats and melts the armour plate creating a jet of molten metal in the tank - that's what does the damage. It it had had a HESH round like the Petard-armed AVRE tanks then the bomb would have more impact on the concrete. That's my thoughts on it anyway! Thanks for watching!

Thank you. Wonderful! Much more to come.

It's a classic! Thanks for watching

Thanks Chris, please dol!

I found battlefield 5 shooting the piat but havnt located the original 1942, it maybe in 1941.🤨

The Bazooka was indeed tested but not deemed superior enough to replace the PIAT. The PIAT had a number of characteristics and advantages over the Bazooka including the lack of back blast, its use as a light mortar and it could be fired extremely rapidly, far faster than the Bazooka. They could definitely have done with more at Arnhem, after action reports lamented the lack of ammunition for them towards the end of the battle but that's indicative of the dire situation they were jn. It wasn't until the Korean War that the 3.5in was adopted, initially as an urgent operational requirement. It was understood even during the war that the PIAT had its limitations so rocket launchers and recoilless rifles were always going to replace it eventually, although it remained in service into the mid 1950s! Thanks for watching.

@@TheArmourersBench Reasonable enough analysis. The British military authorities tested the American M1 bazooka under controlled firing range conditions. But the British did not test the bazooka under combat conditions. At the firing range they observed the disconcerting and real-enough back-blast danger which was also visible to the enemy. But under combat conditions the American bazooka revealed its advantages to the best, which was, light weight portability and ease of use, 200 yard practical range, exceeding the PIAT, and a relatively flat trajectory whereas the PIAT operator had to take into consideration the arcing trajectory of the PIAT bomb. Now it was easier and faster to reload the PIAT if the discharge detonation recocked the PIAT as it was supposed to do. If not, the operator was stuck trying to recock the incredibly heavy spring, supposedly some 200-lbs pull weight, not an easy thing to do especially if one is prone. Yet in the grand scheme of things, the PIAT and the bazooka both worked as intended, able to destroy light armored vehicles and German tanks from the side and rear. The PIAT could be used as a mortar and the bazooka could be used against bunkers, machine gun nests, and other light gun emplacements. The end of WW2 underscored the obsolescence of both anti-tank weapons. The Americans had seen the approaching obsolescence of the 2.36 inch bazooka but took their time developing the superior successor, the 3.5 inch, M20 Super Bazooka. The M20 was nearly ready to go into mass production at war's end. The American Army unfortunately would take too much time getting the M20 in frontline service. American troops were stuck using the M9 and M9A1 bazookas ineffectually against Soviet-built T-34/85 tanks in Korea 1950. The PIAT had reached the end of its technological development potential. The British military authorities were quick to acknowledge the capabilities of the M20 Super Bazooka and adopted it until such time as the British Army could develop new, domestic anti-tank weapons. Both the PIAT and the bazooka make for interesting World War Two anti-tank weapon technology reading. The movie, "A Bridge Too Far", gave everyone a fascinating and realistic look into the deployment and efficacy of the British Army's own anti-tank weapon, something that did not exist before on film. The movie screenwriters did their historical research. The downfall at Arnhem Bridge was the lack of adequate numbers of PIATs for the British paratroopers and lack of sufficient PIAT bomb ammunition. Then you also see what happens when a capable PIAT operator gets nervous and starts missing all his targets at point blank range. Part of the blame, not discernable to the average layman, was the arcing trajectory of the PIAT bomb, which made it easier to miss if one did not mentally estimate the range, trajectory, distance, and lead time and lead distance correctly in his mind first.

It really, really is.

Yes indeed, I mention Major Cain's actions in my book on the PIAT. One of the most impressive actions using a PIAT and there are some amazingly brave men who used it in action. Thanks for watching!

I suspect they may have been made by the film armourer or have been surplus with the explosive removed and weighted.

Haha yes!

Thank you. Yes it's a very special film. You might be interested in our recent in depth discussion about it - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-yirZA1cuUiE.html

It's definitely its most famous on screen appearance. Thanks for watching!

@@TheArmourersBench Yep sure was and as someone deep into History I'm into a lot of these things so movies is one of them.

So am I! We just started a podcast called Fighting On Film if you haven't seen it. We're looking at war movies, some classic and some more obscure.

I bet it wouldn't be the same! I wonder who would star in it today...

@@TheArmourersBench a non Hollywood version but with modern special effects etc would be great

Not in this scene I don't think so no.

@@TheArmourersBench Alright, Thanks for answering!

Yes! Good points. Never understood why one tank would cross alone with no support either.

@@TheArmourersBench True. As well as that, the wreckage of Grabners recon column was strewn across the bridge and the Germans were not able to cross the bridge until after it was shunted aside, and they were not able to do that until Frost and his men were overcome. Cheers. Just subscribed.

Thanks John, more videos on the PIAT and Blacker Bombard (amongst other things of course) soon!

@@TheArmourersBench Cheers. I will check it out. Forgot to mention that Tiger Is of Schwere Panzer Kompanie Hummel did come onto the exit ramp of the bridge (the town side, which would be on the left of the troops in this clip) on the 19th, the 3rd day, to shell Frosts men and the houses, but no anti tank weapons could take them out. Not sure what, if any, was fired at them. Cheers.

@@lyndoncmp5751 One Tiger was hit and damaged by a 6pdr and had to return to the workshop for repairs about 8pm on 19th.

Indeed it is!

Doing its bit for the war effort!

I watch it every month, that way I don't have to suddenly find 3 hours in my busy schedule. At the moment, I am frightfully busy with Crown Court. The music reminds me of long, sultry afternoons after my appendix operation went wrong.

the german's did have an airborne at gun the 28/20 squeezebore. the round squeezed down from 28mm to 20mm with a tungsten core, very effective against early war vehicles when the germans dropped their troops.