World Battlefronts: Punching Piat

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British and Canadian troops in Italy have been using an odd-looking, pipelike weapon vaguely reminiscent of the U.S. bazooka, and performing much the same function as a shattering short-range buster of tanks, armored cars or pillboxes.

Last week the gadget came off the secret list. It is the Piat (Projector, Infantry, Anti-Tank) and it fires a 2.75-lb. bomb which explodes on impact with a violence sufficient to penetrate four inches of tempered armor plate. But the Piat does not employ the bazooka's rocket principle. Its projectile, like a mortar shell, is propelled by the explosion of a cartridge in the base. Rear half of the tube houses a powerful steel spring which takes up the recoil, re-cocks itself and operates the firing pin for the next shot. In combat the 33-lb. Piat is handled by a two-man team, one to aim and fire, the other to haul ammunition and reload.