"With His Grenade Launcher, a Lone British Soldier..." Topic
6 Posts
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| Tango01 | 26 Sep 2018 12:51 p.m. PST |
… Beat Back a German Tank Attack. "On May 6, 1944 during the Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy, Francis Arthur Jefferson, a soldier with the British Army's Lancashire Fusiliers, engaged a German tank with a Projectile Infantry Anti-Tank grenade launcher, or PIAT. The action made Jefferson famous. But fame wouldn't spare him a tragic fate.
An anti-tank obstacle had held up the Fusiliers' supporting tanks. The battalion had pushed forward alone and had begun to establish a defensive position. With no tank support and no anti-tank guns available the Fusiliers were in an exposed position…."
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Amicalement
Armand |
| General Kirchner | 26 Sep 2018 3:35 p.m. PST |
a piat is a british anti tank weapon. not exactly what i envision when someone says grenade launcher. not trying to detract from what he did, just a little misleading……. |
| Tango01 | 27 Sep 2018 12:36 p.m. PST |
You are right my friend. Amicalement
Armand |
Pat Ripley  | 28 Sep 2018 6:05 a.m. PST |
how did he fire it standing up? |
| Starfury Rider | 28 Sep 2018 7:00 a.m. PST |
No, not a grenade launcher, which launches grenades. The PIAT was a projector, which projected bombs. If you tried to indent for PIAT grenades, you would not get any. The PIAT could be fired from positions other than prone, so from the hip or kneeling was doable. It meant though that the weapon was unlikely to re-cock for a following shot, so it would have to be done manually. That normally meant standing up to manipulate the spring mechanism, which may be what he did, fully exposed to enemy fire. It's an account worth telling, VCs are not easily earned. Shame it was accompanied by a barrage of advertisements. Gary |
hindsTMP  | 28 Sep 2018 1:58 p.m. PST |
Says someone stole the medal from his home. You would think the government would be willing to replace it. I suppose it's not "the same" though. |
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