Cultural Impact - Bring Up The PIAT!
Perhaps the first appearance of the PIAT in a cultural sense was an illustration painted by war artist Edward Bawden, depicting a soldier firing a PIAT on Dunwich Heath during Exercise Kruschen in Spring 1943. During the war the PIAT appeared in a number of illustrations in magazines but made no onscreen appearances.
An illustration of an early-pattern PIAT & gunner, on Dunwich Heath during an exercise, painted by Edward Bawden (source)
The PIAT’s most iconic screen credit comes from Sir Richard Attenborough’s 1977 epic A Bridge Too Far but its first appearance dates back to 1946, appearing in Brian Desmond Hurst’s Theirs Is the Glory. Hurst’s film was the first to tell the story of the Battle of Arnhem, using footage filmed during the battle and in the ruins of the town after the war. It features men who had actually taken part in the battle and during one scene Private Dixon is ordered to leave his tea brewing and ‘have a shot at one of those tanks’, Dixon dutifully takes his PIAT and destroys a Panther.
Dixon bags his Panther:
In 1957, a wooden mock-up of a PIAT made an appearance in the Polish film Kanał, about the 1944 Warsaw Uprising. In one scene members of the Polish underground take on a German tank driving it off with a direct hit. Almost sixty years later the PIAT featured in another Polish film about the Uprising. In a more recent depiction of the uprising, 2014′s Warsaw 44, soldiers of the Polish Home Army use a PIAT in an attempt to stop a Goliath remote-controlled tracked mine. The scene even shows the PIAT being cocked in the standing position before the Home Army soldiers manage to blow off one of the Goliath’s tracks.
A mock-up (a pretty good one) PIAT appearing in the 1957 film Kanał
In 1962, the PIAT featured in the classic war movie, The Longest Day. Reportedly borrowed from a museum in London by propmaster Sam Gordon. During the sequence recreating the Free French Commandos’ attack on the German defences near Ouistreham Casino. While the recreation of the Casino built for the film was not quite historically accurate the film does depict the failed French attempts to silence a German gun with a PIAT.
The PIAT takes a starring role in the Longest Day
The PIAT also made appearances in long running British military comics like Warlord and Battle Action with World War Two stories focused on British troops often featuring them.
An edition of Battle Action featuring a PIAT on the cover (source)
The PIAT also makes an appearance in the 1975 film Paper Tiger starring David Niven, as ‘Major’ Bradbury a teacher who tells his student glorious, if not entirely true, war stories worthy of Walter Mitty. One of Bradbury’s stories involves him single-handedly attacking a German bunker in France. Using a PIAT, which in the film Niven incorrectly refers to as a ‘bazooka’, he destroys an enemy armoured vehicle (which is in fact a US M8 Light Armoured Car) before destroying the bunker with a grenade.
David Niven with his ‘Bazooka’:
It was in A Bridge Too Far that Anthony Hopkins, portraying Lt.Col. John Frost, uttered the immortal line “Bring up the PIAT!” as a German tank attempts crossing the bridge, though sadly in this scene its bombs are seen to fall short. The PIAT is seen a number of times throughout the film but principally in the telling of the embattled story of Frost and his men. The PIAT is first seen close up during a sequence recreating the repulsing of an SS reconnaissance battalion’s attempt to cross the bridge.
The Iconic Scene:
The PIAT has also appeared in a number of video games including Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (2002), Company of Heroes (2006) and most recently the Battlefield V (2018), introducing new generations to the PIAT. Despite being a weapon that only saw a few years’ service, the PIAT has had a lasting presence as a period weapon of significance appearing in numerous films.
New Book!
If you’d like to know more about the PIAT, my new book looking at its design, development and operational history is out later this month. If you’d like a copy drop your email in this form and I’ll let you know when it’s available!