Defeating the Panzer-Stuka Menace - British Spigot Weapons of the Second World War

Defeating the Panzer-Stuka Menace - British Spigot Weapons of the Second

World War written by David Lister and published by Frontline Books - £25 -

Hardback - Pages 264

Unlike conventional mortars, a spigot mortar does not have a barrel through with

the round is fired. Instead, the general concept involves a steel rod – the ‘spigot’ –

onto which the bomb is placed before it is fired. This design was, as David Lister

reveals, the basis of a number of successful weapons used during the Second

World War.

The myth of the PIAT man-portable anti-tank weapon is, for example, tied closely to British paratroopers struggling in the ruins of Arnhem with an inadequate design, one inferior to the German equivalent. Similarly, the myth of the Blacker Bombard is of a useless weapon, one of dubious quality, that was dumped on the unsuspecting Home Guard.

In reality, neither scenario is the case. Both weapons were devastating creations of war, often superior to any other nation’s counterpart.

At sea, the Hedgehog anti-submarine weapon was another powerful spigot weapon. It was undoubtedly capable of sweeping the U-boats from the sea and even winning the Battle of the Atlantic before it had really begun. That it did not is one of the great scandals of the Second World War, one hidden by wartime secrecy until now.

In Defeating the Panzer-Stuka Menace the author explores a large number of spigot weapons from the Second World War, many of which were created by the fertile mind of one of Britain’s great weapon inventors, Latham Valentine Stewart Blacker.

I must admit I started to read this thinking I wouldn’t really find it interesting, but quite the opposite, I really enjoyed this book. The book looks at small arms weapons that would be used against anything bigger than a man. We had the spigot gun used to take out a tank from a roadside, a PIAT, another anti tank weapon and then the Hedgehog, a weapon that would shoot small rockets to attack submarines. A whole range of weapons were shown, displayed and explained. A really fascinating read, and I commend the author David Lister for writing a detailed well explained book which was easy to read and understand. The book was complemented by some really good photographs and diagrams which also helped understand the weapons and processes they went through. I would definitely recommend this book.