I agree with George. Bloody dangerous things, those PIATs (mostly to the
user!). For those not familiar with it, the Projector Infantry Anti-Tank (PIAT)
was an awkward, heavy contraption for close-in defence against tanks, used by
British and British-equipped troops in the Second World War. The user lay on
the ground and used all his strength to cock the very strong spring which was
all that propelled the missile. The missile had a shaped-charge head which
looked very like the float in a toilet tank. The missile arced through the air
and, if it hit the right way in the right spot, would burn a hole through the
tank's armour and do nasty things to whatever was inside.

It was theoretically accurate up to 100 feet if you were an optimist. If you
were OVERLY optimistic, given how close you were to the enemy tank, unpleasant
things tended to happen to you.

In the spring of 1997, I talked to Smokey Smith of the Seaforth Highlanders of
Canada who won his Victoria Cross (the highest decoration for bravery in what
was then the British Empire) for knocking our three German tanks, one after the
other, with a PIAT. I asked him why he'd done such a damn-fool thing with what
was such an unpredictable piece of kit. Smokey replied, "Well, you know, those
XXXX guys really XXXXX me off!". A reasonable explanation, I thought.

George's points are all good ones. Even weapons that have theoretically been
cleaned out may still be dangerous. We acquired a Claymore from Viet Nam twenty
years ago, which was supposed to have been "unloaded". When we went to display
it a few months ago, we discovered enough C-40 in it to have done a nice job on
anyone who might have dropped it the right (wrong) way!

Some explosives can become extremely unstable over time, especially those
considered "high" explosives, such as the fillers in grenades, mines or
artillery shells. I remember as a boy in Quebec hearing every year about some
damned fool who had blown himself up climbing over the fence, ignoring the
warning signs, to pick up what looked like a harmless old shell on the wartime
artillery range at nearby Camp Valcartier. Propellants are much more stable.

We, too, have a very good working relationship with the military and police
forces, who are ALWAYS willing to help. Use them!

Harry Needham
Major (Ret'd)
Director - Programmes & Operations
Canadian War Museum