{"product_id":"defeating-the-panzer-stuka-menace-british-spigot-weapons-of-the-second-world-war-9781526787156","title":"Defeating the Panzer-Stuka Menace: British Spigot Weapons of the Second World War","description":"Weapons of myth and scandal, that is the best way to describe the spigot weapons deployed by the British in the Second World War.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUnlike 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn reality, neither scenario is the case. Both weapons were devastating creations of war, often superior to any other nation's counterpart.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eDefeating the Panzer-Stuka Menace\u003c\/i\u003e 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Air World\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/01\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781526787156\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 232","brand":"David Lister","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40721191272629,"sku":"9781526787156","price":36.51,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_8963a8f7-daf8-46d9-a4ce-64f1f7445291.jpg?v=1628605635","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/defeating-the-panzer-stuka-menace-british-spigot-weapons-of-the-second-world-war-9781526787156","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}