3 ms·
Sadly nothing about how it fared in combat.
by StimDeck 3y ago
Sadly nothing about how it fared in combat.
- trilbyglens 3y agoSeeing as it was developed in the 1950s, it likely never saw combat.
- mytailorisrich 3y agoFrance had plenty of combat at the time but the other side rarely, if ever, had tanks.
- sofixa 3y agoThe weapon in question, the M20 recoilless rifle, turned out to be ineffective against tanks (even against T-34s which by the 1950s were obsolete), but effective as close infantry support against stationary targets. So it could still have been used effectively against e.g. Vietnamese or Algerian positions.
- mytailorisrich 3y agoLooks like it was used in Algeria, actually, according to this source: "La Vespa 150 TAP o "Vespa Bazooka" como la llamaban algunos tuvo su bautismo de fuego durante la guerra de Argelia (1954-62), en que varios cientos de estas motos fueron desplegadas y utilizadas por las TAP y la Legión Extranjera." [1] Googla translation: "The Vespa 150 TAP or "Vespa Bazooka" as some called it had its baptism of fire during the Algerian war (1954-62), in which several hundred of these motorcycles were deployed and used by the TAP and the Foreign Legion." I haven't found other sources, though. [1] https://laescaleradeiakob.blogspot.com/2013/12/la-vespa-150-tap.html https://laescaleradeiakob.blogspot.com/2013/12/la-vespa-150-...
- sofixa 3y agoCuriously the Wikipedia page in French mentions Algeria as well, but has no sources, and the official military archives have zero relevant mentions of Vespa, M20, scooter, bazooka, ACMA.
- sio8ohPi 3y agoThere are various photos online that claim to show it in the field in Algeria during their war of independence. Given that it was used by French paras who were deployed there during that time, I have no particular reason to doubt those captions.