at War
A
by Tony Barrett
couple of years ago I had the good fortune to visit the excellent School of Airborne Troops Museum at Pau, and it was while I was guided round the exhibits that I noticed a Vespa scooter mounting a 75mm recoilless rifle. For a moment I thought it was a joke but was soon informed that it actually existed as a weapon in the later stages of the war in Indochina and in Algeria, including the Suez Operation in 1956. My interest was definitely raised as during the 1960’s in the UK I was a Mod and rode a number of Vespa scooters; I could not but help to think what would have happened if, on one of those Bank Holiday weekends on the South-Coast, I had turned up on one of these Bazooka mounted Vespa’s......one can only image the look on the faces of the Rockers !!!!!! The Vespa 150 TAP is an Italian Vespa scooter modified to transport a M20 75 mm recoilless rifle, which was used in the 1950s by the French Airborne Forces (Troupes aéroportées, or TAP). It was produced by Ateliers de Construction de Motocycles et Automobiles (ACMA), a licensed assembler of Vespa’s in France, in 1956 and 1959. It mounted a M20, U.S.-made light anti-armour cannon, was very light when compared to a standard 75mm cannon but was still able to penetrate 100 mm of armour by so-called HEAT warhead. The recoil is counteracted by venting propellant gases out the rear of the weapon which eliminated the need for a mechanical recoil system or heavy mounts, enabling the weapon to be fired from the Vespa frame. The scooters would be parachute-dropped in pairs, accompanied by a two-man team. The gun was carried on one scooter, while the ammunition was loaded on the other. Due to the lack of any kind of aiming devices the recoilless rifle was never designed to be fired from the scooter; the gun was mounted on a tripod which was also carried by the scooter, before being fired. Primarily built for the Algerian War in the 1950s, five parachutes could carry a two-man gun crew, weapon, ammunition, and two scooters. Then the men would load the weapon on one scooter and the ammo on the other, before riding away to find their enemy. Although rumour has it that the drivers were seen more often pushing it rather than riding on it … The ‘Bazooka Vespa’ was relatively cheap: Vespa’s cost roughly $500 at the time, and the M20s were plentiful. Roughly 800 of these scooters were deployed during the Algerian War. The École des troupes aéroportées (ETAP), or School of Airborne Troops, is a military school dedicated to training the military paratroopers of the French army. It was established in 1964 and is located in the town of Pau, in the département of PyrénéesAtlantiques, France. Now if I had seen this in the local Vespa showroom............... The author Tony Barrett, no bazooka just ‘Moon Equipped’ stickers in 1964. (photo bottom right).
38 | The Deux-Sèvres Monthly, June 2015