did bed-springs really work against panzerfausts?

[Green Beanie]

I have seen so many pictures of Soviet tanks in the Battle of Berlin with bed-springs attached as protection against panzerfausts, and it made me wonder, did they do any good?

 

[hongkongwargamer]

One reason why there ain't too many Tank Hunter Heros in theater, they get bounced off!

 

[Zakopious]

They didn't all bounce off.

 

[Old Noob]

Time to put this topic to bed!

 

[von Marwitz]

Time to put this topic to bed!

But just when you thought it went to sleep, it springs up again...

von Marwitz

 

[Gordon]

Some threads keep bouncing back.

 

[daniel zucker]

can someone please tell me more about this box springs thing? How did it work or not work?

 

[Gordon]

It was intended to either cause the HEAT round to detonate before it hit the vehicle's main armor or to jam/disrupt the fuse completely. However, like Schürzen (originally developed to counteract Soviet ATR), they could sometimes have the unintended effect of providing better standoff for the HEAT round and actually increase its effectiveness.

 

[Old Noob]

Everybody tried to uparmor their AFVs against panzerfausts. The Russians used bedsprings, the British used spare bogie wheels
and the Americans tried everything they could. Very limited success overall.

The Marines on Iwo Jima used wooden frames over their M4s to keep Japanese magnetic charges from adhering to the hull.
Also used to weld long nails [points up] around the hatches to discourage suicidal boarders.