Knocked out by a Piat? That means there would only be a very small hole. But my guess is all or most of the crew survived (at least in the tank itself, donno if they survived the escape), since HEAT rounds don't do much to open topped vehicles, as there is no pressure change that causes the huge flame plume that happens in an enclosed space. IE, if it did hit the crew compartment, whoever was right next to where it hit is screwed, but the rest are probably fine. Now judging by how the canadians are happily standing inside, I somehow doubt that they're standing in a pile of guts and charred flesh, so my guess is the piat hit the other track, knocked it out, and the crew was captured/ran for it.
Most likely. Many crews abandoned their tanks the second it got hit, because their was a high chance that a second shell, with less lucky results, was on the way
Google is your friend, that picture is from a very famous battle that took place in that very location. A captain Mahony from the Westie's regiment actually won a VC for his actions there, which included that "Nashorn" pictured earlier. Historically, There are numerous accounts which refer to the Melfa offensive, as it was a pivotal action in securing the Liri valley.
Mahony's official citation is here:
http://vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=history/secondwar/citations/mahony According to the Westminster's War Diary, that 88mm Self propelled gun had popped up soon after a bridgehead was established and was taking potshots at Stuart light tanks that were assembled across the river. Capt. Mahony and his PIAT man advanced towards the armour, took one bomb shot that missed at distance but then crawled closer to the gun and proceeded to hit the left track with their second shot.
When they realized that they had just lost mobility, the German crew bailed out and was then cut down by a Bren section, except for one German soul who had enough of his wits about him to surrender. The German armour crew had no idea what they had gotten themselves into. (their greediness to engage targets got them into a lot of trouble).
During that very offensive, the Germans lost 3 Mk IV tanks, 5 or 6 self propelled guns and 1 Panther to a company of infantry with 3x 6 pdr. guns, 2 sections of PIAT men and one troop of Stuart tanks. Their battlefield recce was so poor for that action that they kept assaulting in numbers that were doomed to failure, even though the Germans held numerical superiority in terms of artillery support, armour and infantry strength.
I love reading War Diaries and the Westie's is very well done, certainly worth the read in my opinion. As motorized infantry during the war, the Westie's certainly got around, and they have some stories to show for it ...