in the annals of military history few inventions have captured the imagination quite like the flamethrower while modern iterations conjure images of World War II and Beyond the true origins of this fearsome weapon stretch back over a millennium to the heart of the Byzantine Empire and their closely guarded secret Greek Fire as the Roman poet Virgil once wrote The Descent to hell is easy and indeed the development of such a weapon marked a new ch CH in the infernal nature of warfare the year was 672 CE the vast walls of Constantinople
capital of the Byzantine Empire stood Resolute against the Relentless tide of Arab expansion the umad caliphate under the leadership of muawiya Once emboldened by recent conquests including Egypt and parts of North Africa sought to strike at the very heart of Eastern Christianity as Arab ships approached the Golden Horn the narrow inlet Northwest of the bosphorous Strait The Defenders of Constantinople led by Emperor Constantine IV Unleashed a weapon that would become the stuff of Legend from the decks of Byzantine drans Swift
warships that were the backbone of the Byzantine Navy a viscous flammable liquid erupted in great gouts of flame engulfing enemy vessels in an inferno that water itself could not quench this was Greek fire the precursor to Modern flamethrowers and it would change the face of warfare for centuries to come the Byzantine historian theophanes the Confessor later wrote Of This Moment the fire bearing ships went forth against the enemy and by God’s help burned them the invention of Greek Fire is traditionally attributed to a Syrian
engineer named kinus of heliopolis who fled to Constantinople in the face of Arab expansion around 600 68 CE kinus also known as kinos is said to have presented his invention to emperor Constantine IV who immediately recognized its potential however some historians like Jr Partington in his work a history of Greek Fire and gunpowder argue that the weapon may have been developed gradually by Byzantine chemists and Engineers over time rather than being the work of a single inventor the exact composition of Greek fire
remains a mystery to this day a testament to the Byzantine ability to keep secrets contemporary accounts describe it as a mixture that included petroleum quick lime sulfur and possibly salt peter some speculate that Pine resin might have been added to help it adhere to surfaces the Byzantine emperor Constantine iith porag genitus 95 959 wrote in his work de administrando imperio that the secret of of Greek fire was divinely revealed to the first Constantine and that Angels had instructed that it should never be
disclosed to other nations he stated if any person should dare to procure the secret of the fire from others or disclose it to anyone he should be anathematized and excommunicated as the Enemy of the State the delivery system for Greek fire was as Innovative as the substance itself it was projected through bronze tubes called siphons mounted on the prows of ships or on the walls of fortifications these siphons operated by a mechanism involving pumps and compressed air could project the Flaming liquid up to 15 M the 6th Century
military Treatise strategicon attributed to Emperor Maurice describes a primitive form of this device suggesting that the technology evolved over time the Byzantine historian theophanes described the effect as it falls like Thunder From Heaven it rushes upon the enemy the psychological impact of Greek Fire cannot be overstated anaa daughter of Emperor alexios the commos wrote in her historical work the alexiad about its terrifying effect this fire they hurled at us by means of tubes and it came on with a roaring sound and a flame
of prodigious size setting fire to the [ __ ] the Arab historian al-masudi writing in the 10th century described it as a fiery furnace that inspired Terror in all who witnessed it Greek Fire proved decisive in numerous conflicts during the first Arab Siege of Constantinople 674 678 it was instrumental in repelling the umad fleet the Arab Commander yazid son of mua Al was forced to withdraw after his ships were decimated by the Byzantine secret weapon in 717 during another Arab Siege led by ml iban ABD al- Malik Greek Fire once again
saved the city destroying much of the Arab Navy the Byzantine chronicler theophanes the Confessor wrote on the 18th of August in the third IND the Arabs brought up their fire ships and BMS as far as the bows at night the emperor ordered the siphon bearing ships to sail out against them with God’s help and the intercession of the All Pure Mother of God the enemy’s ships were sunk some by our siphon bearing ships and others were burnt by our ravagers the weapon Effectiveness extended Beyond Naval Warfare in 941 during a Russ’s attack on
Constantinople led by Prince eigor of Kiev Greek fire was used to devastating effect the primary Chronicle recounts the Greeks came out from the city in ships and began to attack the Roose with Greek Fire and they burned them so that the Roose could not see and they fled in Terror this defeat left such an impression on the Roose that it was immortalized in their epic literature including the tale of Igor’s campaign the versatility of Greek fire was demonstrated in its use on land as well during the Byzantine
Bulgarian Wars of the late 10th and early 11th centuries Emperor nikoros II Focus employed portable flamethrowers against Bulgarian fortifications the Byzantine military manual known as the tactica of Leo v 6 describes these devices as handheld siphons that could be carried by a single soldier The Secret of Greek fire was so closely guarded that it eventually became lost to history by the time of The Fourth Crusade in 1204 which saw the sack of Constantinople by Western Crusaders led by bonface of monat and enrio dandolo the weapon seems
to have fallen out of use the loss of this technology marked the end of an era in Byzantine military Supremacy the Venetian chronicler Martin de Canal writing in the 13th century lamented the Greeks have lost the knowledge of that fire but while they possessed it they were formidable to All Nations Inferno unleashed the fiery Genesis of modern flamethrowers in the Great War in the Smoke Filled trenches of World War I where the staccato of machine gun fire and the the Thunder of artillery had become the Grim soundtrack
of Modern Warfare a new and terrifying weapon emerged the year was 1915 and the German Army was about to unleash a device that would bring the very flames of Hell to the battlefield the modern flamethrower this weapon would come to embody the industrialized brutality of the conflict prompting British war poet Wilfred Owen to later write in his haunting verse duli at deorum EST if in some smothering dreams you too could Pace behind the wagon that we flung him in and watch the white eyes writhing in his face his hanging face like a devil’s
sick of sin the Genesis of this fearsome weapon can be traced back to the ingenious mind of Richard feedler a German engineer who had been experimenting with incendiary devices since the turn of the century feeder’s creation the Flamin verer literally flamethrower in German was a far cry from the crude fire projecting devices of ancient times it was a sophisticated piece of engineering capable of spewing burning oil in a concentrated stream up to 20 M away feeder’s initial prototype demonstrated to the German Army in 1901 was met with
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skepticism it wasn’t until 1908 that the German Army began to show serious interest funding further development and refinement of the weapon the German High command ever eager for an edge in the the bloody stalemate of trench warfare saw the potential in feeder’s invention on February 26th 1915 they authorized the formation of a specialized unit the flaman verer ab tyong flamethrower Detachment under the command of major Raman this unit initially comprising just 348 men would soon write a new chapter in the annals of warfare the
Detachment was divided into three companies each equipped with 12 large flamethrowers and 24 small ones the soldiers of this unit underwent rigorous training at a secret facility near Berlin learning not only how to operate the complex devices but also how to maintain them under combat conditions the flamethrower made its combat debut on June 25th 1915 in the Argon sector of the Western Front the target was a French position near Malon Court held by elements of the 42nd division as Dawn broke German Pioneers crept forward with
their cumbersome but lethal devices at the signal great gouts of flame erupted from the German lines engulfing the French trenches in a Sea of Fire the effect was devastating both physically and psychologically French soldier Henry barbose who witnessed the attack later wrote in his Memoir Under Fire it was as if the Gates of Hell had opened before us men ran screaming their uniforms a flame their FA P es Twisted in agony the attack was a resounding success with the Germans capturing the French position and taking over 1,000
Prisoners the success of this initial deployment led to a rapid expansion of the flamon Vera AB tyong by the end of 1915 three companies had been formed each equipped with 48 large flamethrowers and 96 smaller portable ones these units would see action in some of the war’s most notorious battles including the meat grinder of vidan the flamethrower troops quickly gained a fearsome reputation with Allied soldiers nicknaming them the Devils of malen Court after their first successful engagement at Verdun on February 21st
1916 the flamethrower once again proved its worth as a shock weapon as part of the initial German assault flamethrower teams Advanced alongside Storm Troopers to clear French bunkers and strong points the psychological impact was immense French leftenant Alfred Zuber wrote in his diary on February 23rd hell cannot be so terrible men are mad with horror and suffering the flamethrowers helped the Germans make significant gains in the early days of the battle though they would ultimately fail to break the French defense during the
first week of the battle alone German flamethrower units conducted over 80 attacks clearing numerous French positions and contributing to the capture of for Dumont on February 25th the use of flamethrowers wasn’t limited to offensive operations they proved equally effective in defense particularly against Allied tank attacks on April 24th 1918 during the Second Battle of villa Breton German flamethrower teams successfully repelled several British tanks of the first tank Brigade the intense heat and smoke generated by the flamethrowers forced
tank Crews to abandon their vehicles making them easy targets for German infantry leftenant Colonel Edgar Swinton one of the pioneers of tank warfare later wrote in his Memoirs the appearance of flamethrowers on the battlefield presented a new and terrifying challenge to our armored forces it was a stark reminder that technological Advance is a double-edged sword in Warfare as news of the flamethrower Effectiveness spread the Allies scrambled to develop their own versions the British were the first to respond
with leftenant William livens leading the development effort lians an engineer by training created a large static flamethrower that could project flame over 100 yards these lien’s large Gallery flame projectors were first used on July 1st 1916 during the opening day of the battle of the Som four were deployed near the village of mammoths where they helped clear German trenches and contributed to one of the few Allied successes that day the massive devices weighing over 2.
5 tons each had to be transported in sections and assembled in underground Chambers despite their impressive range their static nature limited their tactical flexibility the French too developed their own flamethrowers known as schilt flamers named after their inventor Captain schilt these were first used in April 1916 during the later stages of the battle of verun while not as advanced as their German counterparts they still proved effective in clearing trenches and bunkers French General Robert Nel impressed by their performance ordered the formation of
dedicated flamethrower units within the French army by the end of 1916 the French had deployed over 300 flamethrowers Across the Western Front The Americans late entrance to the war in initially relied on French designed flamethrowers however by 1918 they had developed their own model the M1A1 flamethrower this saw limited use in the closing months of the war particularly during the M Aron offensive General John J persing commander of the American expeditionary forces noted in his post-war report the flamethrower while a
weapon of limited application proved invaluable in certain tactical situations particularly in the reduction of machine gun nests and fortified positions despite their effectiveness flamethrowers were not without drawbacks the equipment was heavy and cumbersome making operators easy targets for enemy snipers a fully loaded German flamethrower could weigh up to 79 lb severely limiting the mobility of its operator the pressurized tanks were also vulnerable to rupture from Small Arms fire often with catastrophic results for
the operator German Corporal Ernst Junger in his War Memoir storm of Steel described the Grim fate of flamethrower operators they fell like blazing torches victims of their own weapon in one particularly harrowing incident during the Battle of pendal in 1917 an entire German flamethrower team was wiped out when a British sniper bullet punctured a fuel tank engulfing the men in a fireball visible from over a mile away moreover the short range of early flamethrowers meant operators had to get dangerously close to enemy
positions this led to the development of larger vehicle mounted flamethrowers later in the war the Germans introduced the gross Flamin verer capable of projecting flame up to 40 m while the British experimented with tank-mounted flamethrowers the first British flame tank a modified Mark I 44 was tested in secret at Gunda in Yorkshire in early 1918 but never saw Combat Action by the war’s end flamethrowers had become an established if controversial part of Modern Warfare their use was widespread the Germans alone employed them in over
650 attacks throughout the war the weapon had proven its worth in the Grim calculus of trench warfare able to clear enemy positions where artillery and gas had failed in the final German offensive of 1918 operation Michael flamethrower units played a crucial role in breaching the British lines with over 100 flamethrower attacks recorded in the first three days of the offensive the Canadian leftenant Frederick George Scott a chaplain who served on the Western Front wrote in his diary to see men burned alive their flesh melting
like Wax is a sight that Sears the soul and makes one question the very foundations of civilization and as the guns fell silent in November 1918 the flamethrower had firmly established itself in the Arsenal of modern armies its development during World War I marked a significant evolution in military technology one that would have far-reaching consequences in future conflicts Inferno unleashed the fiery Legacy of flamethrowers in World War II the acrid smell of burning fuel filled the air as flames licked the sky
casting an eerie Orange glow over the battlefield soldiers cowered in their foxholes their eyes wide with Terror as the unmistakable hiss of a flamethrower pierced the cacophony of War this scene repeated countless times throughout World War II epitomized the horrifying effectiveness of one of the conflict’s most feared weapons the flamethrower as War correspondent Ernie pile once wrote the flamethrower is a terrible weapon and it can be a terrifying sight on the battlefield IT projects Liquid Fire for as much as 100 yards and there is no way
to escape it as the war erupted in 1939 Germany was at the Forefront of flamethrower technology the Vermont’s primary model the flamon for 35 could project a stream of burning fuel up to 25 M creating a hellish Inferno that could flush out enemy troops from fortified positions German soldiers nicknamed it the Zippo after the popular American lighter a dark joke that bellied the weapons lethal capabilities the Flamin wer 35 weighed a staggering 35.
8 kg 79b when fully loaded making it a cumbersome but devastating weapon in the hands of specially trained pionier combat engineer units one of the most notable early uses of flamethrowers in the war came during the German invasion of France in 1940 on May 27th at the Village of laradi s troops of the third SS division Toten cop used flamethrowers to devastate French defensive positions Paving the way for a massacre of British prisoners of War this incident while horrific was just a taste of the Carnage to come the Le Paradis Massacre where 97
British soldiers were executed after surrendering became one of the war’s early atrocities and a stark reminder of the brutal nature of the conflict as the war progressed other s quickly developed their own flamethrower designs the Soviet Union deployed The Rock S2 flamethrower which saw extensive use during the brutal Urban fighting of the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942 Red Army soldiers used these weapons to clear German held buildings turning the ruined City into a literal Inferno Soviet General vasil chikov
later wrote the flamethrower was our most effective weapon in street fighting it could make the difference between Victory and defeat in a single building the Rocks too weighing only 22 kg 48.5 lb was more maneuverable than its German counterpart and could fire up to 10 bursts of flame the United States initially hesitant to employ flamethrowers due to concerns about their humanitarian implications eventually embraced the weapon as the Pacific Campaign intensified the United States introduced the M22 flamethrower
in 1944 4 an improvement over the earlier M1 model this weapon weighing 68 lb fully loaded could project a stream of burning fuel up to 20 40 m despite its Effectiveness it remained a dangerous weapon to wield as one Anonymous Marine on pelu grimly joked with this thing on your back you’re either the hunter or the hunted there’s no in between the Battle of pelu which began on September 15th 1944 saw extensive use of flamethrowers against Japanese cave complexes one Marine private wilson d Watson earned the Medal of Honor for his
actions on iojima where he single-handedly attacked multiple enemy positions with his flamethrower his citation reads private Watson’s aggressive initiative Valiant fighting spirit and unwavering Devotion to duty were directly instrumental in the rapid elimination of Japanese opposition Watson’s heroic actions on February 26th 27 1945 included destroying multiple pill boxes and taking out over 60 enemy soldiers demonstrating the devastating potential of the flamethrower in skilled hands the psychological impact of
flamethrowers cannot be overstated the weapon instilled a primal fear in enemy troops often causing them to surrender or flee rather than face the prospect of being burned alive this effect was not lost on military leaders General George S Patton famously quipped I don’t want them to send me too many messages saying they are holding positions we are not holding anything let the Hun do that we are advancing constantly Patton’s aggressive tactics often Incorporated flamethrowers particularly in urban combat situations
where they proved highly effective at clearing buildings and fortified positions however the use of flamethrowers was not without controversy the weapon’s gruesome effects and the suffering it inflicted LED some to question its morality additionally flamethrower operators were often targeted by enemy snipers as their conspicuous equipment and the danger they posed made them priority targets the life expectancy of a flamethrower operator in combat was often measured in minutes rather than hours this Grim reality led to a peculiar practice among
some American units in the Pacific flamethrower operators would sometimes wear regular infantry gear over their specialized equipment to avoid being singled out by enemy snipers in the Pacific where Japanese forces often fought to the last man from heavily fortified positions flamethrowers became an essential tool for American forces the Battle of pelu in September 1944 saw extensive use of flamethrowers with Marine Corps historian Bennis M Frank noting the flamethrower was the most effective weapon we had against the Japanese in
their fortified caves on pelu Marines faced an intricate network of caves and bunkers that Conventional Weapons struggled to overcome flamethrowers however could reach into these hidden defenses either killing the Defenders outright or forcing them into the open where they could be engaged by other weapons as the war Drew to a close flamethrowers played a role in some of its final desperate battles during the Soviet assault on Berlin in April 1945 Red Army troops used flamethrowers to clear German Defenders from the ruins
of the once Grand capital in one particularly Fierce engagement Soviet troops used flamethrowers to flush out fanatical Hitler Youth members defending the reichstag building on April 30th 1945 the very day that Hitler died in his nearby bunker in the Pacific the battle of Okinawa lasting from April to June 1945 saw widespread use of flamethrowers by American forces as they overcame fanatical Japanese resistance the fighting on okanawa was some of the bloodiest of the war with over 12,000 American and 110,000 Japanese lives lost
US forces employed over 600 portable flamethrowers and 40 tank-mounted units the civilian toll was horrific with many okinawans trapped in caves alongside Japanese soldiers suffering the same fiery fate the legacy of flamethrowers in World War II is a complex one while their effectiveness as a tactical weapon is undeniable the horrific nature of their effects led to increasing scrutiny in the post-war years the 1980 convention on certain Conventional Weapons prohibited the use of incendiary weapons against civilian
populations though not their use against military targets steel dragons the fiery breath of armored beasts in the annals of warfare few weapons have inspired as much awe and Terror as the vehicle mounted flamethrower as the smoke cleared from the battlefields of World War I military strategists began to Envision a new kind of War Machine one that could combine the crushing power of armor with the Primal Fear induced By Flames this vision would ultimately materi iiz in the form of fearsome Vehicles like the Churchill crocodile a British tank that
would breathe fire across the battlefields of World War 2 as the ancient Chinese military strategist sunzu once said the Supreme Art of War is to subdue the enemy without fighting the psychological impact of these flame-throwing behemoths would prove this Maxim true in the most terrifying way imaginable the concept of mounting flamethrowers on vehicles was not entirely new during World War I the Germans had experimented with flame projecting devices on their a7v tanks the first recorded use of such a device was during the Battle of s Quentin on
March 21st 1918 where it proved to be more of a psychological weapon than an effective combat tool however it was in the interwar period that the idea truly began to take shape in 1929 the Soviet Union introduced the kht 26 a flamethrower tank based on the t26 light tank this early attempt at combining armor and Flame was a harbinger of things to come the kht 26 saw action in the Spanish Civil War 1936 to 1939 where it was used by Republican forces against the nationalists providing valuable combat data for future
developments as tensions Rose across Europe in the late 1930s various Nations accelerated their devel velopment of armored flamethrowers the Germans always at the Forefront of military technology created the flam Panzer series The flamp Panza wand based on the Panza 1 chassis saw action during the invasion of France in 1940 despite its limited success it paved the way for future developments one notable engagement occurred on May 17th 1940 near the town of Bowmont in Belgium where a group of flam Panza worst tanks successfully dislodged
French troops from fortified positions demonstrating the psychological impact of flame weapons the Germans would continue to refine their designs culminating in the formidable flaman of the threed which saw extensive use on the easn front against Soviet forces but it was the British who would Perfect The Art of the vehicle mounted flamethrower with the creation of the Churchill crocodile developed under a veil of secrecy the crocodile was the brainchild of the petroleum Warfare Department a clandestine organization established in
1940 in response to the threat of German invasion the department headed by Donald Banks was tasked with finding innovative ways to use petroleum in Warfare Banks a civilian oil executive before the war brought a unique perspective to military research his team’s early experiments included the infamous flame Fu gas an improvised explosive device that would spray burning petroleum over a wide area intended to repel German landing craft The Churchill crocodile was a modification of the Churchill infantry tank a sturdy and reliable Workhorse of
the British army what set the crocodile apart was its devastating weapon system a flamethrower capable of projecting a jet of flaming Fuel Up to 120 yards the fuel was stored in an armored trailer towed behind the tank containing 400 imperial gallons of fuel and five cylinders of compressed nitrogen to propel it the flamethrower could fire for up to 81 second bursts creating a terrifying spectacle on the battlefield the development process was not without its challenges early prototypes suffered from fuel leaks and ignition problems
one Infamous incident occurred during a demonstration in 1942 when a prototype crocodile accidentally set fire to a nearby Field nearly incinerating a group of observing officers Major General Percy Hobart commander of the 79th Armored Division recognized the potential of the crocodile his division nicknamed hobart’s funnies specialized in developing and operating specialized armored fighting vehicles under his guidance the crocodile was refined and prepared for its baptism of fire on the beaches of Normandy Hobart a Maverick in
military circles had been forced into retirement in 1940 due to his UNC conventional ideas only to be recalled by Winston Churchill himself who recognized the need for Innovative thinking in Modern Warfare Churchill famously quipped thank God we have a man like Hobart he’s a genius on June 6th 1944 as Allied Forces stormed the beaches of Normandy The Churchill crocodiles were among the specialized vehicles that would prove crucial in breaching the formidable German defenses the sight of these armored behem s spewing streams of
Liquid Fire was enough to break the morale of even the most hardened German defenders in one notable incident on June 8th near the village of crepon a single crocodile tank managed to secure the surrender of an entire German company entrenched in a fortified Farmhouse the German Commander later stated we were prepared to fight tanks but not dragons one British tank commander Captain David render of the Sherwood Rangers y rry later recalled the terrifying effect of the crocodile the effect was devastating the Germans
came out with their hands up nobody wants to be burned alive render who commanded crocodiles in several engagements noted that the mere presence of the flame tanks often led to immediate enemy surrender in his Memoirs he recounted an incident near KH where a group of ss troops known for their fanatical resistance threw down their weapons at the first sight of the approaching crocodiles the crocodiles played a pivotal role in operation Estonia The Assault on laav in September 1944 the German Garrison entrenched in
deep concrete bunkers had resisted conventional attacks however when faced with the crocodiles many surrendered rather than faced the horrifying Prospect of being burned alive Major General Roberts commanding the 11th Armored Division remarked the mere sight of the crocodiles was enough the use of the weapon was devastatingly effective the operation saw the use of 24 crocodiles which systematically reduced German strong points leading to the capture of over 11,000 German troops and the liberation of laav with minimal
Allied casualties the psychological impact of the crocodile cannot be overstated German prisoners of War often spoke of their Terror at facing these fire breathing tanks one German Soldier captured after an encounter with crocodiles near FES in August 1944 was quoted as saying we heard rumors of these flame tanks but we didn’t believe it when we saw them it was like facing dragons there was no hope this sentiment was echoed by many captured German soldiers who referred to the crocodiles as toel Panza devil tanks the
crocodile’s Effectiveness was not limited to its flame projecting capabilities the vehicle retained all the Armament of a standard Churchill tank including a 75mm gun and a coaxial machine gun this made it a versatile weapon system capable of engaging a variety of targets during the fierce fighting in the reichal forest in February 1945 crocodiles proved invaluable in clearing German positions among the dense trees in one particularly intense engagement on February 9th a group of three crocodiles from the 141st first
regiment Royal armored Core cleared a series of heavily fortified German bunkers that had resisted repeated infantry assaults demonstrating the weapon’s Effectiveness in close quarters combat despite its fearsome reputation the crocodile was not without its drawbacks the toad trailer made the tank less maneuverable and more vulnerable to anti-tank fire there was also the constant danger of the fuel trailer being hit and exploding one crocodile Commander liutenant John Hansard of the seventh Royal tank regiment narrowly
escaped death when his Tank’s trailer was hit by a German Panza fou near G in February 1945 the resulting explosion destroyed the trailer but miraculously left the tank and its crew unharmed Hansard later wrote it was like riding a powder keg we knew every Mission could be our last by the end of the war approximately 800 Church Hill crocodiles had been produced they saw action not only in Northwest Europe but also in Italy where they proved effective in dislodging German forces from fortified positions in the gothic line during operation
vampire in April 1945 crocodiles of the north Irish horse regiment played a crucial role in breaking through German defenses along the SEO River clearing a path for the eth Indian division’s Advance Inferno In the Jungle the scorching Legacy of Vietnam’s flamethrowers the dense verdant jungles of Vietnam with their oppressive heat and shadowy recesses became the unlikely stage for one of the most controversial weapons of Modern Warfare as American forces waded deeper into the Quagmire of the Vietnam War they found themselves
facing an enemy that seemed to melt into the landscape utilizing vast networks of underground tunnels to strike and vanish like ghosts in response the US military turned to a weapon that could flush out the hidden Foe and turn their Subterranean sanctuaries into infernos General William westand commander of US forces in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968 once remarked the enemy’s Guerilla tactics forced us to innovate in this war the jungle itself was the enemy and we had to find ways to deny its Sanctuary the use of flamethrowers in
Vietnam was not without precedent these weapons had proven their brutal Effectiveness in World War II and the Korean War however the unique challenges of the Vietnam conflict the Guerilla tactics the impenetrable jungle and the labyrinthine tunnel systems gave new purpose to these instruments of fire and fear the m97 flamethrower weighing 65 lb when fully loaded became a common sight in infantry units capable of projecting ing flame up to 65 M it was a formidable weapon in the close quarters of jungle warfare private first class Michael
Kelly of the first Infantry Division recalled his first encounter with the weapon during a training exercise at Fort Riley in 1966 when I saw that wall of flame I understood why they called it Zippo it was like holding the power of Hell in your hands one of the most infamous applications of flamethrowers in Vietnam was in the clearing of the cooi tunnels a vast network of underground passages stretching for over 120 Mi Northwest of Saigon discovered in 1965 by units of the US 25th Infantry Division these tunnels became a thorn in the side of
American forces serving as hiding spots supply routes and staging areas for Viet Kong attacks traditional methods of clearing these tunnels proved ineffective and Incredibly dangerous for the soldiers tasked with entering them the tunnels were so extensive that in 1967 US forces launched operation Cedar Falls a massive effort to destroy the coochi network despite dropping over 30,000 lb of bombs and using bulldozers to strip away the jungle cover the tunnels remained largely intact demonstrating the need for more direct
methods of clearance enter the flamethrower US troops particularly those in specialized tunnel rat units began using portable flamethrowers to clear these underground labyrinths the M2 flamethrower capable of projecting burning fuel up to 65 ft became a common sight in these operations Sergeant James Shriner a tunnel rat who operated in Cuchi in 1966 recalled the terrifying effectiveness of the weapon the flame would go in sucking out all the oxygen anyone inside didn’t stand a chance it was quick but it was hell
Shriner’s unit part of the 25th Infantry Division was responsible for clearing over 30 Mi of tunnels during their deployment in one particularly harrowing incident on March 18th 1966 Shriner and his team encountered a group of Viet Kong soldiers in a large chamber the ensuing firefight ended only when Shriner deployed his flamethrower engulfing the entire chamber in Flames the screams I’ll never forget those screams he later wrote in his Memoir tunnel Warrior the tunnel rats of Vietnam the psychological impact of
flamethrowers was profound on both sides of the conflict for American troops the weapon provided a sense of security in the face of an often invisible enemy private FirstClass John Smith who served with the 25th Infantry Division in 1967 described the reassurance the weapon brought knowing we had that Firepower it made the jungle feel a little less threatening but using it that was something else entirely Smith’s unit was involved in operation Junction City the largest US Airborne operation since World War II
during this operation flamethrowers were used extensively to clear Landing zones and Destroy enemy bunkers on February 28th 1967 Smith witnessed a flamethrower attack on a Viet Kong stronghold near T9 the entire tree line just erupted in Flames he recalled it was like something out of Dante’s Inferno for the Viet Kong the threat of flamethrowers added a new dimension of Terror to their already perilous existence in Guan van Lee a former Viet Kong soldier who survived a flamethrower attack in the coochi tunnels later
recounted we feared many things the bombs the gas but the fire it was like facing the anger of the Gods it changed how we moved how we fought lie was part of a unit stationed in the coochi tunnels during the Tet Offensive in 1968 on February 3rd his unit’s position was attacked by American forces using flamethrowers the heat was unbearable he said we could feel it even deep in the tunnels many of my comrades chose to surrender rather than face the Flames the deployment of flamethrowers wasn’t limited to infantry units the US
military also utilized vehicle mounted Flame FL throwers most notably the m132 armored flamethrower affectionately nicknamed the Zippo based on the M13 armored personnel carrier the m132 could project a stream of flaming Fuel Up to 2 m these mobile Inferno machines were particularly effective in clearing large areas of dense vegetation denying the Viet Kong their jungle cover the fifth mechanized Infantry Division deployed to Vietnam in 1968 made extensive use of the m132 in clearing operations along the demilitarized zone Captain Robert
Ellison who commanded a company of m132 s described their effectiveness we could clear a football field-sized area in minutes it was like mowing the lawn if the lawn was full of booby traps and enemy soldiers in operation piranha launched on September 7th 1965 in kangai province and 132s were used to devastating effect Marine Corps leftenant Colonel Joshua dorsy III who commanded the Third Battalion third Marines during the operation noted in his after Action Report the psychological impact of the flamethrowers cannot be overstated we
saw enemy combatants abandoning well fortified positions at the mere sound of the m132 S approaching the operation which lasted until SE September 10th resulted in 178 confirmed Vietcong casualties with many attributed to the use of flamethrowers dorsey’s report also highlighted an unexpected benefit of the weapon the intense heat generated by the flamethrowers often detonated hidden explosive devices clearing our path of booby traps however the use of flamethrowers was not without controversy even among American forces
the weapon gruesome effects and the suffering it inflicted led many soldiers to question its morality Corporal David Anderson who operated an M2 flamethrower with the first Cavalry division in 1968 expressed his conflicted feelings it was effective no doubt about that but the screams they stay with you you start to wonder if winning is worth that kind of cost Anderson’s unit participated in the Battle of K San where flamethrowers were used to clear North Vietnamese Army bunkers during The Siege on April 1st
1968 Anderson was ordered to clear a series of enemy positions I remember the date because it felt like some sick April Fool’s joke he said I burned out three bunkers that day the smell it’s not something you forget the ethical concerns surrounding flamethrowers extended beyond the battlefield as images and accounts of their use filtered back to the United States they became a focal point for anti-war protesters the Stark brutality of death by fire seemed to encapsulate the perceived inhumanity of the entire
conflict renowned journalist David halberstam in his book The Making of a quagmire wrote the flamethrower became a symbol of everything wrong with this war it was a weapon that didn’t just kill it obliterated it dehumanized this sentiment was echoed in protests Across America with signs reading stop the burning becoming a sight at anti-war rallies despite these concerns the military continued to employ flamethrowers throughout much of the war their use peaked in 1968 during the aftermath of the Tet Offensive as
American forces sought to root out Viet Kong forces from urban areas and clear tunnel complexes in the battle of Hugh alone which lasted from January 31st to March second 1968 over 250 flamethrower attacks were recorded in a sing single month marine sergeant John Canley who would later Reed the Medal of Honor for his actions in Hugh described the urban combat the city was a maze and every building could hide the enemy flamethrowers were often the only way to be sure a position was clear on February 6th cley’s unit used
flamethrowers to clear a series of fortified buildings near the perfume River an action that helped secure a crucial foothold in the city the effectiveness of flamethrowers in combat led to adaptations in Viet Kong tactics tunnel systems began to incorporate fire resistant Chambers and multiple emergency exits leang a Viet Kong sapper who worked on expanding the chuchi tunnels in 1967 described these modifications we dug deeper added more turns we couldn’t stop the fire but we could try to escape it dong and his team
implemented a system of watertight doors and ventilation shafts designed to contain fires and preserve oxygen in sealed Chambers we also started storing our supplies in metal containers he added it wouldn’t save them from a direct hit but it gave us a chance if the fire was at the tunnel entrance as the war progressed and American forces began to withdraw the use of flamethrowers gradually declined the last recorded combat use of a flamethrower in Vietnam was on May 15th 1970 during a clearing operation in the
IR triangle a Viet Kong stronghold Northwest of Saigon specialist fourth class Timothy Burns of the 25th Infantry Division was the last recorded American Soldier to use a flamethrower in combat in his after Action Report Burns wrote it felt like closing a chapter of the war but not one I’m proud of as we close this chapter of History The Echoes of flamethrowers still sear our Collective memory from the Volcan anic Ash of iojima to the Frozen ruins of Stalingrad these weapons of Liquid Fire wrote a dark narrative in the annals of warfare
men like Corporal Hershel Williams and Sergeant Yakov pavlof wielded this terrible power forever changed by its devastating effects as we reflect on this Grim chapter we’re reminded of the words of Robert Oppenheimer the father of the atomic bomb who quoted the pagad Gita after witnessing the first nuclear test now I am come death the destroyer of worlds while Oppenheimer spoke of nuclear fire his words resonate just as powerfully with the more intimate Inferno of the flamethrower in the end the story of the
flamethrower in World War II serves as a stark reminder of Humanity’s capacity for both ingenious creation and terrible destruction it challenges us to consider the true cost of Victory and the moral complexities of warfare as we bid farewell to this fiery R tale Let Us carry forward the Lessons Learned ever Vigilant against the Flames of conflict that continue to threaten our world today
