The ''Abwehrflammenwerfer'' 42 was a German static defensive

flamethrower A flamethrower is a ranged incendiary device designed to project a controllable jet of fire. First deployed by the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century AD, flamethrowers saw use in modern times during World War I, and more widely in World ...

flame fougasse A flame fougasse (sometimes contracted to fougasse and may be spelled foo gas) is a type of mine or improvised explosive device which uses an explosive charge to project burning liquid onto a target. The flame fougasse was developed by the P ...

or flame mine used during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The design was copied from Russian FOG-1 mines that were encountered in 1941 during

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

. These were usually buried at intervals of covering road blocks, landing beaches, harbour walls and other obstacles. They were normally mixed in with other mines or emplaced behind

barbed wire A close-up view of a barbed wire Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire, is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strands. Its primary use is t ...

and could be command detonated or triggered by

tripwire A tripwire is a passive triggering mechanism. Typically, a wire or cord is attached to a device for detecting or reacting to physical movement. Military applications Such tripwires may be attached to one or more mines – especially fragm ...

s or other devices. The mine consisted of a large fuel cylinder high and with a capacity of containing a black viscid liquid; a mix of light, medium, and heavy oils. A second, smaller cylinder, in diameter and high, was mounted on top of the fuel cylinder; it contained the propellant powder, which was normally either

black powder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...

or a mixture of

nitrocellulose Nitrocellulose (also known as cellulose nitrate, flash paper, flash cotton, guncotton, pyroxylin and flash string, depending on form) is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to a mixture of nitric acid and ...

and

diethylene glycol dinitrate Diethylene glycol dinitrate (DEGDN) is an explosive nitration, nitrated Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol ester with the formula C4H8N2O7. While chemically similar to numerous other high explosives, pure diethylene glycol dinitrate is difficult to ig ...

. A flame tube was fixed centrally on top of the fuel cylinder, it was a diameter pipe that rose from the centre of the fuel cylinder and curved to extend horizontally approximately . When the mine was buried, only the flame tube was normally above ground. When the mine was triggered, a squib charge ignited the propellant, creating a burst of hot gas which forced the fuel from the main cylinder and out of the flame tube. A second squib ignited the fuel as it passed out of the end of the tube. The projected stream of burning fuel was wide and high with a range of about , and lasted about 1.5 seconds.

References

* TM-E 30-451, ''Handbook on German Military Forces'', War Department * ''Flamethrowers of the German Army 1914-1945'' by Fred Koch * *

References

See also