![Type 93 japanese flamethrower](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Type_93_japanese_flamethrower.jpg)
A flamethrower is a
ranged incendiary device
Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using fire (and sometimes used as anti-personnel weaponry), that use materials such as napalm, th ...
designed to project a controllable
jet of
fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products.
At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...
.
First deployed by the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
in the
7th century AD, flamethrowers saw use in modern times during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, and more widely in
World War II
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 ...
as a tactical
siege weapon
A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent heavy castle doors, thick city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some are immobile, constructed in place to attack enemy fortifications from a distance, while other ...
against
fortification
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
s.
Most military flamethrowers use
liquid fuel
Liquid fuels are combustible or energy-generating molecules that can be harnessed to create mechanical energy, usually producing kinetic energy; they also must take the shape of their container. It is the fumes of liquid fuels that are flammable ...
, typically either
gasoline
Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic co ...
or
diesel
Diesel may refer to:
* Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression
* Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines
* Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...
, but commercial flamethrowers are generally
blowtorch
A blowtorch, also referred to as a blowlamp, is an ambient air fuel-burning gas lamp used for applying flame and heat to various applications, usually metalworking.
Early blowtorches used liquid fuel, carried in a refillable reservoir attache ...
es using
gas
Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma).
A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...
eous fuels such as
propane
Propane () is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula . It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is commonly used a ...
; gases are safer in peacetime applications, because their flames have less
mass flow rate
In physics and engineering, mass flow rate is the mass of a substance which passes per unit of time. Its unit is kilogram per second in SI units, and slug per second or pound per second in US customary units. The common symbol is \dot (''ṁ ...
and dissipate faster, and often are easier to extinguish when necessary.
The military use of flamethrowers is restricted through the
Protocol on Incendiary Weapons
The Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the use of Incendiary Weapons is a United Nations treaty that restricts the use of incendiary weapons. It is Protocol III to the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. Concluded in 1981, ...
.
Apart from the military applications, flamethrowers have peacetime applications where there is a need for
controlled burning
A controlled or prescribed burn, also known as hazard reduction burning, backfire, swailing, or a burn-off, is a fire set intentionally for purposes of forest management, farming, prairie restoration or greenhouse gas abatement. A control ...
, such as in
sugarcane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...
harvesting and other land-management tasks. Various forms are designed for an operator to carry, while others are mounted on vehicles.
Military use
![German Brennkommando-firing Warsaw 1944](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/German_Brennkommando-firing_Warsaw_1944.jpg)
Modern flamethrowers were first used during the
trench warfare
Trench warfare is a type of land warfare using occupied lines largely comprising military trenches, in which troops are well-protected from the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery. Trench warfare became a ...
conditions of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and their use greatly increased in
World War II
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 ...
. They can be vehicle-mounted, as on a tank, or man-portable.
The man-portable flamethrower consists of two elements—the backpack and the gun. The backpack element usually consists of two or three cylinders. In a two-cylinder system, one cylinder holds compressed, inert propellant gas (usually
nitrogen
Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...
), and the other holds flammable liquid, typically some form of petrochemical. A three-cylinder system often has two outer cylinders of flammable liquid and a central cylinder of propellant gas to maintain the balance of the soldier carrying it. The gas propels the liquid fuel out of the cylinder through a flexible pipe and then into the gun element of the flamethrower system. The gun consists of a small reservoir, a spring-loaded valve, and an ignition system; depressing a trigger opens the valve, allowing pressurized flammable liquid to flow and pass over the
igniter
In pyrotechnics, a pyrotechnic initiator (also initiator or igniter) is a device containing a pyrotechnic composition used primarily to ignite other, more difficult-to-ignite materials, such as thermites, gas generators, and solid-fuel rockets. The ...
and out of the gun nozzle. The igniter can be one of several ignition systems: A simple type is an electrically-heated wire coil; another used a small
pilot flame
Merker Tankless water heating, tankless gas-fired water heater from the 1930s, with pilot light clearly visible through the aperture in the front cover. The large opening allowed for the manual lighting of the pilot light by a lit match or taper
...
, fueled with pressurized gas from the system.
Flamethrowers were primarily used against battlefield fortifications,
bunkers
A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. T ...
, and other protected emplacements. A flamethrower projects a stream of flammable liquid, rather than flame, which allows bouncing the stream off walls and ceilings to project the fire into unseen spaces, such as inside bunkers or
pillboxes. Typically, popular visual media depict the flamethrower as short-ranged and only effective for a few metres (due to the common use of
propane
Propane () is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula . It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is commonly used a ...
gas as the fuel in flamethrowers in movies, for the safety of the actors). Contemporary flamethrowers can incinerate a target some from the operator; moreover, an unignited stream of flammable liquid can be fired and afterwards ignited, possibly by a lamp or other flame inside the bunker.
Flamethrowers pose many risks to the operator. The first disadvantage is the weapon's weight and length, which impairs the soldier's mobility. The weapon is limited to only a few seconds of burn time, since it uses fuel very quickly, requiring the operator to be precise and conservative. Flamethrowers using a fougasse-style explosive propellant system also have a limited number of shots. The weapon is very visible on the battlefield, which causes operators to become immediately singled out as prominent targets, especially for
sniper
A sniper is a military/paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with high-precision r ...
s and
designated marksmen
A designated marksman (DM), squad advanced marksman (AD) or squad designated marksman (SDM) is a military marksman role in an infantry squad. The term ''sniper'' was used in Soviet doctrine although the soldiers using the Dragunov SVD were the f ...
. Flamethrower operators are rarely taken prisoner, especially when their target survived an attack by the weapon; captured flamethrower users were in some cases
summarily executed
A summary execution is an execution in which a person is accused of a crime and immediately killed without the benefit of a full and fair trial. Executions as the result of summary justice (such as a drumhead court-martial) are sometimes include ...
.
The flamethrower's effective range is short in comparison with that of other battlefield weapons of similar size. To be effective, flamethrower soldiers must approach their target, risking exposure to enemy fire. Vehicular flamethrowers also have this problem; they may have considerably greater range than a man-portable flamethrower, but their range is still short compared with that of other infantry weapons.
![Flame-thrower-new-orleans-show](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Flame-thrower-new-orleans-show.jpg)
The risk of a flamethrower operator being caught in the explosion of their weapon due to enemy hits on the tanks is exaggerated in films.
In some cases, the pressure tanks have exploded and killed the operator when hit by bullets or grenade shrapnel. In the documentary ''
Vietnam in HD'', platoon sergeant Charles Brown tells of how one of his men was killed when his flamethrower was hit by grenade shrapnel during the battle for
Hill 875
The battle of Dak To ( vi, Chiến dịch Đắk Tô - Tân Cảnh) in Vietnam was a series of major engagements of the Vietnam War that took place between 3 and 23 November 1967, in Kon Tum Province, in the Central Highlands (Vietnam), Central ...
.
The pressurizer is filled with a non-flammable gas that is under high pressure. If this tank ruptures, it might knock the operator forward as it was expended in the same way a pressurized
aerosol can bursts outward when punctured. The fuel mixture in the containers is difficult to light, which is why magnesium-filled igniters are required when the weapon is fired. When pierced by a bullet, a metal can filled with diesel or napalm will merely leak unless the round is an incendiary type that may ignite the mixture inside.
The best way to minimize the disadvantages of flame weapons was to mount them on armoured vehicles. The Commonwealth and the United States were the most prolific users of vehicle-mounted flame weapons; the British and Canadians fielded "Wasps" (
Universal Carrier
The Universal Carrier, also known as the Bren Gun Carrier and sometimes simply the Bren Carrier from the light machine gun armament, is a common name describing a family of light armoured tracked vehicles built by Vickers-Armstrongs and other ...
s fitted with flamethrowers) at infantry battalion level, beginning in mid-1944, and eventually incorporating them into infantry battalions. Early tank-mounted flamethrower vehicles included the "Badger" (a converted
Ram tank
The Tank, Cruiser, Ram was a cruiser tank designed and built by Canada in the Second World War, based on the U.S. M3 Medium tank chassis. Due to standardization on the American Sherman tank for frontline units, it was used exclusively for train ...
) and the "Oke", used first at
Dieppe
Dieppe (; Norman: ''Dgieppe'') is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France.
Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newha ...
.
Operation
A propane-operated flamethrower is a straightforward device. The gas is expelled through the gun assembly by its own pressure and is ignited at the exit of the barrel through
piezo ignition
Piezo ignition is a type of ignition that is used in portable camping stoves, gas grills and some lighters. Piezo ignition uses the principle of piezoelectricity, which, in short, is the electric charge that accumulates in some materials in respo ...
.
Liquid-operated flamethrowers use a smaller tank with a pressurized gas to expel the flammable liquid fuel. The propellant gas is fed to two tubes. The first opens in the fuel tanks, providing the pressure necessary for expelling the liquid. The other tube leads to an ignition chamber behind the exit of the gun assembly, where it is mixed with air and ignited through piezo ignition. This pre-ignition line is the source of the flame seen in front of the gun assembly in movies and documentaries. As the fuel passes through the flame, it is ignited and propelled towards the target.
History
Ancient Greece
The concept of throwing fire as a weapon has existed since ancient times. During the
Peloponnesian War
The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Greek world. The war remained undecided for a long time until the decisive intervention of th ...
,
Boeotians
Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia ( el, Βοιωτία; modern: ; ancient: ), formerly known as Cadmeis, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and its lar ...
used some kind of a flamethrower trying to destroy the fortification walls of the
Athenians
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
during the
Battle of Delium
The Battle of Delium (or Delion, a city in Boeotia) took place in 424 BC, during the Peloponnesian War. It was fought between the Athenians and the Boeotians, who were allies of the Spartans, and ended with the siege of Delium in the following we ...
. Later, during the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
era, sailors used rudimentary hand-pumped flamethrowers on board their naval ships.
Greek fire
Greek fire was an incendiary weapon used by the Eastern Roman Empire beginning . Used to set fire to enemy ships, it consisted of a combustible compound emitted by a flame-throwing weapon. Some historians believe it could be ignited on contact w ...
, extensively used by the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
, is said to have been invented by
Kallinikos of
Heliopolis, probably about 673. Byzantine texts described weapons, used by Byzantine land forces, which were shooting Greek fire and called cheirosiphona (χειροσίφωνα, meaning hand-held siphons, singular χειροσίφωνο). The flamethrower found its origins in a device consisting of a hand-held pump that shot bursts of Greek fire via a
siphon
A siphon (from grc, σίφων, síphōn, "pipe, tube", also spelled nonetymologically syphon) is any of a wide variety of devices that involve the flow of liquids through tubes. In a narrower sense, the word refers particularly to a tube in a ...
-hose and a
piston
A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas compressors, hydraulic cylinders and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder and is made gas-tig ...
which ignited it with a match, similar to modern versions, as it was ejected.
[Needham, Volume 5, 77.] An illustration in
Poliorcetica of
Hero of Byzantium
Hero of Byzantium (or Heron of Byzantium or sometimes Hero the Younger) ( el, Ἥρων) is a name used to refer to the anonymous Byzantine author of two treatises, commonly known as ''Parangelmata Poliorcetica'' and ''Geodesia'', composed in the ...
display a soldier with a portable flamethrower.
Greek fire, used primarily at sea, gave the Byzantines a substantial military advantage against enemies such as members of the
Arab Empire (who later adopted the use of Greek fire). An 11th-century illustration of its use survives in the
John Skylitzes
John Skylitzes, commonly Latinized as Ioannes, la, Johannes, label=none, la, Iōannēs, label=none Scylitzes ( el, Ἰωάννης Σκυλίτζης, ''Iōánnēs Skylítzēs'', or el, Σκυλίτση, ''Skylítsē'', label=none ; la, ...
manuscript.
China
![Chinese Flamethrower](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Chinese_Flamethrower.JPG)
![Boeotian flame thrower, 5th century BC, Greece (model)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Boeotian_flame_thrower%2C_5th_century_BC%2C_Greece_%28model%29.jpg)
The ''
Pen Huo Qi
The Fierce-fire Oil Cabinet (Chinese: 猛火油櫃 ''měng huǒ yóu guì'') was a double-piston pump naphtha flamethrower first recorded to have been used in 919 AD in China, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.
Wu Renchen and Kh ...
'' ("fire spraying device") was a Chinese piston flamethrower that used a substance similar to petrol or
naphtha
Naphtha ( or ) is a flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixture.
Mixtures labelled ''naphtha'' have been produced from natural gas condensates, petroleum distillates, and the distillation of coal tar and peat. In different industries and regions ''n ...
, invented around 919 AD during the
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period
The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen conc ...
. The earliest reference to Greek fire in China was made in 917 AD, written by
Wu Renchen
Wu Renchen (吳任臣, ) ( 1628 – 1689), with courtesy names of Zhiyi (志伊), Erqi (爾器) and Zhenghong (征鴻), and an art name of Tuoyuan (託園), was a Chinese historian, mathematician, politician, and writer during the Qing dynasty. Or ...
in his ''
Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms
The ''Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese title ''Shiguo Chunqiu'' (), is a history of the Ten Kingdoms that existed in southern China after the fall of the Tang Dynasty and before the reunification of China ...
''.
[Needham, Volume 5, 80.] In 919 CE, the siphon projector-pump was used to spread the '
fierce fire oil' that could not be doused with water, as recorded by Lin Yu (林禹) in his ''Wu-Yue Beishi'' (吳越備史), hence the first credible Chinese reference to the flamethrower employing the chemical solution of Greek fire.
[Needham, Volume 5, 81.] Lin Yu mentioned also that the 'fierce fire oil' derived ultimately from China's contact in the 'southern seas', with
Arabia
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...
(大食國 ''Dashiguo'').
[Needham, Volume 5, 82.] In the
Battle of Langshan Jiang
The Battle of Langshan Jiang (狼山江之戰; ''Battle of Wolf Mountain River'') was a riverine battle which occurred in 919 during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in China between the states of Wuyue and Wu.
Background
The Battle o ...
(Wolf Mountain River) in 919, the naval fleet of the
Wenmu King of
Wuyue
Wuyue (; ), 907–978, was an independent coastal kingdom founded during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–960) of Chinese history. It was ruled by the Haiyan Qian clan (海盐钱氏), whose family name remains widespread in t ...
defeated the fleet of the
Kingdom of Wu because he had used 'fire oil' to burn his fleet; this signified the first Chinese use of
gunpowder
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). ...
in warfare, since a slow-burning match fuse was required to ignite the flames. The Chinese applied the use of double-
piston
A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas compressors, hydraulic cylinders and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder and is made gas-tig ...
bellows
A bellows or pair of bellows is a device constructed to furnish a strong blast of air. The simplest type consists of a flexible bag comprising a pair of rigid boards with handles joined by flexible leather sides enclosing an approximately airtigh ...
to pump petrol out of a single cylinder (with an upstroke and a downstroke), lit at the end by a slow-burning gunpowder match to fire a continuous stream of flame (as referred to in the ''
Wujing Zongyao
The ''Wujing Zongyao'' (), sometimes rendered in English as the ''Complete Essentials for the Military Classics'', is a Chinese military compendium written from around 1040 to 1044.
The book was compiled during the Northern Song dynasty by Ze ...
'' manuscript of 1044 AD).
In the suppression of the
Southern Tang
Southern Tang () was a state in Southern China that existed during Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, which proclaimed itself to be the successor of the former Tang dynasty. The capital was located at Nanjing in present-day Jiangsu Province ...
state by 976 AD, early Song naval forces confronted them on the Yangtze River in 975 AD. Southern Tang forces attempted to use flamethrowers against the Song navy, but were accidentally consumed by their own fire when violent winds swept in their direction.
[Needham, Volume 5, 89.] Documented also in later Chinese publications, illustrations and descriptions of mobile flamethrowers on four-wheel push carts appear in the ''Wujing Zongyao'', written in 1044 AD (its illustration redrawn in 1601 as well). Advances in military technology aided the
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
in its defense against hostile neighbours to the north, including the
Mongols
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...
.
Islamic World
Abū ʿAbdallāh al-Khwārazmī in ''Mafātīḥ al''-''ʿUlūm'' (“Keys to the Sciences”) ca. 976 AD mentions the ''bāb al-midfa'' and the ''bāb al-mustaq'' which he said were parts of naphtha-throwers and projectors (''al-naffātāt wa al-zarāqāt''). Book of Ingenious Mechanical Device (''Kitāb fī ma 'rifat al-ḥiyal al-handasiyya'') of 1206 AD by
Ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari
Badīʿ az-Zaman Abu l-ʿIzz ibn Ismāʿīl ibn ar-Razāz al-Jazarī (1136–1206, ar, بديع الزمان أَبُ اَلْعِزِ إبْنُ إسْماعِيلِ إبْنُ الرِّزاز الجزري, ) was a polymath: a scholar, ...
mentioned about ejectors of naphtha (''zarāqāt al-naft'').
19th century
Although flamethrowers were never used in the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, the use of Greek fire was threatened, and flamethrowers have been in use in most modern conflicts ever since.
Early 20th century
The English word ''flamethrower'' is a
loan-translation of
the German word ''Flammenwerfer'', since the modern flamethrower was invented in Germany. The first flamethrower, in the modern sense, is usually credited to
Richard Fiedler
Richard Fiedler was a German scientist who invented the modern flamethrower. This is a weapon that projects a stream of nitrogen. He submitted evaluation models of his Flammenwerfer to the German Army (German Empire) in 1901. The most significant m ...
. He submitted evaluation models of his ''Flammenwerfer'' to the
German Army
The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...
in 1901. The most significant model submitted was a portable device, consisting of a vertical single cylinder long, horizontally divided in two, with pressurized gas in the lower section and flammable oil in the upper section. On depressing a lever the propellant gas forced the flammable oil into and through a rubber tube and over a simple igniting wick device in a steel nozzle. The weapon projected a jet of fire and enormous clouds of smoke some . It was a single-shot weapon—for burst firing, a new igniter section was attached each time.
![Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R22888, Westfront, Flammenwerfer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R22888%2C_Westfront%2C_Flammenwerfer.jpg)
Hungarian Gábor Szakáts invented the flamethrower which was first used by the German army in WWI. Szakáts was the only Hungarian on the list of war criminals assembled by France after the war due to the invention of the flamethrower. Even his birthplace Budapest refused to bury Szakáts because of his invention. It was not until 1911 that the German Army accepted their first real flamethrowing device, creating a specialist regiment of twelve companies equipped with Flammenwerfer Apparent. Despite this, use of fire in a World War I battle predated flamethrower use, with a petrol spray being ignited by an incendiary bomb in the Argonne-Meuse sector in October 1914.
The flamethrower was first used in World War I on 26 February 1915 when it was briefly used against the French outside Verdun. On 30 July 1915 it was first used in a concerted action, against British trenches at
Hooge, where the lines were apart—even there, the casualties were caused mainly by soldiers being flushed into the open and then shot rather than from the fire itself.
After two days of fighting the British had suffered casualties of 31 officers and 751 other ranks.
The success of the attack prompted the German Army to adopt the device on all fronts. Flamethrowers were used in squads of six during battles, at the start of an attack destroying the enemy and to the preceding the infantry advance.
The flamethrower was useful at short distances
but had other limitations: it was cumbersome and difficult to operate and could only be safely fired from a trench, which limited its use to areas where the opposing trenches were less than the maximum range of the weapon, namely apart—which was not a common situation; the fuel would also only last for about two minutes.
[''First World War'', Willmott, H. P., ]Dorling Kindersley
Dorling Kindersley Limited (branded as DK) is a British multinational publishing company specialising in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 63 languages.
It is part of Penguin Random House, a subsidiary of German media co ...
, 2003, p. 106
The German deployed flamethrowers during the war in more than 650 attacks.
The British experimented with flamethrowers in the
Battle of the Somme
The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...
, during which they used experimental weapons called "
Livens Large Gallery Flame Projector
Livens Large Gallery Flame Projectors were large experimental flamethrowers used by the British Army in World War I, named after their inventor, Royal Engineers officer William Howard Livens.
History
Four Livens Large Gallery Flame Projectors we ...
s", named for their inventor,
William Howard Livens, a
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...
officer. This weapon was enormous and completely non-portable. The weapon had an effective range of 90 yards, which proved effective at clearing trenches, but with no other benefit the project was abandoned.
Two Morriss static flamethrowers were mounted in
HMS ''Vindictive'' and several Hay portable flamethrowers were deployed by the Royal Navy during the
Zeebrugge Raid
The Zeebrugge Raid ( nl, Aanval op de haven van Zeebrugge;
) on 23 April 1918, was an attempt by the Royal Navy to block the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge. The British intended to sink obsolete ships in the canal entrance, to prevent German ...
on 23 April 1918. A British newspaper report of the action referred to the British flamethrowers only as ''flammenwerfer'', using the German word.
The
French Army
The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...
deployed the Schilt family of flamethrowers, which were also used by the Italian Army.
The Russian army used 11,446 indigenously produced flamethrowers, over 10,000 of which were the Tovarnitski man-portable design.
In the interwar period, at least four flamethrowers were used in the
Chaco War
The Chaco War ( es, link=no, Guerra del Chaco, gn, Cháko Ñorairõ[Bolivian Army
The Bolivian Army ( es, Ejército Boliviano) is the land force branch of the Armed Forces of Bolivia.
Figures on the size and composition of the Bolivian army vary considerably, with little official data available. It is estimated that the arm ...](_blank)
, during the unsuccessful assault on the
Paraguay
Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
an
stronghold of Nanawa in 1933.
World War II
The flamethrower was used extensively during
World War II
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 ...
. In 1939, the
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
first deployed man-portable flamethrowers
against the Polish Post Office in Danzig. Subsequently, in 1942, the
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
introduced its own man-portable flamethrower. The vulnerability of infantry carrying backpack flamethrowers and the weapon's short range led to experiments with
tank
A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...
-mounted flamethrowers (
flame tank
A flame tank is a type of tank equipped with a flamethrower, most commonly used to supplement combined arms attacks against fortifications, confined spaces, or other obstacles. The type only reached significant use in the Second World War, dur ...
s), which were used by many countries.
Axis use
=Germany
=
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-299-1808-15A, Nordfrankreich, Soldat mit Flammenwerfer.jpg, A German soldier operating a flamethrower in 1944
File:German soldier with flamethrower c1941.jpg, A German soldier using a flamethrower in Russia
File:Belgisch-soldaat-slachtoffer-vlammenwerper.jpg, Belgian soldier wounded by a flamethrower (World War I)
The Germans made considerable use of the weapon (
''Flammenwerfer'' 35) during their invasion of the Netherlands and France, against fixed fortifications. World War II German army flamethrowers tended to have one large fuel tank with the pressurizer tank fastened to its back or side. Some German army flamethrowers occupied only the lower part of its wearer's back, leaving the upper part of his back free for an ordinary rucksack.
Flamethrowers soon fell into disfavour. Flamethrowers were extensively used by German units in
urban fights in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
, both in 1943 in the
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising; pl, powstanie w getcie warszawskim; german: link=no, Aufstand im Warschauer Ghetto was the 1943 act of Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto in German-occupied Poland during World War II to oppose Nazi Germany's ...
and in 1944 in the
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occ ...
(see the
Stroop Report
The Stroop Report is an official report prepared by General Jürgen Stroop for the SS chief Heinrich Himmler, recounting the German suppression of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the liquidation of the ghetto in the spring of 1943. Originally tit ...
and the article on the 1943
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising; pl, powstanie w getcie warszawskim; german: link=no, Aufstand im Warschauer Ghetto was the 1943 act of Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto in German-occupied Poland during World War II to oppose Nazi Germany's ...
). With the contraction of the Third Reich during the latter half of World War II, a smaller, more compact flamethrower known as the
Einstossflammenwerfer 46 was produced.
Germany also used flamethrower vehicles, most of them based on the chassis of the
Sd.Kfz. 251
The Sd.Kfz. 251 (''Sonderkraftfahrzeug 251'') half-track was a World War II German armored personnel carrier designed by the Hanomag company, based on its earlier, unarmored Sd.Kfz. 11 vehicle. The Sd.Kfz. 251 was designed to transport the ''Panz ...
half track and the
Panzer II
The Panzer II is the common name used for a family of German tanks used in World War II. The official German designation was ''Panzerkampfwagen'' II (abbreviated PzKpfw II).
Although the vehicle had originally been designed as a stopgap while la ...
and
Panzer III
The ''Panzerkampfwagen III'', commonly known as the Panzer III, was a medium tank developed in the 1930s by Germany, and was used extensively in World War II. The official German ordnance designation was Sd.Kfz. 141. It was intended to fight oth ...
tanks, generally known as
''Flammpanzers''.
The Germans also produced the
Abwehrflammenwerfer 42
The ''Abwehrflammenwerfer'' 42 was a German static defensive flamethrower, flame fougasse or flame mine used during the Second World War. The design was copied from Russian FOG-1 mines that were encountered in 1941 during Operation Barbarossa. T ...
, a flame-mine or
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 ...
, based on a Soviet version of the weapon.
This was essentially a disposable, single use flamethrower that was buried alongside conventional land mines at key defensive points and triggered by either a trip-wire or a command wire. The weapon contained around of fuel, that was discharged within a second, to a second and a half, producing a flame with a range.
One defensive installation found in Italy included seven of the weapons, carefully concealed and wired to a central control point.
=Italy
=
Italy employed man-portable flamethrowers and
L3 Lf flame tank
A flame tank is a type of tank equipped with a flamethrower, most commonly used to supplement combined arms attacks against fortifications, confined spaces, or other obstacles. The type only reached significant use in the Second World War, dur ...
s during the
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a war of aggression which was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from October 1935 to February 1937. In Ethiopia it is often referred to simply as the Itali ...
of 1935 to 1936, during the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
, and during
World War II
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 L3 Lf flame tank was a
CV-33 or
CV-35 tankette with a flamethrower operating from the machine gun mount. In the
Northern Africa Theatre, the L3 Lf flame tank found little to no success.
[''World War II'', Willmott, H.P., ]Dorling Kindersley
Dorling Kindersley Limited (branded as DK) is a British multinational publishing company specialising in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 63 languages.
It is part of Penguin Random House, a subsidiary of German media co ...
, 2004, Page 165, An L6 Lf flametank was also developed using the
L6/40 light tank platform.
=Japan
=
![Type 93 flamethrower](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/Type_93_flamethrower.jpg)
Japan used man-portable flamethrowers to clear fortified positions, in the
Battle of Wake Island
The Battle of Wake Island was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on Wake Island. The assault began simultaneously with the attack on Pearl Harbor naval and air bases in Hawaii on the morning of 8 December 1941 (7 December ...
,
Corregidor
Corregidor ( tl, Pulo ng Corregidor, ) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, and is considered part of the Province of Cavite. Due to this location, Corregidor has historically b ...
,
[''World War II'', Willmott, H.P., ]Dorling Kindersley
Dorling Kindersley Limited (branded as DK) is a British multinational publishing company specialising in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 63 languages.
It is part of Penguin Random House, a subsidiary of German media co ...
, 2004, Page 121, Battle of the Tenaru
The Battle of the Tenaru, sometimes called the Battle of the Ilu River or the Battle of Alligator Creek, was a land battle between the Imperial Japanese Army and Allied ground forces that took place on 21 August 1942, on the island of Guada ...
on the
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...
and
Battle of Milne Bay
The Battle of Milne Bay (25 August – 7 September 1942), also known as Operation RE or the Battle of Rabi (ラビの戦い) by the Japanese, was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II. Japanese marines, known as ''Kaigun Tokubet ...
.
=Romania
=
Flamethrowers were also used by the
Royal Romanian Army. They were also planned to become self-propelled; the
Mareșal tank destroyer was planned to have a command vehicle version armed with machine guns and a flamethrower.
Allies
=Britain and the Commonwealth
=
File:IWM-H-37975-Flame-thrower-lifebuoy.jpg, A British World War II
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 ...
–type "lifebuoy" flamethrower in 1944
File:Churchill Crocodile 01.jpg, A Churchill tank fitted with a Crocodile flamethrower in action.
File:Flamethrower Tarakan (108558).jpg, An Australian soldier fires a flamethrower at a Japanese bunker
The British World War II army flamethrowers, "Ack Packs", had a doughnut-shaped fuel tank with a small spherical pressurizer gas tank in the middle. As a result, some troops nicknamed them "lifebuoys". It was officially known as
Flamethrower, Portable, No 2.
Extensive plans were made in 1940-1941 by the
Petroleum Warfare Department
The Petroleum Warfare Department (PWD) was a government department established in Britain in 1940 in response to the invasion crisis during World War II, when Germany apparently would invade the country. The department was initially tasked with ...
to use
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 ...
static flame projectors in the event of an invasion, with around 50,000 barrel-based incendiary mines being deployed in 7,000 batteries throughout Southern England.
The British hardly used their man-portable systems, relying on
Churchill Crocodile
The Churchill Crocodile was a British flame-throwing tank of late Second World War. It was a variant of the Tank, Infantry, Mk IV (A22) Churchill Mark VII, although the Churchill Mark IV was initially chosen to be the base vehicle.
The Crocod ...
tanks in the European theatre. These tanks proved very effective against German defensive positions, and caused official Axis protests against their use. This flamethrower could produce a jet of flame exceeding . There are documented instances of German units summarily executing any captured British flame-tank crews.
In the Pacific theatre, Australian forces used converted
Matilda tanks, known as Matilda
Frogs
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is ...
.
=United States
=
File:USm2flamethrower.jpg, A soldier from the 33rd Infantry Division uses an M2 flamethrower
The M2 flamethrower was an American, man-portable, backpack flamethrower that was used in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The M2 was the successor to the M1 and M1A1 flamethrowers. Although its burn time was around 7 seconds lo ...
File:Flamethrower at Adelup Point.jpg, Marines engaging Japanese positions on Guam
Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
with a flamethrower.
File:Saipan flamethrower.jpg, 2nd Marine tank Battalion "Satan" incinerates Japanese pillbox Pillbox may refer to:
* Pill organizer, a container for medicine
* Pillbox hat, a woman's hat with a flat crown, straight upright sides, and no brim
* Pillbox (military)
A pillbox is a type of blockhouse, or concrete dug-in guard-post, norm ...
on Saipan
File:Flamethrower-iwo-jima-194502.jpg, An American flamethrower operator runs under fire
File:Usafl rend.jpg, Front and rear views of a man with an M2A1-7 United States Army flamethrower
In the Pacific theatre, the U.S. Army used M-1 and M-2 flamethrowers to clear stubborn Japanese resistance from prepared defenses, caves, and trenches. Starting in New Guinea, through the closing stages on Guadalcanal and during the approach to and reconquest of the Philippines and then through the Okinawa campaign, the Army deployed hand-held, man-portable units.
Often flamethrower teams were made up of combat engineer units, later with troops of the chemical warfare service. The Army fielded more flamethrower units than the Marine Corps, and the Army's Chemical Warfare Service pioneered tank mounted flamethrowers on Sherman tanks (CWS-POA H-4). All the flamethrower tanks on Okinawa belonged to the 713th Provisional Tank Battalion. It was tasked with supporting all U.S. Army and Marine infantry. All Pacific mechanized flamethrower units were trained by Seabee specialists with Col. Unmacht's
CWS Flamethrower Group in Hawaii.
The U.S. Army used flamethrowers in Europe in much smaller numbers, though they were available for special employments. Flamethrowers were deployed during the
Normandy landings
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
in order to clear
Axis
An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to:
Mathematics
* Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis
* Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...
fortifications. Also, most boat teams on
Omaha Beach
Omaha Beach was one of five beach landing sectors designated for the amphibious assault component of operation Overlord during the Second World War. On June 6, 1944, the Allies invaded German-occupied France with the Normandy landings. "Omaha" r ...
included a two-man flamethrower team.
The Marine Corps used the backpack-type
M2A1-7 and
M2-2 flamethrowers, finding them useful in clearing Japanese trench and bunker complexes. The first known USMC use of the man portable flamethrower was against the formidable defenses at Tarawa in November 1943. The Marines pioneered the use of Ronson-equipped M-3 Stuart tanks in the Marianas. These were known as SATAN flame tanks. Though effective, they lacked the armour to safely engage fortifications and were phased out in favour of the better-armoured M4 Sherman tanks. USMC Flamethrower Shermans were produced at
Schofield Barracks
Schofield Barracks is a United States Army installation and census-designated place (CDP) located in the City and County of Honolulu and in the Wahiawa District of the Hawaiian island of Oahu, Oahu, Hawaii, Hawaii. Schofield Barracks lies adj ...
by Seabees attached to the Chemical Warfare Service under Col. Unmacht. CWS designated
M4s with "CWS-POA-H" for "Chemical Warfare Service Pacific Ocean Area, Hawaii" plus a flamethrower number. The Marines had previously deployed large Navy flamethrowers mounted on LVT-4 AMTRACs at Peleliu. Late in the war, both services operated LVT-4 and -5 amphibious flametanks in limited numbers. Both the Army and the Marines still used their infantry-portable systems, despite the arrival of adapted Sherman tanks with the Ronson system (cf.
flame tanks
A flame (from Latin ''flamma'') is the visible, gaseous part of a fire. It is caused by a highly exothermic chemical reaction taking place in a thin zone. When flames are hot enough to have ionized gaseous components of sufficient density they ...
).
In cases where the Japanese were entrenched in deep caves, the flames often consumed the available oxygen, suffocating the occupants. Many Japanese troops interviewed post war said they were terrified more by flamethrowers than any other American weapon. Flamethrower operators were often the first U.S. troops targeted.
= Soviet Union
=
upA Finnish soldier with a captured Soviet ROKS-3 flamethrower, June 1943. The flame projector has been designed to resemble a standard infantry rifle.
The FOG-1 and -2 flamethrowers were stationary devices used in defense. They could also be categorized as a projecting incendiary mine. The FOG had only one cylinder of fuel, which was compressed using an explosive charge and projected through a nozzle. The November 1944 issue of the US War Department ''Intelligence Bulletin'' refers to these "
Fougasse flame throwers" being used in the Soviet defense of Stalingrad. The FOG-1 was directly copied by the Germans as the
Abwehrflammenwerfer 42
The ''Abwehrflammenwerfer'' 42 was a German static defensive flamethrower, flame fougasse or flame mine used during the Second World War. The design was copied from Russian FOG-1 mines that were encountered in 1941 during Operation Barbarossa. T ...
.
Unlike the flamethrowers of the other powers during World War II, the Soviets were the only ones to consciously attempt to
camouflage
Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the ...
their infantry flamethrowers. With the
ROKS-2 flamethrower this was done by disguising the flame projector as a standard issue rifle, such as the
Mosin–Nagant
The Mosin–Nagant is a five-shot, bolt-action, internal magazine–fed military rifle. Known officially as the 3-line rifle M1891 and informally in Russia and former Soviet Union as Mosin's rifle ( ru , винтовка Мосина, ISO 9: ) ...
, and the fuel tanks as a standard infantryman's rucksack. This was to try to stop the flamethrower operator from being specifically targeted by enemy fire.
This "rifle" had a working action which was used to cycle blank igniter cartridges.
After 1945
US military
![Marineflametank1968](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Marineflametank1968.jpg)
The
United States Marines
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...
used flamethrowers in the
Korean
Korean may refer to:
People and culture
* Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula
* Korean cuisine
* Korean culture
* Korean language
**Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl
**Korean dialects and the Jeju language
** ...
and
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
s. The
M132 armoured flamethrower, an
M113 armored personnel carrier with a mounted flame thrower, was successfully used in the conflict.
Flamethrowers have not been in the U.S. arsenal since 1978, when the
Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to:
Current departments of defence
* Department of Defence (Australia)
* Department of National Defence (Canada)
* Department of Defence (Ireland)
* Department of National Defense (Philipp ...
unilaterally stopped using them — the last American infantry flamethrower was the Vietnam-era M9-7. They have been deemed of questionable effectiveness in modern combat. Despite some assertions, they are not generally banned, but as incendiary weapons they are subject to the usage prohibitions described under Protocol III of the
Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons
The United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW or CCWC), concluded at Geneva on October 10, 1980, and entered into force in December 1983, seeks to prohibit or restrict the use of certain conventional weapons which are consid ...
.
USA army flamethrowers developed up to the
M9 model. In the M9 the propellant tank is a sphere below the left fuel tank and does not project backwards.
Non-flamethrower incendiary weapons remain in modern military arsenals.
Thermobaric weapon
A thermobaric weapon, also called an aerosol bomb, a vacuum bomb or a fuel air explosive (FAE), is a type of explosive that uses oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high-temperature explosion. The fuel–air explosive is one of the be ...
s have been fielded in Afghanistan by the United States. The USA and USSR both developed a rocket launcher specifically for the deployment of incendiary munitions, respectively the
M202 FLASH
The M202 FLASH ("Flame Assault Shoulder") is an American rocket launcher manufactured by Northrop Corporation, designed to replace the World War II–vintage flamethrowers (such as the M1 and the M2) that remained the military's standard incend ...
and the
RPO "Rys" ancestor of the
RPO-A Shmel
The RPO-A Shmel ( rus, реактивный пехотный огнемёт-А Шмель (РПО-А Шмель), Rocket-propelled Infantry Flamethrower-A Bumblebee) is a man-portable disposable rocket-assisted Flamethrower, It is classified as a ...
.
Provisional IRA
In the last stages of
the Troubles
The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...
, during the mid-1980s, the
IRA
Ira or IRA may refer to:
*Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name
*Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name
*Iran, UNDP code IRA
Law
*Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...
smuggled a number of Soviet
LPO-50
The LPO-50 (Lyogkiy Pyekhotnyy Ognyemyot (Легкий Пехотный Огнемет), "Light Infantry Flamethrower") is a Soviet flamethrower.
Developed in 1953 to replace the ROKS-2/3 flamethrowers used during World War Two, it was kept in t ...
military flamethrowers (supplied to them by the
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
n government) into
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
. They used one of these flamethrowers, among other weapons, to storm a
British Army permanent checkpoint in Derryard, near
Rosslea
Rosslea or Roslea () is a small village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, near the border with County Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. It stands on the Finn River and is beset by small natural lakes. Roslea Forest, also known as Sprin ...
, on 13 December 1989. Some months later, on 4 March 1990, the IRA attacked an RUC station in
Stewartstown,
County Tyrone
County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional Counties of Ireland, counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an admini ...
, using an improvised flamethrower consisting of a
manure-spreader towed by a tractor to spray 600 imperial gallons (2,700 L) of a petrol/diesel mix to engulf the base in flames, and then opened fire with rifles and an anti-tank rocket launcher.
[''Fortnight'', No. 283, pp. 20–21. Fortnight Publications, 1990.] Another IRA unit carried two attacks in less than a year with another improvised flamethrower towed by a tractor on a British Army watchtower, the Borucki sangar, in
Crossmaglen
Crossmaglen (, ) is a village and townland in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 1,610 in the 2011 Census and is the largest village in South Armagh. The village centre is the site of a large Police Service of Northern Irel ...
,
County Armagh
County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and ha ...
, during the early 1990s. The first incident occurred on 12 December 1992, when the bunker was manned by
Scots Guards
The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642, although it was only placed on the ...
, and the second on 12 November 1993. The device used as launcher was also a manure spreader, which doused the facility with fuel, ignited few seconds later by a small explosion. In the 1993 action, a nine-metre-high fireball engulfed the tower for seven minutes. The four
Grenadier Guards
"Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it."
, colors =
, colors_label =
, march = Slow: " Scipio"
, mascot =
, equipment =
, equipment ...
inside the outpost were rescued by a
Saxon
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
*
*
*
*
peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
armoured vehicle. Incendiary improvised devices were also proven by the republican paramilitaries, like in an IRA grenade attack on a British Army patrol on 4 April 1993 in
Carrickmore
Carrickmore () is a village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated in the historic barony of Omagh East, the civil parish of Termonmaguirk and the Roman Catholic Parish of Termonmaguirc between Cookstown, Dungannon and Omagh. ...
, County Tyrone; the device consisted of 2 lb (0.91 kg) of
semtex
Semtex is a general-purpose plastic explosive containing RDX and Pentaerythritol tetranitrate, PETN. It is used in commercial blasting, demolition, and in certain military applications.
Semtex was developed and manufactured in Czechoslovakia, or ...
and 5 imperial gallons (22.5 L) of petrol; the bomb exploded, but the fuel failed to ignite. A soldier was thrown several meters across the road by the blast.
Russo-Ukrainian War
On 8 February 2017, separatist leader
Mikhail 'Givi' Tolstykh was killed when an RPO-A Shmel rocket was fired at his office at
Donetsk city.
On 21 November 2022, nine months into the
Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
, Russian sources claim that artillery and "
heavy flamethrowers" were employed against a Ukrainian concentration of troops near
Kupyansk
Kupiansk ( uk, Куп'янськ, ) is a city in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Kupiansk Raion. It is also an important railroad junction for the oblast. Kupiansk hosts the administrative offices of Kupiansk Ur ...
,
Kharkiv Oblast
Kharkiv Oblast ( uk, Харківська́ о́бласть, translit=Kharkivska oblast), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna ( uk, Ха́рківщина), is an oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. The oblast borders Russia to the north, Luhans ...
. Russian sources use the term "heavy flamethrowers" to describe TOS-1 multiple
thermobaric
A thermobaric weapon, also called an aerosol bomb, a vacuum bomb or a fuel air explosive (FAE), is a type of explosive that uses oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high-temperature explosion. The fuel–air explosive is one of the be ...
rocket launchers.
Personal ownership
In the United States, private ownership of a flamethrower is not restricted by
federal law
Federal law is the body of law created by the federal government of a country. A federal government is formed when a group of political units, such as states or provinces join in a federation, delegating their individual sovereignty and many po ...
, because a flamethrower is a tool, not a
firearm
A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions).
The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...
. Flamethrowers are legal in 48 states and restricted in
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
and
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
.
In California, unlicensed possession of a flame-throwing device—statutorily defined as "any non-stationary and transportable device designed or intended to emit or propel a burning stream of combustible or flammable liquid a distance of at least " H&W 12750 (a)—is a
misdemeanor
A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than adm ...
punishable with a county jail term not exceeding one year ''or'' with a fine not exceeding $10,000 (CA H&W 12761). Licenses to use flamethrowers are issued by the state fire marshal, and they may use any criteria for issuing or not issuing that license which is deemed fit, but must publish those criteria in the California Code of Regulations, Title 11, Section 970 et seq.
In the United Kingdom, flamethrowers are "prohibited weapons" under section 5(1)(b) of the
Firearms Act 1968
The Firearms Act 1968c 27 is a UK Act of Parliament, controlling use and possession of firearms.
Since 1968, the act has been extensively amended. Following the Hungerford massacre, the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988 extended the class of prohibi ...
and article 45(1)(f) of the Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 2004 and possession of a flamethrower would carry a sentence of up to ten years' imprisonment. In 1994, a man attacked school pupils at
Sullivan Upper School
Sullivan Upper School is a mixed non- denominational voluntary grammar school in Holywood, Northern Ireland, and has approximately 1,100 enrolled pupils. The school motto is ', Irish for "with the gentle hand foremost".
History
Sullivan Low ...
, just outside
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
, with a home-made flamethrower.
A South African inventor brought the
Blaster car-mounted flamethrower to market in 1998 as a security device to defend against carjackers. It has since been discontinued, with the inventor moving on to pocket-sized self-defence flamethrowers.
Elon Musk
Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a business magnate and investor. He is the founder, CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX; angel investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; owner and CEO of Twitter, Inc.; founder of The Bori ...
, CEO of
Tesla, Inc.
Tesla, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Tesla designs and manufactures electric vehicles (electric cars and trucks), battery energy storage from home to grid- ...
and owner of
SpaceX
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of ...
, developed a "not a flamethrower" for public sale through his business,
The Boring Company
The Boring Company (TBC) is an American infrastructure and tunnel construction services company founded by Elon Musk. Its ongoing and proposed projects are designed for intra-city ("loop") transit systems.
After six years TBC has completed one ...
, selling 20,000 units. This device uses propane gas rather than a stream of liquid fuel, making it more akin to a torch, like those commonly available at home and garden centres.
Other uses
Flamethrowers are occasionally used for igniting
controlled burn
A controlled or prescribed burn, also known as hazard reduction burning, backfire, swailing, or a burn-off, is a fire set intentionally for purposes of forest management, farming, prairie restoration or greenhouse gas abatement. A control ...
s for
land management
Land management is the process of managing the use and development (in both urban and rural settings, but it is mostly managed in Urban places.) of land resources. Land resources are used for a variety of purposes which may include organic agricul ...
and
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
. For example, in the production of
sugar cane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalks t ...
, where
canebrakes
A canebrake or canebreak is a thicket of any of a variety of ''Arundinaria'' grasses: '' A. gigantea'', '' A. tecta'' and '' A. appalachiana''. As a bamboo, these giant grasses grow in thickets up to 24 ft tall. ''A. gigantea'' is generally ...
are burned to get rid of the dry dead leaves which clog
harvesters, and incidentally kill any lurking venomous
snake
Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...
s. More commonly, a
driptorch
A driptorch is a tool used in wildfire suppression, controlled burning, and other forestry applications to intentionally ignite fires by dripping flaming fuel onto the ground.
Description
The driptorch consists of a canister for holding fuel ...
or a
flare
A flare, also sometimes called a fusée, fusee, or bengala in some Latin-speaking countries, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a bright light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for distress signaling, illumination, ...
(fusee) is used.
U.S. troops allegedly used flamethrowers on the streets of Washington, D.C. (mentioned in a December 1998 article in the ''San Francisco Flier''), as one of several clearance methods used for the surprisingly large amount of snow that fell before the presidential inauguration of
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
.
A history article on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers notes, "In the end, the task force employed hundreds of
dump truck
A dump truck, known also as a dumping truck, dump trailer, dumper trailer, dump lorry or dumper lorry or a dumper for short, is used for transporting materials (such as dirt, gravel, or demolition waste) for construction as well as coal. A typi ...
s,
front-end loader
A loader is a heavy equipment machine used in construction to move or load materials such as soil, rock, sand, demolition debris, etc. into or onto another type of machinery (such as a dump truck, conveyor belt, feed-hopper, or railroad car).
...
s,
sander
A sander is a power tool used to smooth surfaces by abrasion with sandpaper. Sanders have a means to attach the sandpaper and a mechanism to move it rapidly contained within a housing with means to hand-hold it or fix it to a workbench. Woodwo ...
s,
plow
A plough or plow ( US; both ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses, but in modern farms are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, iron or ...
s, rotaries, and allegedly flamethrowers to clear the way".
["Inauguration Weather: The Case of Kennedy"](_blank)
''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', Capital Weather Gang, January 5, 2009.
A squad armed with backpack flamethrowers had an important part in the
2012 Summer Paralympics closing ceremony. They had one big tank each. They could make a flame about long.
In April 2014 it was reported by South Korea's ''
Chosun Ilbo
''The Chosun Ilbo'' (, ) is a daily newspaper in South Korea and the oldest daily newspaper in the country. With a daily circulation of more than 1,800,000, the ''Chosun Ilbo'' has been audited annually since the Audit Bureau of Circulations w ...
'' newspaper without confirmation that a North Korean government official,
O Sang-Hon, Deputy Minister at the
Ministry of Public Security, was executed by flamethrower.
It has been known for police to fill a "flamethrower", not with flammable liquid, but rather with tear gas dissolved in water as a riot-control device; see
Converted Flamethrower 40
Umgebauter Flammenwerfer 40 (Converted Flamethrower 40) is a backpack flamethrower converted to shoot a powerful jet of water solution of CN gas as a riot control device.{{Cite web, url=http://www.ssi-media.com/pigbrother/Dokgas.htm, title=PigBroth ...
.
See also
*
Dragon's breath
*
Early thermal weapons
Early thermal weapons, which used heat or burning action to destroy or damage enemy personnel, fortifications or territories, were employed in warfare during the classical and medieval periods (approximately the 8th century BC until the mid-16th ...
*
Flame gun
A blowtorch, also referred to as a blowlamp, is an ambient air fuel-burning gas lamp used for applying flame and heat to various applications, usually metalworking.
Early blowtorches used liquid fuel, carried in a refillable reservoir attache ...
*
Huo Long Jing
*
List of flamethrowers
This page is a list of flamethrowers of all forms from all around the world.Small arms illustrated, 2010
Human portable
Vehicle mounted
Static
See also
* List of pistols
* List of revolvers
* List of assault rifles
* List of sniper rifle ...
*
M202A1 FLASH
The M202 FLASH ("Flame Assault Shoulder") is an American rocket launcher manufactured by Northrop Corporation, designed to replace the World War II–vintage flamethrowers (such as the M1 and the M2) that remained the military's standard incendi ...
*
Meng Huo You
Meng Huo You is the name given to petroleum in ancient China, which practiced the use of petroleum as an incendiary weapon in warfare.
Historical records of petroleum
During the Eastern Han dynasty, the Chinese historian and poet Ban Gu recorde ...
*
Molotov cocktail
A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see other names'') is a hand thrown incendiary weapon constructed from a frangible container filled with flammable substances equipped with a fuse (typically a glass bottle filled with flamma ...
*
Petroleum Warfare Department
The Petroleum Warfare Department (PWD) was a government department established in Britain in 1940 in response to the invasion crisis during World War II, when Germany apparently would invade the country. The department was initially tasked with ...
*
Technology of Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; 960–1279 CE) invented some technological advances in Chinese history, many of which came from talented statesmen drafted by the government through imperial examinations.
The ingenuity of advanced mechanical engineering ha ...
Citations
General bibliography
*
*
*
External links
First World War.com: Weapons of War: FlamethrowersImage of flamethrower in useImages, including a tank-mounted flamethrower's nozzleWWII German army flamethrowersUSA-type flamethrower in useM42B1 Flamethrower Sherman Tankat U.S. Veterans Memorial Museum
{{Authority control
Articles containing video clips
Incendiary weapons
Infantry weapons
Light sources