The M2 flamethrower was an American, man-portable, backpack

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 ...

that was used 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 ...

, the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, and the

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 ...

. The M2 was the successor to the M1 and M1A1 flamethrowers. Although its burn time was around 7 seconds long, and the flames were effective around 20–40 meters, it was still a useful weapon. With the arrival of flamethrower tanks, the need for flamethrower-carrying infantrymen to expose themselves to enemy fire had been greatly reduced. Though some M2s were sold off, the majority were scrapped.

Combat use

Second World War

The M2 flamethrower saw combat use in the

Pacific theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, being deployed to combat strongly fortified and entrenched Japanese positions. Following the success with the M1 flamethrower, the M2 was developed and put into combat use in 1943. Towards the end of the conflict, later models of the M2 were equipped with the fuel-thickening agent known as

napalm Napalm is an incendiary mixture of a gelling agent and a volatile petrochemical (usually gasoline (petrol) or diesel fuel). The name is a portmanteau of two of the constituents of the original thickening and gelling agents: coprecipitated al ...

Variants of the M2

The M2, which was the WWII model, had hexagonal gas caps and hourglass frames. It was also called the M2-2, M2 for the tank groups and -2 for the wand type. The M2A1-2 is the variation of the M2 devised during the

. These had straight sided backpack frames, vented gas caps, a cylinder sized regulator and a safety valve. These are much more common today than WWII models. M2A1-7 was a

used by the American troops during the

. It is the updated version of the M2A1-2 unit used during The Korean War. It has four controls: * Back of the rear grip: firing safety catch. * Front of the rear grip: firing trigger. * On top of the front part: igniter safety catch * Under the front part: igniter trigger. The M9A1-7 was the most common model used in Vietnam and is much lighter and easier to use. Tanks for this weapon are commonly found, but most wands were destroyed after the Vietnam war. Some

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 ...

flamethrowers have a front handgrip with the same shape as the rear handgrip. In these models the igniter controls are on the front handgrip, arranged in the same way as the rear handgrip controls. The M2 was replaced by the M9A1-7 flamethrower which was used in Vietnam. The M9A1-7 was replaced by the

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 ...

Operators

Former operators

* * * * (World War II) * (after World War II for the

JSDF The Japan Self-Defense Forces ( ja, 自衛隊, Jieitai; abbreviated JSDF), also informally known as the Japanese Armed Forces, are the unified ''de facto''Since Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution outlaws the formation of armed forces, the ...

; later replaced by a Japanese made flamethrower based on the M2) * * * * *

Gallery

Image:Usafl rend.jpg, Two CGI views of a man with an M2A1-7 U.S. Army flamethrower. The two big tanks contain the fuel. The small tank contains the pressurizing gas (nitrogen). Image:M2FlamethrowerVWM02.jpg, M2A1 flamethrower. Image:噴火槍.JPG, M2A1 flamethrower used by the Republic of China during the

China-Burma-India Theater China Burma India Theater (CBI) was the United States military designation during World War II for the China and Southeast Asian or India–Burma (IBT) theaters. Operational command of Allied forces (including U.S. forces) in the CBI was officia ...

References

External links

Weapons of the World War II Gyrene: Flamethrowers
{{WWIIChineseInfantryWeapons World War II infantry weapons of the United States Flamethrowers of the United States Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1944 Articles containing video clips