Flamethrowers: Please...No Smoking

[Commander Waffle]

As I'm sure most of you know, a flamethrower...throws flames. This is done but a few chemicals mixted together and pushed out by Oxygen and ignite, making a nice fireball that bruns everytihng...but before that, lets go back in time.....




Falmethrowers were used just in WWII, they were used by the Germans in WWI, but were invented...a really freaking long time ago. Anyway everyone noticed the potential of the flamethrower and the US pushed it in WWII. The flamethrower was mostly seen in the Pacific Threater by the Marines to flush out the Japanese in caves and other places deamed to dangerous to go. It was even attached to tanks. It was extremely effective, but was a great example of how the inventions of war can lead to death. Not only were the Japanese afraid of the weapon, but so were the men who strapped it onto their backs and went into combat. Any leak would cause an explosion... a single round or piece of sharpnel would turn the thing into a gas station with open tanks and grenade explsion. After WWII, it was taken away from the US arsenal, but than reused in Korea and a little more in Vietnam.

The flamethrower worked by adding chemicals and oxygen than ignited. At first the chemiclas were diesel and gasoline, but than replaced with a mixture of napalm and gasoline. On the M2A2 model (used by the Marines) has 2 large tanks, side by side that contained that mixtur and a smaller one in the middle that contained oxygen. When the back trigger was pulled, it pushed the oxygen into the two larger tanks, thus forcing the mixture through the hose and into the nozzle. In the nozzle was a filter like lens. This was the ingiter and basically worked the match. When the front trigger was pulled, it ignited the mixture, and the back trigger pushed it out. They range of the M2A2 was about 100 to 150 feet.

The US was not the only nation to use flamthrowers. The Japanese, also used them against the Austrialians.

German Flamethrowers Wore this in WWI... these men were hated and were shot on sight, if given the slightest chance. The Phrase "POW" did not apply to them.

Flamethrowers in Vietnam Operation New Castle:

WWII/Korea Marines with the M2A2:

Japanese Soldier with a Flamethrower:

[TRDG]

A soldiers best friend if your in the Pacific campaign and on the Allied side, most of the time. I don't know of a worse way to "get it" than being killed by this nasty weapon! But it helped the troops clean out all those caves and bunkers in all those island battles, the ones we had with the land of the rising sun!

Cheers, as long as your flame proof!!

Tom

[Tom Houlihan]

I got to witness a flamethrower demonstration last summer. I was about 60 feet from it, and I was amazed at the heat wave that hit me! I most certainly would not want to have been anywhere near the damned thing in combat!!

[gi-rene]

Your WW2/Korea "Marines" with a flamethrower is the 2nd Rangers Flamethrower team from Saving Private Ryan, still a beauty of a shot of the rig though.

I also learned that the Chinese had also developed a hand pumped flamethrower in their ancient times.

[McCoy]

Byzans had some kind of stationary flamethrowers if I remember it right.

[gi-rene]

Originally Posted by McCoy

Byzans had some kind of stationary flamethrowers if I remember it right.

Yup "Greek Fire" and all that sort. The Chinese one is a bit scary. Very short ranged, effective, but just looks like it could bite the shooter easily...

[McCoy]

It's not the 'Greek fire' I'm after but this one was powered by a handpump.

[Pirate-Drakk]

Did someone say Flame Throwers?!? I LOOOOVE FLAME THROWERS!







Here's some flamethrower info:
FINNISH ARMY 1918 - 1945: PORTABLE FLAME-THROWERS

[PanzerBob]

Maybe I'm cockeyed tonight, but this guy looks rather white and Allied. ??

[Commander Waffle]

Originally Posted by PanzerBob

Maybe I'm cockeyed tonight, but this guy looks rather white and Allied. ??

I relized that. It might be an Austialian soldier.

oops.