The flamethrower is a mechanical device designed to throw flames or, more correctly, to project an ignited liquid. It is used by the military and also by those who need to burn land and wooded areas, such as in agriculture or in forest management.
Many modern non-military flamethrowers do not use a burning jet of liquid, but ignite a high pressure jet of flammable gas, such as propane or natural gas, and are considered safer for agricultural use. , industrial, or recreational.
Operation
Nowadays, a flamethrower is a portable device that consists of two cylindrical tanks usually carried on the back. The first cylinder contains flammable oil; the second a pressurized gas in the lower section and in the upper section. Models exist with three tanks:the flammable oil is simply distributed over two containers for a more symmetrical weight distribution and to have a more compact size. There may also be an additional small gas bottle (about 0.5 l) used to light the ignition flame (also called pilot) if necessary. Using a lever, the gas forces the flammable liquid out through a tube and a wick ignites the device in a steel spout.
The compressed gases used are nitrogen, carbon dioxide, propane or natural gas. The flammable product is a petroleum derivative:petrol, diesel or napalm.
History
The Greek fire dating from around 670 having disappeared from military arsenals, the first flamethrower, is in the modern sense, usually credited to the research of the German scientist Richard Fiedler. He submitted evaluation models of his Flammenwerfer to the German Army in 1901. The most significant model could project a flaming jet and huge clouds of smoke up to 18 m with two minutes of ignition time . It was a one-shot device. The gas used was nitrogen and the flammable product a petroleum derivative.
It was not until 1911 that the German army accepted the device, creating a specialized regiment of twelve companies equipped with Flammenwerferapparate. Despite this, the weapon was used in World War I only in February 1916 when it was briefly used against the French at Verdun. Then, it was not used again until July 1916 when it was used against the British trenches at Hooge, where it had a limited but impressive effect. Indeed, the adversary was demoralized by the fear of burning alive and, panicked, he left his position. In 1915, fifty firefighters from the Paris fire brigade joined the ranks of the 1st French engineer regiment to test the French flamethrower on an attack; but as in Germany, invention was quickly abandoned.
It was discovered that the weapon had certain drawbacks:a barbaric machine, it was cumbersome and difficult to use and could only be used from a trench, thus limiting its safe use to sectors where enemy trenches were 18 m apart, which which was not common. Flamethrower operators were exceedingly vulnerable, and were rarely taken prisoner, especially when their targets survived. The British and French tried their own flamethrower systems but quickly abandoned them. The German army continued to deploy them throughout the war and they were employed on more than 300 occasions, usually in teams of six flamethrowers.
On the French side, the Paris fire brigade tested flamethrowers on the front at the Butte de Vauquois. For lack of experience, because of a contrary wind and a higher target, about twenty of them died burned, victims of their own equipment. [ref. needed]
Flamethrowers were used extensively during World War II. The vulnerability of foot operators coupled with the short range of the weapon have imposed tests on on-board systems by assault tank (called in this case Flamethrower Assault Tank). US Marines used the M2A1-7 flamethrower and found it particularly useful in pacifying Japanese trenches and underground in the Battle of the Pacific. Where the Japanese were entrenched because they were deeply entrenched, the flames could not reach them but consumed the oxygen, causing suffocation. The marines subsequently ceased to use their M2-2 with the arrival of the M4A3R3 Flamethrower variant equipped with the Ronson System of the Sherman M4 assault tank. Flamethrowers are also effective against armored vehicles. They were also used to clear bunkers and blockhouses during the Battle of Normandy (Operation Overlord):the Normandy Landings of 1944. The Germans made considerable use of their flamethrower (called Flammenwerfer 35) during the invasion of Western Europe but it was soon limited to retaliatory operations. However, on the Russian Front, its use on the battlefield continued until the end of the war because it corresponded well to the "Scorched Earth" policy.
Military flamethrowers
Examples of military flamethrowers used in World War II:
* Individual Portable System:
o Flammenwerfer 35 and Flammenwerfer 41, Germany
o Lifebuoy Mark I, Great Britain
o M2A1-7 Flamethrower, United States of America
o ROKS-2, U.S.S.R.
* Vehicle Mounted System:
o M4A3R3 Flamethrower, variant of Sherman M4, United States of America
o Churchill Crocodile tank (part of Hobart's Funnies), Great Britain
o Murray FT and Frog, variants of the Matilda tank, Great Britain and Australia
o Badger, adapted Ram tank with a flamethrower, Canada
o Mark II FT, Mark light tank variant, Germany
o Hetzer variant of the Jagdpanzer 38(t) light tank of Czech origin (Škoda), Germany
o SdKfz 122, Panzer II tank variant, Germany
o SdKfz 251/16, variant of the half-tracked armored vehicle SdKfz 251, Germany
o Flammpanzer I, II and III, Germany
o Fiat L6/40 light tank variant, Italy
o OT-28, variant of Char T-28, U.S.S.R.
o OT-26, OT-130, OT-133, OT-134, variants of
Tank T-26, U.S.S.R.
o Tank T-34 variant, U.S.S.R.
o Tank T-35 variant, U.S.S.R.
Private ownership
Flamethrowers are subject in France as globally in the European Union, to the control laws concerning weapons of war and it is impossible for a civilian to acquire them legally. In the United States of America, there are no restrictions on the private possession of a flamethrower.