Amphibious operations flame thrower

As the combat period approached, Colonel Unmacht and his stafiF turned their attention from numerous projects in gas warfare defense and decontamination to the nontoxic chemical weapons and munitions. Their work on the flame thrower tank, and later on stabilized flame thrower fuels, was the outstanding overseas development work of the worldwide CWS. Unmacht was a strong proponent of the use of the 4.2-inch chemical mortar with high-explosive shell, and the development, testing, and combat supply of a landing craft mortar mounting for Pacific amphibious operations represented one of his achievements in the field of combat support. The mortar gun boat development was also a noteworthy example of Army-Navy co-operation. 

Although it was in the South and Southwest Pacific that flame throwers were first employed, it remained for troops in the Central Pacific to demonstrate the full potential of the weapon. This they proceeded to do in a long series of amphibious assaults that, paralleling MacArthur s drive in the Southwest Pacific, carried Army and Marine units from the Gilberts and Marshalls to the very doorstep of Japan. From the start commanders in the Central Pacific, especially Marine leaders, showed an interest in and an enthusiasm for the flame thrower unmatched in other theaters. Forces in the area were also blessed with an adequate and sometimes overabundant supply of the weapon, a relative absence of technical problems that plagued the Southwest Pacific, and sufficient time between engagements to train operators and assault teams. These factors helped to produce the success achieved by the flame thrower in the Central Pacific. 

After-action reports for the Iwo Jima operation attested to the value of the flame weapons. Of the two types, the mechanized flame thrower seemed to have come out on top. One battalion commander called it the "best single weapon of the operation. The V Amphibious Corps report referred to the mechanized weapon as the "only effective means ... 

Okinawa was the last battle of the war and one of the hardest. Conducted by Tenth Army on the very doorstep of Japan, it was to involve more CWS equipment than any other Pacific campaign. Each of the four Army divisions of XXIV Corps had 141 portable flame throwers each of the three Marine divisions of III Amphibious Corps had 243, the same number as had been taken to Iwo Jima. The 713 th Tank Battalion, converted to a provisional flame thrower unit for the operation, received a complement of 34 POA main armament flame throwers. ... 

The CWS used white phosphorus as a filling for shells, rockets, bombs, and grenades, all of which the armed forces employed extensively in World War II. Artillery and chemical mortar companies hurled shells to set fire to enemy held buildings and cane fields, to drive enemy soldiers from fortified positions, to unnerve enemy troops, to support infantry attacks, and to shield flame thrower operators. Naval vessels threw WP at shore installations on Saipan, Eniwetok, and other places to support amphibious assaults. The Army fired a sizable portion of the two and one-half million 2.36-inch rockets filled during the war to screen operations, to start fires, and to wound and unnerve the enemy. Airplanes dropped WP bombs on enemy installations to start fires or aid infantry. For infantrymen and... 

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