Armament Mechanized Flame Throwers

Just as World War II proved the value of portable flame throwers, it likewise demonstrated the usefulness of mechanized flame throwers. The CWS had designed its first mechanized flame thrower in World War I but did not have time to carry the weapon beyond the experimental stage. Intended for installation in a tank, the gun could expel a stream of oil fifty yards. After the war the service put mechanized flame throwers aside and did not work on them again for twenty years.  

The work of the NDRC on mechanized flame throwers is summarized in (1) Fire Warfare. (2) Baxter, Scientists Against Time, 294-97. (3) Noyes, Chemistry, 420-30. 

By the beginning of 1943 there were thus two fairly satisfactory flame throwers, the CWS model and NDRCs Q. Although theaters of operation had not asked for main armament flame throwers the Army Ground Forces had watched the development of the weapon with approval. In March 1943 CWS arranged a demonstration to allow the AGF to decide which of the two models it preferred. This turned out to be Q. The Army decided to place the flame thrower in light tanks, these being the only tanks available.  

The CWS designation for this flame thrower was E7. The Q model is discussed in NDRC Div 11, OSRD Report 6012, Development and Field Use of E7-7 Mechanized Flame Thrower, 12 Sep 45. 

35(1) Ltr, Hq SOS to CG ASF, 24 Jan 43, sub Military Characteristics for Mechanically Transported Flame Thrower, with two inds. SPRMD 470.71. (2) Memo, Munitions Development Div for CG CWS Tech Cmd, 30 Mar 43, sub Report of Conference on Mechanized Flame Thrower. Proj 8.1 (FY 43) in Corres Files, CW Labs A CmlC, Md. 

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In an auxiliary mechanized flame thrower the flame weapon supplemented the normal armament of the vehicle in a main armament mechanized flame thrower, as the name implies, the flame thrower was the principal armament. 

The 4th and yth Marine Divisions each received four Hawaiian-made main armament mechanized flame throwers. The development and procurement of these flame throwers was undertaken by the... 

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