Flame thrower tanks

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. 

Standard i -inch rubber fire hose to a flame thrower tank and attained a range of 6o yards. Following a demonstration of the device in February 1945 Tenth Army ordered three sets of these hoses, all of which were to see service on Okinawa. ... 

Churchill Flame Thrower Tanks (Crocodiles). Both in CWS 314.7 Mechanized Flame Thrower. 

The new flame thrower tank, designated POA-CWS "75 H-1 (POA for Pacific Ocean Areas, H for Hawaii), was demonstrated to the Tenth... 

Army about 1 November. The weapon used compressed carbon dioxide gas to propel the fuel, had a fuel capacity of 290 gallons, a range of 40 yards with oily fuel and 60 to 80 yards with thickened fuel. Eight tanks were sent to the Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, for the Iwo Jima operation and 54 were supplied to the 713th Provisional Flame Thrower Tank Battalion for the Ryukyus operation. 

M4 Medium Flame-Thrower Tank in action on Okinawa, May 1945... 

Flame Throwers and Projectors. One advance ia flame throwers siace World War II was a mechanized flame thrower kit for a variety of armored vehicles other than the main battle tank. The multishot, lightweight, shoulder-fired, four-tube flame system capable of firing one to four flame rounds semiautomaticaHy is replacing the portable flame thrower. Indeed the mechanized flame thrower is expected to become obsolete because of the family of large-cahber flame rounds. 

The spontaneous flaming of WP in air can also be made more reliable when a eutectic mixt of 55% WP with 45% phosphorus sesquisulfide (P4S3) is formed. This material (mp 40°, d 1.84g/cc) was used in WWII in one-shot flame throwers designed to protect tanks against suicide attacks by infantry (El Antipersonnel Tank Protector) (Ref 4, p 27)... 

The following may be given as examples of tank-type flame throwers ... 

For portable American throwers, such as M-1A1 orM-2, 4.2g of Napalm were dissolved in 95.8g of ordinary gasoline at a temp above 15.5°(60°F). For "mechanized (tank) flame throwers, as for instance Model E9, a 10% solution of Napalm was used... 

Mechanized or Tank-type Flame Throwers, During WWII a 3td type of flame dirower was developed, the so-called tank-mounted or "mechanized flame thrower, which at first was intermediate in size between the stationary and portable types but later surpassed the W WI stationary types in size. Although tank-mounted throwers were effective at... 

Other weapons and ammunition furnished by the CWS ETO to the combat forces included the flame thrower, smoke pots, and smoke grenades. The CWS ETO had acquired a sufficient supply of the portable flame throwers, and chemical units had mixed a substantial quantity of thickened fuel. No American tank-mounted flame thrower was available, but fuel had been mixed for use in British models on loan in limited numbers to the United States forces. Soon after the invasion, St. John reported critical shortages of both portable and mechanized flame throwers and of fuels as well as of mortars and mortar parts, but subsequent experience did not warrant the critical designation since flame throwers were not popular in Europe. ... 

The U.S. Army in World War II used two types of flame throwers, the portable, carried on the soldier s back, and the mechanized, mounted on an armored vehicle, usually a tank. Because flame could penetrate ports and apertures and could be made to turn comers, these special-purpK)se weapons proved extremely useful in overcoming a determined enemy in strong, stubbornly held defensive positions, invulnerable in most cases to conventional weapons. 

Company B of the 27th Engineer Combat Battalion, attached to the 158th Infantry, did equally well with flame throwers in the Maffin Bay area of the New Guinea mainland, across from Wakde Island. On 24 May the engineers, supported by two tanks, destroyed a machine gun emplacement, which had pinned down an infantry company for over three hours. This was the first recorded instance of a co-ordinated tank-flame thrower attack in the Southwest Pacific. A month later, farther to the east at Lone Tree Hill, the pattern was repeated. On 18 June 2d Lt. Theodore Frankel, antitank platoon leader, ist Infantry, 6th Division, supported by two tanks, knocked out three... 

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