Marine Tank Battalions

There were several attempts in the Pacific to mount portable flame throwers in some sort of armored vehicle, a combination made the more appealing by the lack thus far of cannon or other antitank weapons in the enemy bunkers. In the South Pacific Area, for example, the commander of a tank battalion in New Caledonia installed a flame gun in the pistol port of a tank, and a chemical officer on New Georgia modified the flame gun so that it could be fitted into the aperture for the tank s bow machine gun. The tst Marine Tank Battalion, serving in the Southwest Pacific, mounted several portable flame throwers on its tanks in preparation for the New Britain operation. None of these improvisions could have been called successful. The portable flame thrower was not constructed to withstand the vibrations and jarrings... 

Each of the four Army tank battalions had eighteen periscope flame throwers each Marine tank battalion carried sixteen E4R2-jRi s. Tenth Army Action Rpt, Ryukyus, 26 Mar-30 June 4J, p. 4< 713th Tank Bn Armored Flame Thrower (Provisional) AAR ch. IX, in McKinney, Mechanized Flame Thrower Opns, app. 6, p. 374. 

The 4th and 5 th Marine Divisions emphasized the greater eflfective-ness of the main armament type as opposed to the auxiliary flame thrower, of which the 4th Division had twenty-four. These divisions recommended more large capacity flame throwers and their incorporation as organic equipment in ail tank battalions. Although the 3d Marine Division entered the Iwo Jima operation without main armament flame throwers, it was later on able to borrow some from the other divisions. In its opinion this type was better against enemy defenses than the auxiliary bow gun flame throwers with their shorter range and limited traverse. ... 

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. ... 

Tank crews developed a fear of the periscope type after the fuel container of one burst and ignited upon being struck by an enemy shell, burning the tank crew to death. This type of auxiliary flame thrower, therefore, was never fully tested in battle. Nor was the bow gun type, with which the III Amphibious Corps was equipped, put to much use, for main armament flame tanks of the 713th Tank Battalion were preferred by Marine as well as Army units. ... 

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. 

On Iwo Jima, marines found the flame tanks particularly helpful in the later stages of the operation when they had to take a network of caves. By the time the marines had reached the northern end of the island, flame tanks had proven so useful that demands for them exceeded the supply. On Okinawa the operations took place on the hilly southern portion of the island where Japanese troops had defenses in cliffs, hills, and escarpments. The tank battalion carried out more than six hundred attacks, and fired almost 200,000 gallons of napalm thickened fuel. ... 

Although other units used these weapons with equal effectiveness, there were, unfortunately, far too few flame throwers available. The I St Battalion, 6th Marines, which had been assigned six flame throwers, used two in close support of tanks and attached the remaining four to the rifle platoon engaged in mopping-up activities. The battalion recommended that it be allotted twelve for future engagements, a desire reflected in the reports of several other units. ... 

Ltr CO 3d Tank Bn to CG 3d Marine Div, 12 Nov 44, sub Rpt and Recommendations on Flame Thrower 4—3 in M4A2 Tanks by This Battalion in Guam Opn. CWS 3M 7 Mechanized Flame Thrower File. 

A tank platoon, including a section of three flame tanks, was placed in support of an infantry battalion. Flame tank deployment differed within these tank-infantry teams. Sometimes they operated alone with the infantry sometimes they formed an integral part of the tank platoon most frequently they waited at forward positions until called upon for particular missions by the tank platoon. When the latter tactic was used the flame tanks, supported by conventional tanks, operated ahead of the infantry until an area had been cleared for the latter s advance. The troops followed closely, protecting the tanks and occupying the ground before the enemy could recover. This support was extended to both Army and Marine divisions. ... 

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