Operator Firing a Portable Flame Thrower ElRl

Operator Firing a Portable Flame Thrower ElRl at a concnte fortification 

The ElRl was far from perfect—parts were easily broken, valves were hard to reach unless the operator was a contortionist, and the weapon made an uncomfortably heavy load on the operator s back—but the weapon held a range of 15 to 20 yards for 15 to 20 seconds and on the whole seemed suitable for use in special situations. Since the few that had been produced for the purpose of testing were the only practical American flame throwers in existence, the Army issued them to troops in training camps. Some troops actually carried these crude weapons overseas to the Pacific Islands and employed them in battle. Corporal Tirrell s assault on a Japanese bunker was made with one of these, an ElRl. 

The CWS in the meantime had been rushing an improved version of the ElRl through final development. Suggestions from test boards had led to a slightly heavier, more rugged, longer range model standardized 

The new flame thrower was employed for the first time on 15 January 1943 by marines and infantrymen on Guadalcanal. An infantry attack against a stubborn enemy pocket holding up the advance of the 2d Battalion, 35th Infantry, did not succeed. But Marine engineers burned out three Japanese bunkers in a ravine, and thus helped rout enemy troops holding up a Marine advance.  

Unfortunately, the Ml flame thrower could not get the greatest range out of the new thickened gasoline, for it was like running a 1910 model automobile on modern premium fuel. In August 1942 Col. William C. 

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