Considered one of the most controversial weapons of war and capable of inflicting
gruesome physical injuries and intense psychological trauma this weapon would
be used to immolated enemy combatants on the battlefield. Enemy troops held up in bunkers
not immolated by the weapon's destruction would often die from its indirect mechanisms
such as hypoxia and carbon monoxide poisoning. Eventually the weapon would be considered to
be an unnecessarily painful and inhumane way to inflict casualties and would be abandoned. What
was this feared weapon of mass destruction? Who created it and when was it first used in
combat? Hello I'm Colin Heaton military veteran historian and author and on this episode of
Forgotten History we will cover one of the most feared weapons of modern warfare the [Music]
flamethrower [Music]
The first mention of what we may consider a type of flamethrower comes from ancient Greece
during the Peloponnesian War where Greek fire was piped from a liquid fuel source and fired
through a tube against enemy ships and troops in the field or against fortifications. In 107 AD
the Romans used a flamethrower of similar design against the Dacians in modern day Romania. Over
time technology made it a very viable and important weapon in the military arsenals
of almost every force in the world. The first widespread use was during World War I but these
were not always reliable based upon a design by Richard Fiedler creating a single portable unit
carried by an individual soldier.Called the Flammenwerfer it could be carried by a single
soldier and used gas pressure to push an ignited stream of flaming oil with a range of about 20
yards. The Germans first used it on February 26, 1915 in the trenches at Verdun and the British and
French soon created and deployed their own. The basic design of the first flamethrowers has not
changed very much. It still consists of the fuel tanks on a backpack and a gun or wand with a spray
nozzle an igniter triggers the flame but there were variations. The wand consists of a small
reservoir with a spring-loaded valve and ignition system. The cylinders are opened by primary valves
allowing all chemicals and propellant to flow to the wand or gun and depressing the trigger
on the gun opens the secondary valve allowing pressurized flammable liquid pushed by the gas
or compressed air to flow and pass over the igniter initiating the flame and out of the
gun nozzle. There are different types of igniters such as an electrically heated wire coil. Another
version used a small pilot flame also fueled with pressurized gas from the system. Their
primary value is their psychological impact. In the two-cylinder system one cylinder holds
either compressed air or an inert propellant usually nitrogen and the other cylinder holds
the flammable liquid typically some form of petrochemical. A three-cylinder system often
has two outer cylinders of flammable liquid often two chemicals being mixed upon dispersal
and a central cylinder of propellant gas. Later improved versions arrived providing greater fuel
capacity and range. During World War I every nation had a man packed version with a range of
45 to 50 yards or even tank carried versions with a range of 100 yards. The fuel mixture was also
more stable using compressed air to propel the fuel. British and American versions used napalm
or naphtha or thickened gasoline with a greater range than ordinary gasoline. It burned with an
intense heat even burning in water as it feeds off oxygen and sticks to whatever it touched. The
man pack unit had about 10 seconds of fuel while the tank carried version could fire for about 1
minute and short bursts were used to have maximum effect. They proved invaluable in the Pacific and
European Theaters where Army and Marine units had dedicated and well-trained flamethrower
teams. They excelled at burning the enemy out of bunkers pill boxes tunnels and fortified
positions. They were used during the Korean War as well as in Vietnam where the terrain favored the
Viet Kong and NVA who had built intricate tunnel systems and bunker complexes. These flamethrowers
had improved hurling a stream of flame up to 100 yards. Historically men who used flamethrowers had
one of the shortest life expectancies. This was because they were carrying a heavy bulky product
that made them a high visible target. Often a malfunction in the flamethrowers flow function
created self- immolation if hit by an incendiary round, otherwise the fuel tanks would not explode
if hit by standard bullets but the compressed air tank could explode killing the carrier as
seen in movies but the fuel cells would just leak flammable fuel that would only burn if ignited by
a secondary source. Today in modern battle the flamethrower is not even considered a viable
weapon and they have been largely abandoned. Thanks for watching today's episode of Forgotten
History. If you like this episode please consider being a channel member or joining our Patreon
page. This will help us offset the ever increasing cost of production. As always please like share
and comment and if you have any show ideas we would love to hear from you. Until next [Music]
time [Music]