As Germany prepared for the imminent invasion of Great Britain in 1940, the British military
summoned several intellectuals to come up with an effective way of pushing back the Germans and
preventing them from landing men on their beaches. However, the British had little ammunition,
artillery guns, and the required defenses to stop an amphibious invasion,
and thus, several World War I veterans suggested the unusual use of oil to defend Britain's shores.
This unexpected idea would lead to creating the unprecedented Ministry of Petroleum Warfare
to test a unique array of flammable weapons to fight off the Germans.
As seen in footage taken at the time, underwater flame weapons, flame fougasses,
underground mortars, and more were just a part of the destructive circles of hell that awaited the
Germans if they dared to invade Great Britain… War Against Hitler
The early 1930s saw the rearmament of Germany under the country's new leadership,
as Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist Party took control of the political sphere with one
objective in mind: to make Germany great again. After a decade of humiliation, inflation,
food shortages, and unprecedented unemployment rates provoked by the harsh Treaty of Versailles
of 1919, Hitler and his party had the people’s resentment on their side.
The Third Reich then built its military from the ground up,
and the Wehrmacht soon showed its might with a swift expansion and technological development.
Once his armed forces were ready, Hitler made use of his diplomatic abilities to annex all
of Austria in 1938 and later reclaim the Sudetenland region for his Reich.
The British and the French grew preoccupied with this rapid expansion
and immediately saw it as a direct threat to their economic and political prosperity.
Germany was rising again, and they had to stop it. Despite signing the Munich Agreement on September
30, 1938, to stop Hitler’s desire for retaking the territories that once belonged to the
Prussian Empire, the Fuhrer pushed it too far. In September of 1939, Germany and the Soviet
Union invaded Poland and divided the country in two with the direct cooperation of Joseph Stalin.
Hitler’s belief that neither Great Britain nor France would take direct action was proven wrong
when days later, both countries declared a state of war against Germany. However, their armies were
swiftly routed once the Wehrmacht mobilized its forces with the Blitzkrieg doctrine.
Following the retreat of Dunkirk between May 26 and June 4 of 1940, and the surrender of France,
the United Kingdom was left alone to fight against the German war machine.
During these perilous months, the British Isles became partially isolated, as convoys sent from
the US carrying goods, food, and weapons were constantly sunk by the Germans. What’s more,
rumors started circulating that the Germans would invade the mainland
with simultaneous amphibious assaults. As the British Intelligence discovered that
these plans were accurate, the military realized that they had a big problem. There was a shortage
of weaponry of all sorts, many of which had been lost during the retreat from Dunkirk,
and they knew they could not stop a full-scale German invasion with their current resources.
Desperate Measures
In the aftermath of Dunkirk, the war between the British and Germans turned more personal,
and Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered the indiscriminate bombardment of the Ruhr.
Hitler retaliated by approving Hermann Göring’s request to send Luftwaffe bombers to isolate
British cities and destroy critical objectives. As the invasion of Great Britain loomed closer,
the Ministerial Committee on Civil Defence gathered to come up with ideas
for the most cunning way to defend their shores. Sir John Anderson, Secretary of State for the Home
Office and Home Security, asked for alternatives besides the conventional military defenses,
but the entire cabinet remained silent and looked puzzled.
It was Maurice Hankey who finally broke the silence and spoke up.
Hankey was a civil servant who had been part of the Imperial War Cabinet during World War 1 and
had been part of hundreds of war meetings, with a lot of knowledge about unconventional warfare.
The veteran addressed the cabinet and suggested the use of burning oil for defensive purposes.
Sir John Anderson and several members blinked and were baffled,
but Hankey continued: (QUOTE) “Oil should not just be denied to an invader, but used to impede him.”
Hankey remarked that successful experiments with oil had been conducted during the previous war
and could be ideally used to defend the British Isles. Furthermore, one of the few
resources that the British had in spades was petroleum oil. The idea could work, after all.
After getting approval, Hankey presented his ideas to the Oil
Control Board and managed to convince them. Then, on June 5, 1940, Churchill got on board and
told the Secretary for Petroleum, Geoffrey Lloyd, to give Hankey complete control of the project.
The Flame Fougasse The Petroleum Warfare Department,
or PWD, was created to focus on developing weapons and tactics involving petroleum.
Sir Donald Banks, a renowned war hero, was appointed to lead this unique department,
and one of the first experts invited to join it was William Howard Livens,
the creator of the Livens Projector. This mortar-like weapon used during World War 1
could throw large drums filled with toxic and flammable chemicals to clear trenches.
During a July test at Dumpton Gap, Livens blew up several 5-gallon drums of oil at the beach
to resemble a fougasse-like weapon that could be used on water.
A conventional fougasse was a century-old improvised mortar
created by making a hole in the ground and filling it with explosives and gunpowder. The explosives
were then detonated from afar with a slow match or a burning torch to prevent friendly losses.
The Petroleum Warfare team then experimented with 45-gallon steel drums buried in earthen banks
triggered by a small explosive that ruptured the drum and led to a jet of flame that burst
violently, reaching up to three meters wide and 27 meters long. The PWD dubbed it the flame fougasse.
Petroleum Warfare
As the experiments continued, the Petroleum Warfare Department came up with an ideal mixture
that comprised 60 percent oil and 40 percent petrol.
Another mixture dubbed 5B was also developed. It was a dark, sticky pasty that burned upon impact
and seemed to go on forever. The PWD would implement 5B
against enemy vehicles to burn the crews before they had a chance to escape.
Footage from the era shows how the Brits managed to use 5B and 65-gallon steel drums to destroy
all sorts of armored vehicles when they came into contact with this type of fougasses.
These first iterations featured two explosive devices. One was located at the front of
the drum to ignite the fuel, while another placed at the back threw the fuel forward.
The main design was a safety fougasse, which was excavated from the side of a slope,
where an explosive barrel was placed horizontally with one of the sides facing towards the target.
A section of drainpipe was placed vertically at the back of the barrel, and soil covered both
the barrel and the pipe to the point that only the barrel’s front disk could be seen from the ground.
The propelling charge was prepared with an electrically triggered detonator, and footage from
the Periscope Film LLC archive shows this type of flame fougasse in action on the British coasts.
As a hidden pipeline laid out into the sea below tide level carries the oil and ignition chemicals,
small bursts emerging from the ocean show the oil slowly spreading through the water's surface.
Within seconds, an entire area is covered with sticky chemicals.
Upon triggering the devices, the oil ignites, and flames quickly burst out to the skies,
creating an impregnable wall of fire and smoldering smoke
that would halt the advance of small boats with landing parties.
The PWD deemed these pipelines the first line of defense against a German attack. And if the enemy
managed to breach these outer circles of hell, the Brits would be ready for them on the other side.
Extra Protection
The idea behind Operation Fougasse was that if the Germans attempted to secure a beachhead,
hidden installations were ready to give them a more than warm welcome.
Hidden fougasses strategically placed across the beach would be triggered to form a second
inferno across the entire area, preventing the Germans from advancing or even burning them up.
Those who went beyond the second wall of fire would be left without support
and would fall victim to the British soldiers waiting for them in the vicinity.
These second line of defenses would have comprised safety fougasses and demigasses, which were simple
barrels of petroleum laid horizontally, with a tin charge in a shallow pit below the barrel’s ridges.
Upon detonation, the barrel would rupture and flip over, spilling its contents over an area
of about 30 square meters. The footage shows how rapidly the fires spread through the entire beach,
making it extremely difficult for the outsider to deploy troops for as long as the fougasses lasted.
In addition, if the Germans decided to use paratroopers or aircraft to invade the
countryside, the Brits also had a third line of defense that comprised hidden 65-gallon barrels
primed to detonate when an enemy tank approached and specially developed vehicles
that could fire improvised flamethrowers. Footage from the operation gives a sneak
peek of soldiers preparing the barrels for action against armored vehicles.
As for the paratroopers and low-flying aircraft, the Ministry of Petroleum Warfare also had a
mobile anti-aircraft flame unit that could project massive tongues of flame to take down aircraft.
Over 50,000 flame fougasse barrels were distributed across England,
especially the Southern portion, and several remains can still be seen
as a reminder of a German invasion that never happened.
Thank you for watching our video! Please like and subscribe to our Dark Documentaries channels
to find more exciting historical content. And let us know in the comments below
what you think of this unique type of shore defense.
Also, hit the bell icon to be notified of our newest videos, and stay tuned!