Although there are many terrible ways to die in a war I don’t think many would disagree that being
burned to death by a flamethrower is near the top of that list. With such a volatile weapon
which could be dangerous not just to those on the receiving end, but also to the operator it’s no
wonder that tank mounted flamethrowers were used by many nations. Not only could these operate more
effectively they also could carry more fuel for these terrifying weapons. In a previous episode
we looked at the Matilda Frog created by Australia towards the end of WWII. Today we will be looking
towards the European theater at the German vehicle known commonly today as the Panzer II “Flamingo”.
Many people view tanks as some sort of super-weapon capable of taking large amounts of punishment. While that may
be true when they are used properly, this likely comes from movies and games which fail to properly
factor in how dangerous infantry can be to these armored vehicles. This is not the case for all
games though and today’s sponsor Enlisted does a good job at showcasing this balance. Enlisted is
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see in other titles. In fact, one of the premium vehicles in the game is the Panzer II Flamingo we'll be discussing today.
One of the things I think this game does better than others is the impact
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if supported by infantry and other vehicles the limited visibility makes them easy prey for even
a single infantryman with an explosive charge.
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Flamethrowers made their combat debut during the first World War with the German military being
the first to field them. By the end of the war this technology had spread to the Allied
side as well with French and British designs being created. Although their use was somewhat
limited in that conflict by the time of the second world war the technology had evolved
allowing for more portable devices and longer range. For the purposes of today’s video, though,
the most significant development was in regards to the combination of flamethrowers and tanks.
What is currently believed to be the first flame tank to see combat was an improvised tank created
in Brazil known as the F-1. This was reportedly used during the 1932 Brazilian Revolution
performing well. Other early examples of these date back to the early 1930s with vehicles created
by the Japanese and Russian militaries. We’ll return to these and the other early flame tanks
in future videos, but to get back to our main topic we need to look to the west at Nazi Germany.
What can be considered the first German flame tank is somewhat debatable as you
could consider the modified Panzer Is in the Spanish Civil War to be the first. With these
being done by the Nationalist forces though this wouldn’t really be considered a German design to
most despite using both a German vehicle and German flamethrower. Another design
pointed to as the first German Flammpanzer is a similar modification done by Panzer Regiment 5
in Africa. Many sources name this as the first but I have some questions regarding this. From
the information I can find these modified flame tanks were used during fighting around Tobruk
in mid-1941. Interestingly this puts the first combat usage of both the Panzer I flame tank
and the Panzer II Flamingo within the same time bracket for their first combat debut.
If anyone has further info on when the Panzer I was first used or modified I would love to know
as I could not find any more specifics on that. That being said with the Panzer II flame tank
dating back to 1939 in my opinion that gives it a strong case for being considered the first.
You may notice that so far I have referred to this vehicle as the “Flamingo”. The name is fairly well
known nowadays but I have been unable to locate anything which connects this name to the vehicle
historically. The nickname is not included in most source material and I have yet to see any evidence
of it within either German or Allied reports. I can’t definitively prove this name was never used
at this time and the word Flamingo is the same in both English and German so it is plausible.
It is also possible this is a modern name made up by someone. So although it may be easier to
refer to it by the “Flamingo” name I will not be doing so since it could very well be a fake name.
The conception of the Flammpanzer dates back to January 21st of 1939. The German Army Ordnance
Office received authorization to create an experimental batch of Flammpanzers using an
existing chassis. As you can probably guess the one they would choose was that of the Panzer II,
but to be more specific they would select the Panzer II D. Although at first it may seem like
the chassis was significantly different from the original vehicle, in reality the changes
were more minor. The hull and suspension remained unchanged aside from some additional armored boxes
above the tracks to house the fuel tanks for the flamethrowers. The main difference from the
Panzer II D is found with both the armament and turret. The turret was a completely new
design from the Panzer IIs standard turret with an MG mount in the center and two armored vision
slits on either side. These would act as both additional vision for the crew of the vehicle
and also give the tank a sleepy appearance. The primary armament of the Panzer II Flamm
were the two flamethrowers mounted on the front of each side of the vehicle with a secondary armament
in the form of an MG found in the turret. The two flamethrowers were capable of traversing in a 180
degree arc covering the front of the vehicle. In addition to these offensive armaments the
tank was also equipped with 6 smoke grenades in two launchers towards the rear of the vehicle.
Despite seeming like a well armed tank the Flammpanzerwagen had a number of issues with
its design. The flamethrowers were limited in range, being only capable of launching flames
35 meters in front of the tank. Although the machine gun did provide a longer range capability
with the thin armor of the Panzer II this could be seen as a significant flaw in the design. As
we’ll see later this did not mean the vehicle was incapable of being effective in combat.
The first example of the tank was completed in July of 1939 out of soft steel for trials. This
would be shortly followed by the start of the first production run in January of 1940. By this
point a total of 46 Panzer II D hulls had been set aside for conversion into Panzer II Flamm.
The first of these were completed starting in January with 2 followed by 4 in February,
4 in March, and 10 in April. Deliveries would then be paused temporarily as these 20 vehicles
were returned for modifications requested by the crews. The first series of 90 tanks would finally
be completed in February 1941 several months after the initial October 1940 deadline. This was due to
a shortage of hulls with 87 being finished in 1940 and the remaining 3 finished in February. Although
as mentioned before most of these were done with Panzer II D hulls 7 were done using the small
number of Panzer II Es built. These made up the vehicles known as the Panzer II Flammpanzerwagen
A with the remaining vehicles produced after February 1941 being considered Flammpanzer II
Bs. There were some minor differences with these as the earlier Panzer II Ds and later production
Ds had changes made to the suspension. The design of the Flammpanzers would remain the
same though. In total 151 of these vehicles would be built plus the original prototype.
Overall the Flammpanzer IIs had reasonably good performance with excellent mobility
thanks to the Maybach 6 cylinder engine they were equipped with. This allowed the tank to reach 55
kilometers per hour with an average road speed of 40. The armor was not as good with it being
30mms at the thickest on the front and 14.5mms on the sides and rear. This made the vehicle
and the 3 crew members inside more vulnerable to even lighter anti tank guns, but did keep them
safe from small arms fire for the most part. Although some of these vehicles were ready in
time for the invasion of France they seem to not have been used in any combat there. This
is likely due to how few had been produced at that point with the ones which had been
finished being stationed in training camps. Following the fall of France the vehicles were
then stationed in the North of the newly conquered territory in preparation for Operation Sea Lion.
The Flammpanzer IIs were organized into two Tank Battalions consisting of the 100th and
101st Panzer Abteilungen. These battalions were made up of a mixture of both Panzer IIs armed
with the 2cm cannons as well as the flame tanks. Each would have 42 Flammpanzer IIs,
25 Panzer IIs, 5 Panzer IIIs, and 1 command tank. With Operation Sea Lion never coming to fruition
this training may not have prepared the crews for an attack on Britain as expected,
but it likely would help them when they finally saw combat to the east.
When Operation Barbarossa began it would also see the combat debut of the Flammpanzer IIs with
the 100th Battalion being attached to the 18th Panzer Division and the 101st attached to Panzer
Gruppe 3. One report detailed in Panzer Tracts 2-3 gives us some idea of how these tanks were
used early in the invasion. The report details the 101st Battalion and the 7th Panzer Division
advancing into Soviet territory before the 101st encountered thick forest which was impossible to
pass with their tanks. However the Soviet infantry were occupying the area and the
German forces began to try and force them out. After the German infantry encountered heavy fire
from the brush some of the Flammpanzers began to shoot flames into the woods burning away the
brush and causing fear among the unfortunate defenders. As that was going on other parts of
the battalion were combing the surrounding area and similarly flushing out the hidden
infantry with seeming good effect. According to the report, by the end of the offensive
that day the flamethrowers and machine gun fire had killed 100 to 150 infantry with the
battalion as a whole destroying several light machine guns, 11 heavy machine guns, one mortar,
two cars, three trucks, and one tank. This was done with no losses of men or vehicles.
Although this does seem well within the realm of possibility do keep in
mind this is a German combat report so it may not be entirely forthcoming about the
details. Still it goes to show that when used properly these vehicles were quite capable,
at least at that point in the conflict. Both battalions would see combat until
November of 1941 when they were recalled from the front. Despite the one positive report we have of
their combat use this does not seem to represent the true nature of their performance with the
operational status of the vehicles showing a different story. Likely the thin armor and need
to get close to enemy positions to engage with the flamethrowers caused the tanks to be easy targets
for anti tank guns. It certainly didn’t help that the commander was responsible for not just the
machine gun and flamethrowers, but also commanding the vehicle and acquiring targets. Like with many
early war designs the single man turret concept worked poorly. This poor performance is all but
confirmed by the fact that upon being recalled in mid-November 1941 the remaining vehicles were all
converted into Marder II tank destroyers. This coupled with the fact that the tanks were all
lost during the advance into the USSR meant that none of the vehicles survive today with only the
turrets sent to the Atlantic wall remaining. Although on paper the Flammpanzer II may have
seemed like a good vehicle we see that the reality of war cared little for that theoretical ability.
Perhaps if they had remained in inventory or service longer they could have seen success
in places like the Battle of Stalingrad or during the Russian counter-offensives in a more defensive
role. Fate was not as forgiving with these tanks though and their failure resulted in the halting
of the entire German Flame tank program until 1943 with the introduction of the Flammpanzer
III. As for the battalions which had fielded the Flammpanzer IIs they were not disbanded,
but rather converted to a standard tank battalion being refitted with more medium and light tanks.
So just like the burst from their flamethrowers the life of the Flammpanzer IIs was short and
fiery. What do you think of this design? Let me know in the comments down below. One last thanks
to Enlisted for sponsoring today’s video and giving me access to the Flammpanzer II to get
some of the background footage you saw. Don’t forget to use my link in the description to try
the game for yourself with that free bonus. Feel free to let me know what you think of the game
in the comments section after you do. Thanks as always to my channel members for their continued
support of the videos and of course thanks to all of you for watching. Whether this is your
first time seeing one of my videos or you’re a regular viewer make sure you’re subscribed so you
don’t miss the next upload. That's all I have for you today so check out one of the videos on the
screen now if it looks interesting or hopefully I’ll see you back here for the next video.