Allied Portable Flamethrowers

[Robert Hurst]

Hi

USA

Portable Flamethrower M1 and M1A1

When the US Army requested a new portable flamethrower in July 1940, the Chemical Warfare Service had absolutely no knowledge base upon which to work, and so had to start from scratch. Using a model known as the Flamethrower E1, gradual development reached the stage where the E1R1 was ready for troop trials, some of which were carried out under combat conditions in Papua/New Guinea. The E1R1 was far from perfect for it was easily broken and the controls were difficult to reach, but a more rugged version was accepted for service as the Portable Flamethrower M1. This M1 was much like the E1R1 in that it had two tanks, one for fuel and the other for compressed hydrogen.

The M1 went into production in March 1942, and the weapon was in action during the Quadalcanal operations of January 1943. It proved to be something of a disappointment, for the M1 was prone to all manner of production faults, and these often meant that the weapon failed in action. The ignition circuit used electrical power supplied by batteries that often failed under active service conditions, and the tanks were liable to pin-hole corrosion spots that allowed pressure to escape. A special repair and inspection service had to be established to ensure a serviceable reservoir of M1s ready for action.

By June 1943, a new model was in use. This was the MIA1, of which 14,000 examples were produced. The M1A1 was an M1 modified to make use of thicker fuels produced by placing additives in the petrol-based fuels previously employed. This thicker fuel gave better flame effects and a range of up to 45.7 m (50 yards) compared with the maximum of 27.4 m (30 yards) of the M1. Unfortunately the troublesome ignition system was not altered in any way and the previous problems persisted to the point where troops in action sometimes had to ignite the flame jets with matches or pieces of burning paper.

Data: Portable Flamethrower M1A1

Weight: 31.8 kg (70 lb)
Fuel capacity: 18.2 litres (4 Imp gal)
Range: 41 to 45.7 m (45 to 50 yards)
Duration of fire: 8 to 10 seconds

Portable Flamethrower M2-2

By Mid-1943 the Chemical Warfare Service had a much better idea of what kind of portable flamethrower the troops required and set about designing a new type. Based on an experimental design known as the E3, the Portable Flamethrower M2-2 was evolved, and this featured several improvements over the old M1A1. The M2-2 continued to use the new thickened fuel but it was a much more rugged weapon carried on a back-pack frame (very similar to that used to carry ammunition) but the main improvement was to the ignition. This was changed to a new cartridge system using a revolver-type mechanism that allowed up to six flame jet shots before new cartridges had to be inserted. It proved to be much more reliable than the old electrical system.

The M2-2 was first used in action on Guam in July 1944 and by the time the war ended almost 25,000 had been produced, more than the totals of M1s and M1A1s combined. However, production was not easy and some troops in the Pacific theatre continued to use the old M1A1 until the war ended. It was March 1945 before the first M2-2s arrived in Italy.

M2-2s were used by armies other than that of the Americans. Some were passed to the Australian army, bringing to a halt the development of an indigenous Australian flamethrower known as Ferret.

Although the M2-2 was an improvement over the M1 and M1A1, the US Army still considered that it was not what was really wanted, and development continued to find a better and lighter weapon. Some work was carried out to evolve a single-shot flamethrower that could be discarded after use. A model that used a combustible powder to produce pressure to eject 9 litres (2 Imp gal) of thickened petrol-based fuel from a cylinder was under development as the war ended, but the project was terminated soon afterwards. It would have had a range of 27.4 m (30 yards).

Data: Portable Flamethrower M2-2

Weight: 28.1 to 32.7 kg (62 to 72 lb)
Fuel capacity: 18.2 litres (4 Imp gal)
Range: 22.9 to 36.5 m (25 to 40 yards)
Duration of fire: 8 to 9 seconds

Caption to photo M1: The American M1 flamethrower was a development of the earlier E1R1 which, although technically an experimental model, was used in action in 1943. The M1 was used for the first time durng the Quadalcanal campaign of June 1942, and used the old 'thin' type of fuel.

Caption to photo M2-2a: A US Marine uses an M2-2 flamethrower against a Japanese strongpoint on Okinawa. This model was adopted in March 1944 and was first used in action during July 1944 during operations on Guam. The M2-2 was produced in greater numbers than any other American portable flamethrower, and was used mainly in the Pacific theatre.

The text and photos were taken from 'War Machine: Flamethrowers of World War II'.

Regards

Bob

[Robert Hurst]

Hi

The attached photos are from the same source as above.

The caption to photo M2-2d: In addition to their noise, flamethrowers had a powerful visual effect on morale, and the mere sight of their flame jet was often enough to make even the strongest men quail. This is an American M2-2 in action on Ie-Shima in June 1945.

The caption to M2-2c: A US Army flamethrower team is shown on Bougainville, April 1944. The rifleman is supposed to spot enemy snipers before they shoot the operator. The discovery that aluminium stearate could increase the viscosity of the fuel ensured that Allied flamethrowers were longer-ranged and more lethal than their Axis equivalents.

Regards

Bob

[Robert Hurst]

Hi

The Flamethrower, Portable, No.2 Mks 1 and II (Lifebuoy)

Development of what was to become officially known as the Flamethrower, Portable, No.2 Mk 1, began during 1941. It appears to have been influenced by the German Flammenwerfer 40, but the basic design of any portable flamethrower is fixed by physical constraints. This results from the fact that for a vessel that has to contain gas at high pressure the sphere is the best possible shape. On a flamethrower the fuel tank has to contain as much fuel as possible within as small a volume as can be managed. These design criteria virtually dictate the shape of the resultant equipment, ie a central sphere with a fuel tank having a circular cross-section wrapped around it. This produces the classic shape which gave the British equipment its Lifebuoy nickname, a name that stuck.

The first pilot model was ready by mid-1942 and a production order soon followed, despite the fact that the usual series of troop aNd other trials had not been completed. This was unfortunate, for after only a short time in service the Lifebuoy began to demonstrate a number of serious defects, many of them caused by hurried manufacture of the complex shape of the tanks. As always, ignition proved to be somewhat unreliable, and the position of the fuel valve under the tanks proved to be awkward to use in action. As a result the first production run of the Lifebuoy, the Mk 1 was withdrawn and used for training only from mid-1943 onwards. It was not until the following year that the improved Flamethrower, Portable, No. 2 Mk II appeared. It was this version that the Brtitish army used until the war was ended, and for many years after. In appearance there was little to differentiate the Mk I and Mk II.

The Mk II was ready for service by June 1944, and was used during the Normandy landings and after them, including the campaigns in the Far East. However, the British army never was really enthusiastic regarding portable flamethrowers and decided that not many would be required. Production of the Mk II ended as early as July 1944, after 7,500 had been made. Even the Mk II proved to be generally unreliable as it depended on a small battery to ignite the flame, and in wet or after even a short period of use the battery often failed. The old production problem of quality control was carried over as well, and as always the troops complained of the weight.

The official solution was to produce a smaller device known as the Ack-Pack which weighed 21.8 kg (48 lb), not for use in Europe but for possible use in the Far East. In the event the Ack-Pack was given such a low development priority that it was not produced until after the war was over. So ended the rather unfortunate Lifebuoy project.

Data: Lifebuoy

Weight: 29 kg (64 lb)
Fuel capacity: 18.2 litres (4 Imp gal)
Range: 27.4 to 36.5 m (30 to 40 yards)
Duration of fire: 10 seconds

The above text and photos for the Lifebuoy flame thrower was taken from ' War Machine: Flamethrowers of World War II'.

The Flamethrower, Portable, No.5 Mk 1 (Ack-Pack)

The Ack-Pack consisted of a ring-shaped container, similar to the Lifebuoy, carrying 18 Litres (4 Imp gal) of fuel; in the centre of the ring was a spherical gas container holding gas at 140.6 kg/sq cm (2,000 lb/sq in) pressure. From the bottom of the fuel tank a hose ran to a nozzle unit which had two pistol grips and a firing trigger.

Around the nozzle was a revolving cylinder with ten chambers, each holding a special ignition cartridge. On pressing the trigger, a valve released fuel under pressure, and an ignition cartridge was fired, igniting the fuel which then fired a jet of flame to about 36 m (120 ft).

The info on the Ack-Pack was taken from 'Purnell's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Modern Weapons and Warfare Part 47'.

[Robert Hurst]

Hi

ROKS-2 and ROKS-3

When the USSR entered the war in 1941, it had been developing flame weapons for some years, but at a relatively low priority. In 1941 it had a portable flamethrower type known as the ROKS-2 (ranzewuj ognemjot KS-2). No details of the ROKS-1 have been discovered, but it is likely that this was a development model only. In design terms there was nothing really remarkable about the ROKS-2 apart from the attention paid to the appearance of the weapon. The Soviet designers went out of their way to make the ROKS-2 appear to be an ordinary infantry weapon. The main fuel tank was configured like a soldier's ordinary back-pack, and the flame projector was made to look like an ordinary rifle, and in fact the butt of the projector was taken from the standard Soviet Model 1891/30 rifle. The only noticeable flamethrower features were the small gas pressure bottle under the 'pack', the hose leading to the projector, and the rather prominent ignition device at the muzzle of the projector. On the battlefield these features would probably have merged into the general background.

After the German invasion of the USSR in 1941 most of the nation's industrial facilities were soon in a state of upheaval as factories were overrun or moved to the east. Flamethrower production was affected along with everything else, and in the struggle to meet the ever-increasing demands for weapons of all kinds the design niceties of the ROKS-2 had to omitted. A new and simpler model known as the ROKS-3 came into being, and this did away with the pack appearance and instead used two cylinders on a frame carried on the back. The flame projector still resembled a rifle, but it was much simpler and easier to make in quantity.

During their investigations into flame warfare the Soviets discovered how to make thickened fuel that improved flame effects and range, and used this new fuel in both the ROKS-2 and ROKS-3. Using thickened fuel both equipments had a maximum possible range of 45.7 m (50 yards), thoughoperational ranges were rather shorter.

Data ROKS-2:

Weight:22.7 kg (50 lb)
Fuel capacity: 9 Litres (2 Imp gal)
Range: 36.5 to 45.7 m (40 to 50 yards)
Duration of fire: 6 to 8 seconds.

Caption to pic of ROKS-2: The Soviet ROKS-2 was carried as a back-pack with the cylinder tanks vertical. The flame gun was designed to resemble a rifle to conceal function, as flamethrower operators usually attracted a great deal of enemy attention and fire. The large tank contained enough fuel for about eight seconds of use.

The text and photo were taken from'War Machine: Flamethrowers of World War II'.

[king_nothing]

Sorry to revieve this thread for the dead and buried section, but on the ROKS section you say the ROKS-2 used the square backpack shaped pack, but the picture you have captioned as a ROKS-2 in your text it is described as as a ROKS-3. On the same subject anyone have some pictures of the square tanked flamethrower, I only pic I have is one of it in use in the field.

[LegalAssassin]

Very good reviving it!

Perhaps someone has found more drawings and manuals for how to use the different FT's since it died? Great pics, Robert, can't belive I've missed them

[king_nothing]

Got these:

Russian:






UK:
Just a better copy of the one up there:


Have German and Jap pictures but these are allied flamethrowers.

[Landsturm]

Robert, you seem to have a quite a collection of flame thrower-photos and illustrations. You wouldn`t happen to have a pic of German WW1 Klein (Kleif) Flammenwerfer M1912? The earlier models if possible?