Flame Tank -- POA Flame Tanks Mar 1946 Mil Rev

8/7/2019 Flame Tank -- POA Flame Tanks Mar 1946 Mil Rev

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.,, .Flamethrower Tanks in the Pacific ocean Areas

COLONEL QW3ROE F, UNMACHT, Ch trwtica l Warfa re Ser@eChemic al OfIIc er , Un it ed S ts tm Army For cen , Midd le Pa c ific

HE employment of flame ae a militaryweapon has aga in proved its va lue in

ur defea t of J span . Much has been wr it tenf the devasta t ion wrought by the Chemicalar fa re Services potent and high ly de-t ruct ive incendiary bombe employed by their Forces in the almost complete dest ruc-ion of J apans war potent ia l. Up to now,t t le has been ment ioned of the impor tanta r t t he Pacific Ocean Areas main armamentlamethrower tank played in oMaining thempor tant J ap-heki bases so urgen t ly r e-u ired for the con t inuance of oar aer ia l flamet tack against J apan.The J ap was z master in eonwmling his

ngen iously const ruct ed pillboxcs d in themployment of well-camouflaged cave net -orks. Our assault of Makin and Tarawadica ted that even di met hit s from }arge -a liber Army and Navy suns ant i fieldieces were not always successful in demol-h in g t hese st rwn gpoiilt s. Tim por ta ble flmne-rower was effect ive, but the morta lity ra tef flamethrower opera tors was hi~h . To ob-ia te this situat ion the Chemica l Warfa reer vice fir st in st ailed por ta ble flamet hr ower slight tanks. These were employed in the

wa ja lein oper at ion wit h moder at e su ccess, de-pite the fact that the insta lla t ion was hast ilyonst ructed and there was lit t le t ime to t ra inersonnel. However , th is opera t ion indica tedat we were on the r igh t track, and all avail-able Chern ica i Warfare resources in this t he-er wer e immedia te] y em ployed in per fect in gsuitable flamethrower tank with adequa teel capacity and range.By a for tuna te circumstance, several Ca-adian Ronson fkirneth rowers were obta inedom Canada , md after considerable modific-t ion they were mounted in LVTS and lightnks, with added fuel capacity. After manyemon st ra tions a nd mecha nica l adjustment s,+en ty-four flamethrowers wer e insta lled inght tanks, Fuel capacity was increased to70 ga llons of flame fuel in each light flame-rower tank: This was done despit e the lackf t ra ined personnel, and after bor rowing

personnel and mater ia ls fr om a most coopet ive Navy, As the invasion of Saipan wthen imminent , a twen ty-four hour prodt ion and t ra ining schedule was mainta ineThe Mar ines landed on Saipan with twenfour of these flamethrower tanks dividequa lly between the two Mar ine divisioTheir successful employment is now a mt er of histor ical r ecor d.As a result of the genera l feeling amo

combat commander s that the medium tashou ld replace the ligh t tank in fu tu re opet ions, we immediat ely redesigned the flamthrower for insta lla t ion in medium tanA carefu l su rvey of the situat ion reveathat the flame fuel supply cou ld be increasto 300 galions, thus giving each tank a toof fifty indivi(iua l burst s of flame, earapablc of neut ra lizing an enemy posit iThe added capacity also elimina ted the necsity of constant refueling dur ing combat ,The first pilot model was produceci a

test -fired before severa l hundred armcorps, and divisiona l commanders and thstaffs, and won immediate approva l. TTenth Army anti the Marines coordina ttheir requ irements, which tota led 126 marmament flamethrower tanks. Mainlapr ocur em en t wa s immediat ely init ia ted, shwere procured at Schofield, technical amechan ica l personnel obta ined fr om loca lsources, and the Chemica l }Varfa re Servfound it self in the manufactu r ing busineDespite many hear tbreak ng delays and tnecessity of overcoming many technical am ech an ica l difficu lt ies, t he a ct ua { pr odu ct iwas init ia lIy lmainta ined at on e complet e taevery th ree days. As eupplies a r r ived, twas gradua lly increased unt il we reachedpr odu ct ion pea k of on e comp!et e flamet hr owtank a day.Dur ing this per iod the Iwo J ima opera t i

was schedu led, and as the Marines wcharged therewith , a tota l of eigh t flamthrower tanks was made ava ilable. This wthe first combat test of our POA [PaciOcean Areas] flamethrower tank, and its S


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FLAMETHROWERTANKti IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN AREAS 45exceeded OUr fondest hopes. Some of the For ces, Pacific Ocea n Area s], dir ect ed imme-et hr ower t an ks wer e r efu eled seven t im es diate development work on a hose extensionay, and dur ing the last stages of the which could be coupled to the tanks holdingra t ion Mar ine in fant rymen would not ad- flamethrower fuei and then brought in posi-ce un til the flamethrower tanks clea red t ion so as to at tack eaves which were in suchway. The tact ical situat ien was such r ugged ter ra in that the main armament flame-

Fhmmthrowing tank in action at Coral Ridge. Okinnw8 (Signal Corps photo].t a fvon ta ] a t ta ck h ad to be employed.s wh o were n ot k illed ou t]-igh t by flameflushed from their defensive posit ions

tu lien care of by the small-a rms fire ofr ine, who closely followed the flame-wer tanks .21resu lt of th e exten sive cave n etworks

d on Anga ur a nd Peleliu , Lieut ena nt Gen -l Rober t C. Rich ar dson , J r ., Comm an din ga l, USAFPOA [United States Army

tbrotver tanks cou ld nu t be brought closeenough toat tack the posit ions. Three of theseh ose ext ensions wer e su pplied t he Ten th Armyfor t he Okinawa oper at ion and proved invalu -able on many occasions. Up to 450 feet ofhose were used, and hundreds of J aps werekilled in caves tvh ich were previously in -accessible to flamethrowers or any of ourot her wea pon s.With the Okinawa opera t ion schedu led for


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MILrrARYApr il 1945, all facilit ies were opera ted atak capacity, product ion and t ra in ing ,beingcomplish ed simult an eou sly. Test s on va riou sxtures of flame fuel were made, incorpo-t ing therein the la test scient ific data .The 713th Tank Bat ta lion was conver t edan armored flamethrower bat ta lion, a llr sonnel being t ra ined in the nomenclature,

pair and main tenance, fuel-mixing opera -ns, and in what was then known of flame-rowing tank tact ics. This bat ta lion landedOk~nawa on 7 Apr il 1945 with fifty-four

ain armament POA flamethrower tanks,e genera l character ist ics of which werefollows :Veh icle: M4, M4A3.Locat ion of flame gun: in 75-mm gun tube.Fuel capacity: 290 gallons.Locat ion of fuel unit s: in hull, beneathTotal t ir ing t ime: 2 % minutes.E ffect ive ~a nge:Unthickened fuel: 40 yards.Thickened fuel: 60-80 yards.

Maximum range:Unthickened fud: 70 yards.Thickened fuel: up to 176 yards.Fuel propellant : ca rbon dioxide.

Approximate weight added to tank (fueladed) : 1,500 pounds.Armament displaced: 75-mm gun.I gn it ion syst em : ga solin e-elect r ic.Tra verse: 270.Eleva t ion and depression : same as normal-mm gun .Armament : coaxial 30-ca liber mach ine guntur ret and 30-caliber bow machine gun.The flamethrowing tanks, with a capacitynear ly 300 gallons and spou t ing flame

om the bar rel of the 75-mm $un, were usedroughout the campaign with high ly suc-ssfu l result s, The terra in on Okinawa a l-wed a gener ally freer movement for wheeledd t racked veh icles than had Iwo J ima.owever , the going was seldom easy, due toeep r idges and escarpments, ter r ible mudthe roade from heavy rains and constanta ffic, and soggy r ice paddies. These factorsst r icted the massing of flamethrower tanks

... .. . .........L. - JEVIEW .,thought cou ld have been very effect ive jsome ins ta fide.w.The armored flamethrowers were usual

employed as a company of eigh teen flamthrowing tanks at tached to a normal tanba t ta lion, as a pla toon of six flamethrowintanks at tached to a regula r tank companor as a eect ion of th ree flamethrowing tana t tached to a regu lar tank platoon . The flamtanks were genera lly employed within thtank-infant ry team in one of the followinways:1. A sect ion of th ree flame tanks act in

as au integra l par t of the tank pla toon.Z. A sect ion of th ree flame tanks a t tach

to a tank pla toon and remain ing in a foward assembly area on call. When a flamtank ta rget developed, the flame tanks weca lled up and suppor t ed by other tanks unthe mission was accomplished. They wer t aall t imes under the cont rol of the regu ltank-pla toon leader who was not a lways caable of direct ing flame-t ank opera t ions, duto lack of previous coordina t ed t ra ininThis was the most common type of emploment .9. Flame tanks opera t ing as in 2> abov

with the infant ry in close suppor t of tanand flameth rower s .4. Flame tanke opera t ing with infant r

alone.In most cases,. flame tanks opera ted oin front of the in fant ry unt il t he area wf

clea red sufficien t ly for the in fant ry to avance. In manv cases the flame-tank crewfelt that the in~an~ry cou ld have given cloesuppor t , and thus have been able to offbet ter prot ect ion and suppor t , and to folloup flame attacks rapidly and occupy ianmdia tely the ground taken.

Par t of the fuel pre-mixed and taken withe bat ta lion to Okinawa was broken domby water and cou ld not be used, Much Spa lm fuel was mixed in rear a reas each daso that flamethrowers cou ld refuel with mim um dela y.

The 713th Tank Batta lion, Armored Flarnthrower , Provisiona l, was in act ion con t i?


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FLAMETHRoWER TANKS INiod of eigh ty-five days . High ligh ts of s om et he act ion , taken from the operat ionsor t of the W3th Tank Batta lion, are de-bed in t he followin g pa ra gr aph s.0 Apr il l!?45.-Three flame tanks frommpany C, suppor ted by tanks and the 383d

TII!I PAOIFIGOCEAN AREAS , 47blasted cave posit ions. Many J ap ssoldierewere seen, both in and out of caves, and manywere flamed direct ly. One thousand five hun-dred gallons of Napalm were fired, and thein fa nt ry cr edit ed t he t an ks a nd flamet hr ower swith 260 of tbe 290 J aps killed that day.

F lame th rowe r ext ens ionhose in opera t ion (S igna l Corm pho to)..mt;,y, advanced , fir in g on ca ves an d r idges .n on e flame t an k dismount ed it s ca nn on eer

d look on a front -line infant ryman whoe}~ zlld could designa te known targets.n ltcCl by regu la r tanks, the big flame-owers poured flaming Napalm in to a la rgee con tain ing approximately 100 enemydier~. Then, advancing fa r ther th rough aared minefield, 800 yards ahead of thean t ry, tanks and flamethrower s fir ed and

f I Mav 1945.Six flame tanks fr om Com-pany B suppor ted tanke and the First Ma-r ines in the region west of Dakeshi. At 1100all six flamethrowers assaulted enemy posi-t ions, sweeping and probing caves and dug-outs with et rea rns of flame. About 100 J apswer e flu shed fr om t heir hideout s, a nd a 47-mmant itank gun dest royed with Napa lm. Anammunit ion dump exploded. One flame tankreceived two hk+s from an enemy ant itank


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,,3HLITARY REVIEW .;

, and the crew was wounded by the ex-of a la rger shell as it evacua ted. A

cond flame tank began to tow the disabledhiqle away, when a shell from the samet itank gun smashed through the side ofe second flame tank and ruptured the Na-lm tanks. J ellied fuel flooded the crew com-r tment but did . not ca tch fire, rmd thelk ret reat ed while a third flame tank cov-ed the withdrawal with mach ine-gun fire.e remainin% three big flamethrowers con-ued to burn caves and houses in the vicin ityt il t he close of the per iod.12 June 1945.Two flame tanks from Com-ny C suppor ted Company C of the 71 lthnk Bat ta lion and the 32d Infant ry, Con-n ted by a steep escarpment which flamenks could not adequa tely bum, the hosetension to the flame gun was coupled upd hoisted by rope up the fifty-foot escarp-nt . Flame was then fired over the farge and was blown back in to ewes by thend. Suppor t ing infan t ry killed twenty J aps,d six more were killed by the flame. Sev-l ammunit ion dumps were blown up. These a t tachment was then moved over fiftyrds and a t tached to the other flame tank.wo pillboxes were taken under fire andproximately fifty J aps were killed, somelin g t h emselves. Numerous explosion s oc-r red with J ap bodies th rown in the a ir .e flamethrowers below the escarpmentved into posit ion to dest roy th ir ty .J apso were t rying to escape the flame a longe r idge. Three hundred gallons of Napa lmre expended. In the aft ernoon , five flame-rowers were lined up at the base of theff to fire at caves and pillboxes. Th ir typs were kiiled and a J ap machine gun whichs fir in g on t he flamet hr ower s was dest royedth its crew of th ree, who rolled down thecarpment . One thousand five hundred ga l-s of Napa lm were expended in the after -on a ct ion .14 June 19.$5.-One flame tank was givene mission of fir ing a rocky area on the

of the escarpment . The flame tankoved through the tanks and caught the

sca t tered J aps in every direct ion and he wucr edit ed wit h killin g fift y,

19 June 1945.Two pla toons of CompanC flame tanks suppor t ed the 92d Infrm@and fired eight loads of Napa lm at bruaca ves, pillboxes, a nd cliffs. On e t anker , a segeant , fired two loads at caves and brosfrom which sn iper fire was holding up thadvance. When the in fant ry was again baier l, Sergeant B____ at tached fifty feet of hoto his tank. With the help of the infant iy lalifted it to the top of the escarpment . Athe infan t ry said they had no one to handthe hose, Sergeant B.... handled it h imselleading the infant ry th rough a sniper -infest ed area . Although the hose leaked badland Sergeant 33...- was drenched with Napa lm, he con t inued unt il the fuel was gemHe saw only two J aps burned, but the infan t ry said inany more were killed. Thr iflem:tn nearest Sergeant B_. -. fired thirt een clips from his M-1 in suppor t . SergermB-,.. -s per formance drew high pra ise froiboth the infant ry and tankers. F ive morloads of flame-tank fuel knocked out a 75-mgun , and eliminated sn iper and mortar firwhich were holding up t roops, and the infan t ry went ahead.z? June 194,5: Cowtpurrg A .The eigh t O

era t ive flamethrowers in the company we~all a t tached to Company C, 763d Tank Batalion, and the 305th Infan t ry with the mision of taking Hill 85. The flamethrowers adstandard tanks were split up in two groupone to suppor t the in fant ry on each ~idThe group on the left was able to plsce finand flame ahead of the in fant ry with gooresult s, but those on the r ight (nor th) sidran into t rouble. Withou t close infan t ry supor t they were unable to defend themsekewhen they encountered a number of J aps ishell holes and caves. Two ftamethrowefwere satchel-charged, one of which was fmout of act ion. This group withdrew and joimthe other . The hill was taken and the ta t ireleased at 1600. The company killed fifteSJ aps dur ing the day.Company B.The 1st P la toon commi~

three flamethrowers to suppor t the 6th M


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t O,AMl%THROWf? R TANKS IN TUIC PACIFIC OCEAN AREAS 49G-QON1. one ammunit ion dump and oneump wer e fir ed. The 2d Pla toon suppor t -the 7th Marine Regiment in mopping up7561, 7661. Ga net ields, ca ves, br ush , a ndble were burned in this area . The 3d PIn-nm opped u p in TA 7559-TVWNS, 7659-V.ush and eaves wc~e burned. The companye[l (;,000 wdlon s of Na pa lm , k illed for ty-en J a ps, a nd took t wo. pr ison er s of war .O)/t /IfI I~U(Y.--Fou r fla n lct h rower s wer echcd to the 32cI Infan t ry to barn cavest roop pochet s in the regimenta l zone.(,I the caves am said to have openedai) :ir ]n y lwwfqu fir t cr s. Sergea nt -. ...

ing the hose ut .t achn)en t , fired ten caves.was n ccon)pamied by an in terpreted withwl{lsl)eakol who t r iwl to Set the J aps tove the caves. Only two were t iaken thisy. The hose exploded twice dur ing theer at it ,n .SerRestn t . . . . t ired a load at cavesng the beach and repor ted many suicides.rpyunt ---- fir ed two loads in to a hill inich nn infan try bat ta lion commander re -r [e,l5t )I) .J n ps h ole(l u 1), Wit h. t be h elp ofr~e:~nt ____ and Corpora l __-,_, the hill+s t ,)n ]l)le te ly reduced. FOUr flamethrowersr e at t sched t o t he 1s t Batt alion , 184t h In -ly, a nd mopped u p TA 7757-PQ. Numer -s csvcs were fir ed with many J ap casual-s. O])e load was fir ed into a large cra terar t l)r eompan y ar ea . Nin e J aps wer e killedn th ey ch ar ged th e dismou nt e[i men frolm

mpan y h eadqu a r ters s ect ion wh o were su p-r t in ~t he flamet hr ower . E igh t ot hel J aps,lud lng one capta in , were captu red. Th empa ny expen ded 4,200 gallon s of Napalm.ght h ~~dr ed ~ixty.eigh t J aps wer e killed..% J((I Ic 1945: Company A.Two flame-rowers were a t tached to the Ist Bat ta lion,2d Infan t ry, for mopping-up opera t ionstbe vicin ity of C)za to. Six loads of fueler et ilt ,{l wit h ca nefields a s t he main t ar get .h e fl:iln e pr oved ver y effect ive in flu sh inge J :LP. as the infan t ry stood by to kill orpture them. Late in the day one of theseu et hlower s moved over t o t he esca rpmen t

st of oza to and used the hose a t tachmentsca ve. wit h gOOd r esu lt s. F ou r flamet hr ow-s opera ted with the 381st Infan t ry, n lop-n ~u p st ron g en em y resistan ce in iMedeer a.

In one case the infan t ry blasted a hole in acour tyard wall; then a flamethrower pulledup and burned fifty-seven J aps who were h id-ing thei,e. .ConLprmU B.The 1st Pla toon opera ted

with the 6th Marine Division . Staff Sergeant. ..- with three flanrethrowets mopped up inTA 7456, 7256, exploding an ammunit iondump and killing th i]ty J aps. The 2d Pla-toon , t hree flamethrowers, opera ted with the1st Marine Division in TA 7660, 7560, 7661.Sixteen J aps were killed. SerSeant . . . . fr omthe 3d Pla toon fir ed one load in TA 7659-Q.Compr rm J C.F ive flamet l]r ower s wer e a t-

t ached to the 32d Infan t ry ond two flame-t hroweistn t he 1st Bat ta lion, 184th In fan tr y.Ser$eunt ---- fir ed in to four caves, liillingtwenty-three J aps. He also killed one withh is pistol at the refueling poin t . Sergeant

repor ted to the infan t ],y bat ta lion com-mander and was told tha t 1,000 .J aps wereI,ou ndecf u p in a h uge ca ver n. Th e a ppr oa ch esto this cavern had been mi]~e[i, so the in-fan t ry removed them to permit the flame-throwers to approach . \ !h en in t er pr et er sfa iled to get more than a handfu l out byloudspeakers, Sergeant . . . filed one loadinto the main entrance. There \ vas no est i-mate as to the number of .J aps killed. OneMar ine pat rol en tered th is cave and nevercame out . A second patrol en tered, receivedcasualt ies, and withdrew. Sergeant .__-stank fired one load over a bluff on the shoreand the wind blew the flame into caves under -n ea t h. F ive h uge explosion s resulted.Flame tanks were used in a va r iety ofways dur ing the opera t ion ; new tact ics were

devised and older ones, worked out dur ing thet ra in ing per iod, were refined and modified.This was a new weapon, first t r ied in bat t leonly a few weeks before on Iwo J ima, andflame-tank crews had no approved tact ica ldoct r ine to go by except a few preliminaryrepor t s from Iwo, repor t s from light -tankflamet rowers usedon Saipan, and the t rans-?la t ion of some Ge;man inst ruct ions for theuse of an ent ir ely differen t type of flame-throwing tank. The men learned fast . Cane-fields, brush, and wooded areas were effec-t ively cleared, and flame was used exten -


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-.. 1 , ,3dIf.J lARY REVIEW !

ly for the flush ing of the enemy froms and the cur ious Okinawa stone tombs.weapons were used for flaming the for -

d and rever se slopes of h ills and escarp-t s, for clear ing foxholes and bot t le-ped spiderholes dug in the ear th . Flamefired in to the wind over cliffs, especia llyg the rugged coaet line, a llowing the windblow flame back into the cliff caves. Flamequant ity was used to burn villages, t lush-J aps from the ru ins of st ructures pre-sly blasted with bombs and ar t illery. Thee-tank hose extension was used t ime andin in reaching pocket s of J aps whichld not be flamed direct ly by the flame-wer tanks.ur ing its seven ty-five days of a lmost con -ou sn ct ion , t he 713t h lWm lct hr owerTa nlita lion was officia lly credited with killing8 J aps and captur ing for ty-n ine, a recordch would probably he doubled if creditk given -for the other thousands of J apswere flushed out of their under~round

es and killed by the suppor t ing infan t ry.10XW

Flame Tank -- POA Flame Tanks Mar 1946 Mil Rev

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Transcript of Flame Tank -- POA Flame Tanks Mar 1946 Mil Rev