fire tanks?

[fly boy]

I've recently noticed that on reports about the new call of duty world at war game that their are fire tanks I am not asking if this is true but were there fire tanks in WW2 and if so did both sides make them?

 

[timshatz]

Probably talking about flame thrower tanks. There were plenty of them in WW2, used in all theatres by most participants. Put a flame thrower either down the barrel of the main gun or right along side of it.

Do a search on the net for Crocodille Tanks (a variation of the Churchill). It will give you a good example of it.

 

[BombTaxi]

The USMC also had a range of flame tanks based on the M3 and M4, while the Germans had Flammpanzers on a variety of chassis. The Italians also converted some of their tankettes into flame tanks.

 

[RabidAlien]

ww2 flame tank - Google Video

(about 20 seconds in on this next one...careful who watches, it shows the results towards the end)
ww2 flame tank - Google Video

 

[BombTaxi]

Thanks for the vids Rabid, second one was excellent for showing the weapon in combat, and the horrendous results of it's use

 

[RabidAlien]

It got the job done. Especially effective against bunkers/pillboxes, and those dang caves on Pacific islands.

 

[Vassili Zaitzev]

It got the job done. Especially effective against bunkers/pillboxes, and those dang caves on Pacific islands.

Also effective in the jungles, right?

 

[RabidAlien]

Yep. Burned out alot of foliage that hid caves/bunkers/trenches. I don't recall seeing/reading about many used in the ETO, I was under the impression they were more of a PTO/CBI piece of equipment. I've been known to be wrong, though.

 

[Vassili Zaitzev]

Well, they were used in D-day, and they were probaly used in breaching the siegfried line, or what was left of it.

 

[RabidAlien]

I wouldn't doubt it. I just don't recall seeing all that many in action. Most of the tank pics I see from D-Day Normandy are all "Hobart's Funnies", smashing their way through minefields, barbed-wire, and hedgerows. I've always envisioned the flame-tanks being more common in the Pacific areas due to the widespread use of caves and pillboxes, since Germany's blitzkreig tactics didn't lend themselves to static bunker lines very well. I know they saw action on all fronts, I've just thought of them more typically in the Pacific.

 

[fly boy]

Uhhhhh guys can I just get some pics please

 

[BombTaxi]

I wouldn't doubt it. I just don't recall seeing all that many in action. Most of the tank pics I see from D-Day Normandy are all "Hobart's Funnies", smashing their way through minefields, barbed-wire, and hedgerows. I've always envisioned the flame-tanks being more common in the Pacific areas due to the widespread use of caves and pillboxes, since Germany's blitzkreig tactics didn't lend themselves to static bunker lines very well. I know they saw action on all fronts, I've just thought of them more typically in the Pacific.

I don't think the Germans or Russians made huge use of flame tanks. Churchill Crocodiles saw some service in the ETO though. One thing to bear in mind is that while the ETO did not have vast prepared defensive systems like the ones the Japanese built in the PTO, all sides were very adept a digging themselves into the ruins of cities - the flamethrower was a perfect weapon in such an environment, as was the assault gun and anti-tank rockets.

 

[Njaco]

Heres a couple for you flyboy.
British
German
American
Soviet
and an action pic from TimeLife.

These are only a few - there were numerous designs.

 

[RabidAlien]

Yep...here's a Japanese version, apparently found on Luzon (according to the article, which appears to have come from a War Dept article):

Lone Sentry: Jap Flame Tank (WWII U.S. Intelligence Bulletin, September 1945)

About 3/4 of the way down this page is a pic of a Churchill flame-tank in action:

The 8th Armoured Brigade, Chapter V

This one's a very in-depth account of Iwo Jima, and about 2/3 of the way down the page (took me forever to find it, I kept clicking on all the other pics along the way) you'll find a flame-tank clearing out underbrush on Iwo:

HyperWar: Closing In: Marines in the Seizure of Iwo Jima