Flame Tank - Combat Effectiveness

Combat Effectiveness

Flame tanks did not suffer from the same vulnerability as man-portable flamethrowers (where a ruptured fuel tank could explode and kill many friendly troops in its vicinity), carried much more fuel, and fired longer-ranged flame bursts. They were invaluable for rooting out heavy infantry fortifications. As no US tank cannon could possibly penetrate the thick bunkers created by the Japanese defenders on islands such as Tarawa or Iwo Jima, flame throwing tanks were utilized instead, while infantrymen provided the necessary security during their deployment.

In an open battlefield, the flamethrower was virtually useless because of its short range. However, they proved a potent psychological weapon against fortified troops. In many instances, troops surrendered or fled upon seeing a flame tank fire ranging shots, rather than risk being burned alive.

Experience of combat use of flamethrower tanks was mixed. German flamethrower variants of Panzer II and Panzer III were both discontinued due to unsatisfactory performance and converted into assault guns or tank destroyers. The Panzer IV was never converted into a flame variant, despite being used for just about every purpose imaginable on the battlefield.

The mixed results were in part due to the development of infantry anti-tank weapons. At the start of the Second World War most infantry units had weapons with some effectiveness against armoured targets at ranges of thirty to fifty meters, like anti-tank rifles. Towards the end of the war, more powerful anti-tank weapons such as the bazooka, Panzerschreck, and PIAT were introduced which were fatal to tanks at ranges longer than the tank's flamethrower could reach.

While the British used a squadron of Churchill Crocodiles during the fighting at Brest in September 1944, the US Army received a smaller American designed flamethrower mounted upon the M4 Sherman tank during the same month. Assigned to the US Army's 70th Tank Battalion, the flamethrowing tanks went into action on 18 September 1944, where it was found that the weapons had a very short range as compared to the British Crocodiles, and consequently were not very popular amongst US troops.

The Canadian and Dutch armies became one of the most active users of the Wasp flamethrowers while fighting in Europe, finding the weapons to be extremely effective in prying German soldiers from their defenses. Indeed, the mechanical flamethrowers, although not impressive by themselves, struck horror into the minds of German troops, who feared them more than any other conventional weapon. I.e., Canadian troops used flamerthrowers called 'wasp' during the Battle of the Scheldt (see picture).

Crews of 'flame' tanks were not necessarily more vulnerable than those crews in the regular, standard version of the tank (a Churchill 'Crocodile' flame tank being more or less just as vulnerable to anti-tank weapons as the standard Churchill), the crews of flamethrowing tanks were often treated differently should they be captured alive by enemy troops. Due to the perceived inhumanity of the weapon itself, captured crews of such tanks were often treated much less humanely than crews of regular tanks. Instances of 'flametankers' being executed by the opposite troops upon capture were not uncommon.

Flame tanks were not necessarily more prone to catching fire. Tanks such as the Churchill 'Crocodile', which towed the liquid container behind the actual tank held no greater risk of fire than standard tanks.