Forgotten Weapons Takes a Look at the M2 FLAMETHROWER
What’s the coolest firearm you’ve ever shot? A fine, antique shotgun? An old war horse oozing with history? A rapid-firing machine gun?
Whatever you’re thinking of, it’s not as cool as an M2 Flamethrower:
In what is probably definitely the coolest video that Forgotten Weapons has ever done, Ian takes a look at the premier fire-spitting device of World War II. The perfect weapon to turn a bunker into the world’s biggest fry-cooker, the M2 flamethrower was the product of US research into those weapons in the early 1940s. The product of this research was, as Ian calls it, “the best flamethrower of any nation in World War II”, and accordingly the M2 served through the Korean War and into Vietnam. The M2 replaced the M1 flamethrower, which was an expedient design developed beginning before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Flamethrowers became essential tools for infantry assaulting enemy positions in both the Pacific and European Theaters in World War II. Although they are brutal (some would say inhumane) weapons, effective, safe flamethrowers made operations against pillboxes and tunnels much safer for attacking forces, as they not only were highly effective casualty producers against defenders, but also obviously had a serious psychological effect on otherwise entrenched defenders, as well. They are also, incidentally, effective against hornets of unusual size.
Nathaniel is a history enthusiast and firearms hobbyist whose primary interest lies in military small arms technological developments beginning with the smokeless powder era. He can be reached via email at nathaniel.f@staff.thefirearmblog.com.
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Bruce Wayne: Targeting me won't get their money back. I knew the mob wouldn't go down without a fight, but this is different. They crossed the line.
Alfred Pennyworth: You crossed the line first, sir. You squeezed them, you hammered them to the point of desperation. And in their desperation, they turned to a man they didn't fully understand.
Bruce Wayne: Criminals aren't complicated, Alfred. Just have to figure out what he's after.
Alfred Pennyworth: With respect Master Wayne, perhaps this is a man that *you* don't fully understand, either.
A long time ago, I was in Burma. My friends and I were working for the local government. They were trying to buy the loyalty of tribal leaders by bribing them with precious stones. But their caravans were being raided in a forest north of Rangoon by a bandit. So, we went looking for the stones. But in six months, we never met anybody who traded with him.
One day, I saw a child playing with a ruby the size of a tangerine. The bandit had been throwing them away.
Bruce Wayne: So why steal them?
Alfred Pennyworth: Well, because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.
I'm wondering if flamethrowers can be relevant in combat or even modernized, unless if they were replaced by Napalm or other incendiary type of rocket launchers.