The World's Oldest Operational Weapon
Byzantines Using A Flame Thrower One of the most fearsome weapons ever invented was the flamethrower. It has been around a lot longer than we suspect. Some historians say that it was first used in the first century by the Byzantines when they equipped their ships with a hand held device that pumped Greek Fire out of it. This made the Byzantines practically invincible at the time. Greek Fire was an incendiary weapon that could not be combated even with water. In other words it was a type of liquid fire that could not be put out by drenching it. It was said that Greek Fire was invented about 600 BC by the Greeks, hence the name. Greek fire remained a potent weapon for thousands of years and the napalm we use today in bombs is similar to it. When it was combined with a device with a piston to shoot it out, it became even more deadly. Two thousand years later we have soldiers using flame throwers on the modern battlefield. Being the operator of such a device is not a task that many would want. One of the many reasons is that you have to get close to use one of these devices. It certainly is not like a rifle. Getting close means making yourself a target at times. There is more to that however and there is the fact that the tank on your back could explode for any of several reasons, including a bullet hitting it, making you the victim of this vicious weapon rather than the operator. Getting close means you have to watch as people are burned to death, this must take some getting used to. The guy with the flame thrower is the biggest target on the battlefield. This is because he is the most hated. The operator of a flame thrower is so despised that when they are captured during war, they are usually shot immediately. Ancient flame throwers were used by the Chinese and some say that the ancient Greeks had used them. It would stand to reason that the inventors of Greek Fire would also use a flame thrower. The ancient flame thrower was describesd as working similar to a bicycle pump, except it shot out liquid when you pushed the plunger in and not air. The stream was lit by a match of some sort and set on fire as it left the pump. This would scare the heck out of any one of us now, can you image this a couple of thousand years ago? It was a super weapon, the ancient equivalent of a napalm bomb. The Chinese used a potent version of the flame thrower mounted on a wagon like device. It was basically a wooden box with a pump that pumped out a flammable mixture that was lit and delivered to any enemy within range. This device held quite a bit of liquid and the stream was quite heavy for the time, creating an awesome flaming weapon of terrifying proportions. These flame throwers not only were very destructive, they had a terrorizing effect on the enemy. Even soldiers that routinely faced swords and bows were terrified at the thought of being burned alive and the value of the weapon was that it made many of the enemy turn and run. It was this psychological effect that has kept the flame thrower in use throughout history, along with the fact that it could reach into areas where people were hiding without having to risk the life of soldiers that would have had to crawl in. A curious fact is that no flamethrower was ever used in the American Civil War. I guess they were thought to be too brutal. There had been many threats that Greek Fire would be used, but it was not according to most historians.
German Flammenwerfer In World War I The modern flamethrower was invented in Germany and called the Flammenwerfer. Richard Fledler was said to have invented it. Several different models were demonstrated to the German Army and the one that first saw battle was said to be a vertical cylinder. It had pressurized gas separated from flammable oil. When you pressed a lever the pressurized gas sent the oil out a tube over a wick that ignited it and sent it through a nozzle. It fired once and need a new igniter each time. The range was about 20 yards. It was first used against the British in 1915. The World War I flamethrower was hard to use, because it was bulky and most were used from trenches. Never the less, the Germans used them in over 300 battles. It wasn't until World War II that flamethrowers were used more extensively. They turned out to be a very useful weapon in the Pacific theater. It was very hard to flush out Japanese soldiers, who dug in and were ready to fight to the death. The flamethrower was not only used by individual flamethrower teams, but they were mounted inside tanks which could throw a flame much further. The Germans also used the flamethrower extensively against fixed fortifications in the invasions of Holland and France. When the Germans invaded Poland they used the flamethrower in their urban battles. Other country's military also used flamethrowers in World War II, they were Italy, Japan, the Soviet Union, the U.S. and Britain.
American With Flamethrower In Vietnam Some say that the flamethrower was one of the most brutal weapons ever invented. It certainly is more horrifying than most. Others say it is merely another weapon in a long list of weapons that almost every country has. It is hard to think of a more painful way to die. A bullet, while not pleasant, is certainly preferable to being hit by a stream of flaming gas. There is no doubt that certain weapons are more fearsome than others and that all weapons should be banned and war should disappear, but that will never happen, because it is too profitable. If the flamethrower was not effective, we would not still be using it all these years later. What other weapon can claim to still be in use after 2,000 years or so? You don't see a platoon of archers anymore, or men on horseback wielding swords. Fire probably will always be a weapon, unless the world finally comes to its senses. |
