Flamethrowers In War

The Great War, also known as The First World War, was a war that affected most of Europe and great part of America, Africa and Asia. Though it didn’t achieve much and caused the death of many, it did give a ground for warfare technology to be created. Poison gas, aircraft, machine guns, and submarines were some of the new inventions tested during this period of war. Tanks were also created in this war, and were a very necessary invention especially for Europeans. British, Austrians, Russians, Germans, and French had previously created fighting vehicles that could transport artillery and people through normal terrain, but not through trenches, which made a great part of the Western Front. Any new technology for transportation was received, and the British were the ones that came out with the idea of tanks.

Chemical warfare, while horrible, proved to be unwieldy and unpredictable, and relatively easy to counter. After some limited successes against unprepared opponents, the use of chemical gas had very little tactical benefit; the recognition of this limited utility is that after widespread use in 1915 - except for the short-lived effects of the introduction of mustard gas in 1917 - gas was abandoned by both sides as an effective tactic.

Tanks were a major part of World War II. Many countries had their own tanks which they used in different strategies during the war. These vehicles were invented long before there was the technology of World War II. The Germans were known for their heavy class tanks, while the Americans were recognized for their medium Sherman tanks. The Allied forces would not have won World War II if it were not for their tanks.

Gunpowder single handedly changed the world. What once started as fireworks, would eventually become the greatest aspect of warfare known to man. It was first used by the Chinese, as colorful displays of fire in the sky, but under the rule of the Ming and Ching it became a feared machine of war. Although the effects of gunpowder were mainly positive, there are still some major disadvantages.

Frist of all, in the Second Battle of Ypres, the Germans introduced the first use of poisonous gas. When poison gas first introduced it was a popular weapon choice and would be the weapon to change the outcome of the war. The Germans surprisingly attack the Allies, where the used lethal chloride gas against them. The gas was deadly and killed over one thousand soldiers. (1) It also allowed a significant advanced for the Germans in the war. The gas usage continued to grow throughout the war. In the end, many Allied countries started chemical weapons research. Gas warfare became common but effective actions were used to protect the troops. After World War 1, poison was use for a while but in today’s war it is no longer allowed. Instead of poisonous gas, chemical warfare is used. Chemical weapons come in a variety of forms and are used for several different techniques.

In the early phases of ww1 (1914) the flamethrower brought extreme terror to the British and French troops. However other nations quickly caught onto it. The weapon wasn’t at all hard to make, but was very effective. The idea of a flamethrower was to throw burning fuel at the enemy. The Germans created two types of flamethrowers or models of flamethrowers. One large and one small, both developed by Richard Fiedler. The lighter and smaller flamethrower was designed for one man to be able to carry it. This flamethrower used pressurised air and nitrogen/carbon dioxide. A stream of burning gas and oil would be thrown up to 18 meters to hit. the enemy. The second and larger model was not appropriate for a single soldier. Its range could double the small flamethrower. This particular model could withstand flames for up to 40 seconds. However the only down side to this model is that it used a lot of fuel which was highly costly. These weapons were very effective in world war one when used at close range but there were disadvantages of them. Flamethrowers didn’t have the range of a rifle. If you operated a flamethrower you were in target of

Throughout the world, men and woman train to serve and protect their country. However, those that were stationed at Iraq and Afghanistan have come home with heart problems, lymphoma, leukemia, and many more sicknesses. Families believe that the cause of their loved ones becoming severely sick and dying is due to burn pits. Burn pits were a typical approach to dispose of waste at military locales in Iraq and Afghanistan. Acetaldehyde, Arsenic, Carbon Monoxide, Phosgene, and Sulfur Dioxide are just a few chemicals in the burn pits. The Department of Defense had stated that the consequences of these chemicals are assessed to be low. However, the actions of the government are suspicious and corrupt. In 2009,Wikileaks revealed that the Pentagon, the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, knew the burn pit was extensively dangerous on human beings. In my paper, I will explain the Pentagons points and argue why they should stop sending soldiers to Iraq unless there are incinerators. Soldiers, contractors, foreign workers at Iraq are constantly passing by the pit, inhaling vast

Light machine guns and sub-machine guns were invented during World War I as small arms, but the larger machine guns were modernized as well. Flame throwers were used as an offensive attack against trench warfare.[ix],[x]

The British adopted the first tank prototype as a design in 1916. The tank was first used in the battle of Flers-Courcelette. The tank changed war wildly just as the machine gun did, the introduction of the tank meant that war had to adapt to the rolling bunkers. This adaption caused warfare to take new face in ways to counter the invention. Tanks are a major part of warfare today, with huge advances being made constantly to the vehicle platform and more and more warfare being seen by the vehicles as time goes on.

Some of the weapons used by the Americans included flamethrowing tanks, flame throwers, hand grenades, the Colt .45, and thompson machine guns. The use of flamethrowers in Iwo Jima was crucial to the Americans success. Since the Japanese were largely unaffected by bombs or bullets because they could go and hide in their caves, flamethrowers could wipe them out. The fire would destroy their oxygen supply, making them pass out and ultimately die. Without the use of flamethrowers, the battle may have waged on even longer. The flamethrower consisted of two tanks on your back, somewhat like a backpack. The flamethrower weighed almost 100 pounds, and destroyed anything within 100 ft. Flame tanks had the same effect as flamethrowers, except that they

The flamethrower has been around for a very long time, as far back as the 5th century b.c. Now recently in the last 100 years made a reappearance and this time it is even more deadly than before. The reoccurrence of popularity came about in around 1915 when a German scientist named Richard Fiedler came up with the first modern flamethrower. The flamethrower is a weapon that if you couldn’t tell by reading the name, it shoots out flames. How a flamethrower actually works is not as hard as it sounds “These took the form of lengthy tubes filled with burning solids (such as coal or sulphur), and which were used in the same way as blow-guns: by blowing into one end of the tube the solid material inside would be propelled towards the operator's enemies.”http://www.firstworldwar.com/weaponry/flamethrowers.htm

As the war continues, people change how they show passion, and fire shows how some of the soldiers have lost their humanity. Before the war started, everyone had hope. They all hoped that their sons would be gone for a couple months and come back. “She was smoking a cigarette and carrying an empty glass.” (Findley 20) Findley uses Mrs. Ross’ cigarette as a symbol for her hope. She says to him what she thinks he needs to hear in order for him to survive the war. She hopes her words will help him focus on surviving. As the war continues, people begin to lose their warmth. “But only the letters mailed from France were worthy of this exchange. They had to smell of fire.” (Findley 74) The reason the letters would smell of fire would be because fire was destroying and killing things from the area. This shows how the boys like Stuart have lost any type of warmth they once had. The romanticization of war has changed them, so that they no longer cherish the items that could be the last thing they receive from family members, but instead trade them for something better. The soldiers have also lost their humanity. “The weapon with which the Germans now attacked had been introduced at Verdun. It was something called a ‘flame thrower’ and rumours had come down the line describing it.” (Findley 147) Flame or fire, is vital to human survival. It is also a horrible mechanism of death. The German soldiers have lost their humanity since they would

Fire has been used in battle as far back as the Greeks in 7th century A.D, but the most devastating use of fire warfare was when Napalm used by the United States in World War two against the Japanese and again in the Vietnam War. Flame throwers were used in World War One, but the problem was that it burned too quick because of the gasoline mixture that was used to produce the flame. In 1942 a team of Harvard researchers that was led by Dr. Louis Fieser discovered that a mixture of rubber with the gasoline made a flame that burned longer, but rubber was would have to be replaced by aluminum soap powder because of the scarcity of rubber (Rohn “Napalm in Vietnam War”). This mixture would later be known as napalm and it was a modernization of war with devastating results.

Throughout World War I technology changed the way war was fought and new defensives were created every day to protect each respective side. Weapons were one of the major technological items that changed the course of the war from soldiers fighting style from trench warfare to the first line of defense. Artillery was a new piece of technology that impacted World War I especially during trench warfare. Artillery was considered to be the number one threat to infantry due to its high explosive power. Artillery’s main use was to counter trench warfare to due to it shot at a trajectory in order to shoot from a high angle. Artillery was the most impactful technology of World War I due to its high success rate for counter attacks as well as its threat

The fact that we cannot use chemical weapons is a very bad thing. We could have used these weapons in the Vietnam War. With all the tall grass and dense forests, our soldiers were not prepared for the close up combat. If we had used the chemical agents in that forest, we could have eliminated hidden enemy forces and we would have saved many American soldiers’ lives.