Flamethrowers

Flamethrower (Flammenwerfer)







The Flamethrower was first invented by the Germans having been developed by Richard Fiedler. he came up with two models. One small and portable for one man use with a range of an impressive 18 meters. The other (the Grossflammenwerfer), had twice the range and could maintain fire for up to 40 seconds. Their introduction against French and British troops proved most effective, but assaults become more difficult once enemy forces overcame the shock of their use. The users of the weapon became priority targets and because of the explosive caracteristics of the cylinder carried on the backs of the users, it provided the carriers with a short life span.