WWII USMC M2 Flamethrower

[levigrach]

Fun fact the average lifespan of a flamethrower marine in ww2 was 35 minutes

[kingghastlyvii]

Flamethrowers in ww2 definitely had some of the biggest balls in the war

[Specops]

"It's great but, can we do anything about the heat?"
"Not really, no. It's a flamethrower."

[bildoify]

We've seen combat, but imagine the level of sheer terror in hearing that flamethrower ignite. It had to be terrifying.

[RoboNurse]

I can’t even imagine the psychological trauma a soldier using this would have gone through. Imagine burning someone to death.

[michaelharris]

That's one way to get rid of the mosquitoes in your yard

[MrPanzerDragoon]

Love the fact that you wore the Marine outfit of WW2 to go with this timeless piece!

[lightknightgames]

OH
That's really smart, instead of a pilot light, it uses friction like a flint rod.
That way the liquid can be expelled at a safe distance so it can't overheat the nozzle, and that distance is the choke because it suppresses air intake!
Beautiful engineering.

[mwhitelaw]

My uncle carried one of those for the entire pacific theater.
So folks
They were definitely a target
But alot of them were damn smart country boys.
Of course he preferred his BAR
But he knew how to use this better than anyone. Burning people alive wounded him for life. His stories were incredible, and they belong to me now.
God bless ya red
Miss ya brother

[DeadGothicRed]

For those who dont know, the ignitor on the end of it is that round block they put in the nozzle. It has 5 magnesium charges that are started by pulling the front trigger. A flamethrower Marine was carrying dead weight unless he had other charges packed with him. Because after all 5 are used which they dont last long, youre walking around with whatever fuel you still had on your back. The Japanese had flamethrowers also but only really used them when they were in an offensive postion prior to the US entering the war, essentially when they were purly in a defensive position when we joined the fight and didnt have a use for them. I guess Karma caught up to them. Also yes the average life expectency of a Flamethrower Marine was extremely low.

I know of a story from a friends grandpa of when he got appendicitis prior to landing on Iwo Jima so he got pulled before it and after his surgery he was the only flame thrower marine left.

[donaldmack]

Somehow in WW1 the Germans thought the pump shotgun was *worse* than their version of this Hell Inna Stick.

[northernalpine]

Battlefield: *_"2 damage per tic, take it or leave it"_*

[kemedgman]

Imagine you're just chillin in a cave and this big ass flame ball is getting thrown at you!

[harridan.]

my grandmother lived on lake worth, tx and she and her neighbors lived in fear of the cattails marching up to the shoreline and "blocking the view" she and her co worker, both telephone operators, employed several methods of attack but my favourite one was the WW2 surplus flame thrower they acquired in the late 40s. i would give a lot to have seen 2 drunken telephone operators out on the beach waving that thing around.
they knew quite a few officers, acquisition of it would have been easy

[vitodoncorleone]

It's a Flammenwerfer. It werfs Flammen. 😊

[anakinvader]

Saw an interview with a WW2 vet who fought on Iwo Jima and used a flamethrower.
The part the stuck out to me was that he said that all the guys who had flamethrowers volunteered for the job. These guys had nerves of steel, sheesh. I couldnt picture myself running into a battlefield with a fuel tank strapped to my back

[wallheadkdir]

Those things are BRUTAL. they're dangerous on both ends!!!

[DominickWalenczak]

I appreciate that he dressed for the role... Garand thumb and all. 😂

[jessepacheco]

Do you know what the M-97 Flamethrower sounds like? It roars like a dragon, a fiery god purging everything in it's path. Hold down the trigger and the "woosh" drowns out everything else, focus on the noise and you almost convince yourself you don't hear the screams. By the time the tank is empty, everything is over, even the men are quiet. There's nothing but the crackling of burning thatch. You see, it's not the noise that keeps me awake at night, it's the silence.

[billyponsonby]

That’s the Hollywood movie fuel version. The actual real thing uses napalm but movies don’t use it because it is really, really dangerous stuff.