WWII flamethrowers / viewed through PC vision

[fat tony]

And that tank scares the s**t out of me

Churchill tanks are scary looking, imagine being caught by one of the track pads - the ends look quite sharp, they would probably turn you into hamburger pdq - maybe this is why some of the pics of them coming off landing craft show they have no track guards on the front or back.

 

[arizonaicedtea]

Churchill tanks are scary looking, imagine being caught by one of the track pads - the ends look quite sharp, they would probably turn you into hamburger pdq - maybe this is why some of the pics of them coming off landing craft show they have no track guards on the front or back.

I wonder how vulnerable the fuel container was to enemy fire? Obviously not as much as problem when assaulting bunkers as the main tank body blocks line of sight to the fuel, but artillery/flanking fire could hit it without too much trouble. (One would think)

 

[TheTooner]

...I once seved with a very fine NCO who had been a prisoner of the Japanese after surviving Hong Kong. He did slave labour in the shipyards and coal mines in Japan for nearly 4 years and didn't have anything good to say about the Japanese to the point of refusing to buy anything made in Japan.

...

I had a great uncle I never met (Royal Engineers) who was taken prisoner by the Japanese (Singapore garrison.) He survived. The family said he never spoke of it, never possessed or used or consumed anything he thought was Japanese-made and never spoke to a Japanese.

 

[Tyler]

I had a great uncle I never met (Royal Engineers) who was taken prisoner by the Japanese (Singapore garrison.) He survived. The family said he never spoke of it, never possessed or used or consumed anything he thought was Japanese-made and never spoke to a Japanese.

My girlfriends grandfather served in N/W Europe and saw some nasty things, and to this day will not touch anything German made, nearly lost it when his son wanted a BMW. Then again he also stopped going to the Barrie IGA when there were "too many god-damed Japs there now". Talking to him is like going back in time...

As for the OP, nothing PC at all about the video. I can't think of a worse way to go than by burning to death. Even if you live, skin grafts are insanely painful.

 

[Mike Webb]

I had a great uncle I never met (Royal Engineers) who was taken prisoner by the Japanese (Singapore garrison.) He survived. The family said he never spoke of it, never possessed or used or consumed anything he thought was Japanese-made and never spoke to a Japanese.

These days a lot of people seem to feel that all of the combatants in WW2 were pretty much the same as far as their actions went. NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH. All side committed what could be considered war crimes but war crimes were institutionalized by the Japanese. Their treatment of POW's and civilians surpassed all bounds of human decency. Some people are still around who saw it and will never forget what they saw. Time does not heal all wounds.

 

[purple]

I recently learned of a family member on our American side who was killed/missing on Corrigedor in the Phillipines. I've sometimes wondered if he was killed in action, rather than being murdered by the Japanese in the Bataan Death March.

 

[fat tony]

This debate (funny, I thought this tread was about mounted flamethrowers) reminds me of how there were two versions of the Puckle gun. One with round bullets, to use against christians, and one with square bullets (believed mistakenly to cause more horrendous injuries) for use against the Turks, who apparently deserved such barbarism.

The Ottoman Turk armies were using cut up lead bars wrapped in wadding to shoot due to massive logistic problems. This is something that is fairly well documented. I would say that even the idea of being hit with a rougly cut up chunk of lead is just awful!

 

[The Wizard]

Check this out:

 

[The Wizard]

Here Is one more:

 

[The Wizard]

And just for fun:

 

[AP]

Both my parents served in WWll..my father in infantry and mother in WRAAF both ETO...my father continuously from the first landing in Brest, to Sicily, Italy, Holland etc and Germany. When he was stationed in Germany with the family - I observed NO animosity from either of them....in their minds...the war was over. People were not blind to the atrocities but that was not projected towards the average German citizen. It is easy to forget that the Nazis imprisoned Germans who spoke out about euthanasia and the Holocaust in concentration camps. Bishop Count Von Galen of Munster was a well known example although forgotten today...

 

[Mister Donut]

There is NO COMPARISON in the conduct of Imperial Japanese troops and Allied troops in World War 2. When Hong Kong fell and Canadian troops were overrun the Japanese bayonetted Canadian wounded in the hospitals. Ever heard of the rape of Nanking? Read some history and tell me all combatants conducted themselves in a similar manner. Revisionist history is truly sickening and atrocities committed by the Japanese have been well documented by many countries. Manipulation doesn't enter into it. Why do you think the Japanese are despised in China, Burma, Korea, the Phillipines and many other Asian nations to this day, it's because of WHAT THEY DID.

The illustrious Chairman Mao was responsible for more deaths of his own countrymen than the Japanese. That thing that happened in Nanking and the incident in Germany were farts in the wind compared to how awesome the Chinese are at killing their own people.

But back to flamethrowers.....non restricted right? Aren't they classified as agricultural equipment?

 

[Prairie Plinker]

But back to flamethrowers.....non restricted right? Aren't they classified as agricultural equipment?

In Vol.4, Issue 2 of the Calibre magazine, on page 10 is a write-up on the Seraphim Armoury Fire Storm. As they say, "As legal as a torch or barbeque."

Now, to find a spare $3000.

 

[AP]

here is the urban version

 

[Recce21]

Allied war crimes in both World Wars would fill large tomes if they ever wanted to expose them. But the victor chooses the rules.

 

[grinder08]

Barbarians. Hmm. How did Americans win an "empire" in the Americas and the Philippines, etc.? They did not do it by reasoning with the inhabitants. "Barbarian" in this case seems more a way to discredit the competition. No nation can be termed more humane than another when it comes to conquer. One cannot believe literally the written history of any victor.
When our soldiers fight on against all odds they are decorated and termed heroes. When the enemy soldiers fight on against all odds they are branded "fanatics" by us.
Propaganda demonizes and de-huminizes the enemy making killing one's fellow man more acceptable. How easily manipulated most people are. My mother, God rest her soul, hated the German and Japanese to her dying day. So effective was British propaganda.

Not quite. Go to the Changi prison camp in Singapore or the prison camp at the bridge over the river Qwai and compare those with British and American POW camps. I have seem both camps. Just a small difference. The allies didn't tend to march thousands of prisoners to death. The Japanese would almost always fight to the death. Given a choice of increasing my risk and using a flamethrower I would go with the flamethrower especially if I had watched my friends being killed. The Germans tended to give up when it became hopeless. The Japanese would keep trying to kill you. We love to apply modern standards to historical situations but in reality we have no real way of knowing what it was like.

 

[.325WSM]

After the war, many Germans, Italians etc, chose to stay in Canada or England, where they were interned. I don't think many allied prisoners chose to stay in Germany, or Japan for that matter. I think that tells you what you need to know about treatment of prisoners.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

The AVRE (Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers) that the fellow is talking about was a Churchill tank variant armed with a large, low velocity demolition mortar used to demolish bunkers/roadblocks/etc.

There was a lot of debate about using flame as a weapon against the Germans in NW Europe. There was zero debate about using it against the Japanese in the Pacific. A very effective, if frightening, way of clearing/neutralizing trenches, bunkers, and pillboxes. Basically it was napalm owned by the army.

Easy to blame on race, but Japs were a lot more fanatical than the Germans, surrender was anathema and the ultimate disgrace. Jap POWs were comparatively rare and "surrendered" troops often carried a hidden grenade to spring on their captor, brought about a very callous attitude.


Grizz

 

[tokguy]

so 6 million jews die, 20 million die in the ukraine, 50 millon die in china. we (canadians) kill off all the natives in newfoundland in less than 100 years. whats this holocaust you speak of? 6 million seems like small potatoes in the grand scheme of things. just an observation im making and nothing implied.

You do know that the Canadian genocide that you claim that ' We ' did happened long before Canada was a country, right? Newfoundland was not even a part of Canada til 1949.
So expecting ' Us ' to hang our head's in shame over this matter is getting old.
If self-flagellation is your thing, crack on. But don't expect me to bear blame for what the English and French did almost 200 years ago.

 

[islandguy]

After the war, many Germans, Italians etc, chose to stay in Canada or England, where they were interned. I don't think many allied prisoners chose to stay in Germany, or Japan for that matter. I think that tells you what you need to know about treatment of prisoners.

Yep. Known more than a few of them who truly loved this country, and were proud to raise their kids here (as Canadians).