Author -
Tom Jentz
Illustrator -
Peter Sarson
The first attempt at mounting a flame-thrower in a German tank was not the result of an engineering design process but rather occurred as a field expedient. German troops involved in the Spanish Civil War, disappointed with the inherent inaccuracy of machine-guns firing from tanks which were charging into action, mounted the small back-pack kleine Flammenwerfer into the right-hand MG mounts of their PzKpfw Is. The German authorities took up this idea and from early 1939 began to design a flame-throwing tank based on the Panzer II. This was the first in a long line of German tanks to be equipped with flame-throwers. During the World War 2 versions of the Panzer III, Sturmgeschütz and half-track were all given flame-throwers. Even the formidable Tiger I was considered a candidate for flame-throwing capability, although this idea did not get past the experimental stage. Most strangely, captured French Char Bs were also equipped with flame-throwers and used in the opening stages of the 'Barbarossa' campaign. Tom Jentz and Hilary Doyle examine these and other German flame-throwing tanks in this New Vanguard title. Their development, weapons and use is studied carefully and fully, often using original German combat reports, in this excellent and comprehensive book.
Contents
- Design Limitations
- Panzer I
- Panzer II (F) (SdKfz 122)
- Panzer B2 (F)
- Panzer III (FI) (SdKfz 141/3)
- Stug-I (Flamm)
- SdKfz 251/16
- Flammpanzer 38
- Tiger I
