The construction of flamethrowers in Russia began only in the spring of 1915 (that is, even before their use by German troops - the idea was apparently already in the air). In September 1915, the first 20 flamethrowers of Professor Gorbov were tested. On February 27, 1916, a student of the Pharmacy Course at the Moscow Imperial State University, B. S. Fedoseev, submitted a proposal for a flammable liquid (the recipe was not presented) and a “pump” for throwing it. At the same time, he referred to a message from the headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief dated January 23, 1916, which spoke of the use of “the Austrians south of Dubna ... an apparatus to repel attacks, throwing flames at 30–40 m.”

At the end of 1916, newly developed flamethrowers of the Livens and Vincent systems were ordered in England. In 1916, the backpack flamethrower of the “T” system (i.e., Tovarnitsky’s design) was adopted by the Russian army, which, since the fall of 1916, was equipped with flamethrower teams in the infantry regiments of the Russian army (12 flamethrowers each). At the same time, three batteries were formed, armed with trench flamethrowers designed by Tovarnitsky. In mid-1917, the soldiers of these batteries completed their training and were sent to the Northern, Western and Southwestern fronts.

The Russian high-explosive piston flamethrower of Stranden, Povarnin and Stolitsa was superior in design to foreign flamethrowers, which had worse characteristics. At the beginning of 1917, the flamethrower was tested and entered mass production. The SPS flamethrower was successfully used by the Red Army during the subsequent Civil War. Engineering thought was in full swing: Gorbov's flamethrower was developed already in 1915, Tovarnitsky's - in 1916, SPS - at the beginning of 1917. In total, about 10,000 backpack, 200 trench and 362 SPS were produced. 86 Vincent system flamethrowers and 50 Livens system flamethrowers were received from abroad. On June 1, 1917, Russian troops received 11,446 flamethrowers.
For the purposes of offensive combat and smoking out enemy forces from bunkers, the flamethrower's fire nozzle was redesigned and lengthened, where instead of the usual conical nozzle it was replaced by an L-shaped, curved one. This form allows the flamethrower to effectively operate through embrasures from behind cover, standing on the side of the embrasure in the “dead”, non-shootable zone, or on top of the pillbox, from its roof.

Attacking a pillbox embrasure from its roof (dead zone of fire) using an L-shaped nozzle on a flamethrower nozzle

Russian hand flamethrower from the First World War of the Sieger-Korn system

There has always been an ambiguous attitude towards flamethrowers - from enthusiastic (due to its highest combat effectiveness) to arrogant and disdainful (as an “unsporting” and “ungentlemanly weapon”). For example, the Hungarian inventor of the flamethrower, Szakats Gabor, was tried as a war criminal for his invention in 1920. He patented his invention in 1910; a year earlier, during maneuvers in Pola, the idea of ​​a flamethrower was born when he saw soldiers and sailors pouring water on each other.

In general, one person could easily handle a backpack flamethrower. But often the situation in battle developed in such a way that it was simply impossible for one person to get close to enemy positions with a flamethrower on his shoulders. In this case, the gunner and porter took over. The gunner carried the fire hose, and the porter carried the apparatus. Using similar tactics, they managed, hiding behind the uneven terrain, to approach the enemy at a short distance; directly at the position, the porter with the apparatus was hiding in a crater, and the gunner with a fire hose crawled close to the enemy and launched the launch.

As a combat unit, a formation of two flamethrower squads (strike group) was used, which was also accompanied by several soldiers armed with grenades. In general, such a strike group included: a commander, two squads of backpack flamethrowers (four people each) and four grenade launchers.

From the first attacks, flamethrowers gained great popularity among their soldiers, but at the same time caused panic fear and fierce hatred of the enemy. And if German newspapers extolled them in every possible way, the propaganda of the Entente countries tried to discredit them as much as possible in order to encourage their soldiers. In Russia, the use of flamethrowers was equated to a war crime (although after their appearance in the Russian army they preferred to forget about it). And the British seriously argued that only penal officers served in German flamethrower units!

Russian newspapers wrote:

“The St. Petersburg Declaration of 1868 recognized that the use of such weapons, which, after inflicting a wound on the enemy without benefit, increases the suffering of people put out of action, or makes their death inevitable, is contrary to the laws of philanthropy.

However, our enemies in close-range battles douse our soldiers with burning and corrosive liquids, using for this purpose special devices consisting of metal cylinders filled under high pressure with a mixture of flammable liquids, resinous substances or caustic acids. A tap is attached to the cylinder, when opened, a stream of flame or liquid shoots out of it 30 steps forward. When the fire ejection apparatus operates, the jet at the exit from the tube ignites and, developing a very high temperature, burns all objects in its path and turns living people into a solid charred mass. The effect of acids is no less terrible. Getting on the body, even if protected by clothing, the acid causes deep burns, the skin immediately begins to smoke, the meat disintegrates down to the bones and the bones become charred. People affected by acids die in the most severe suffering and only in rare cases survive.”

In the files of the Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry there is a copy of the order for the 2nd German Army dated October 16, 1914 No. 32 with detailed instructions for the use of fire ejectors, which, by the way, states that “fire ejectors will be used mainly in battles on the streets and in houses and will be stored in places where battles will begin, so as to be always ready for use.”

Scheme of action of the assault group when capturing a trench

On February 23, 1915, units of the S... regiment, during an attack on German trenches, near the village of Konopnitsa, were doused with a burning resinous liquid, which caused the lower ranks severe burns to the body and face; on the night of April 22, during the attack on height 958 Makuvki, the ranks of our infantry division found about 100 charred corpses of our soldiers exposed to fire ejectors, and 8 such devices were captured from the Austrians. In addition, many lower ranks then received serious injuries from burns; on the night of May 17, in the town of Dolina, in Galicia, fire ejectors were used against the I... infantry regiment, by which several of these devices were taken from the enemy; On May 20, during an attack near Przemysl, several ranks of the O... infantry regiment received severe burns; in May, several fire-ejecting devices were taken from the Germans on the river. Bzure; On February 10, near the metro station, ranks of the Life Guards P ... regiment were barely injured, receiving burns from sulfuric acid mixed with kerosene; On February 27, during the capture of enemy trenches near Przemysl, ranks of the K... regiment found 3 devices filled with acid; in mid-March, the Austrians used an acid-emitting device near the village of Yablonki during the advance of our troops; On May 12, near the town of Dolina, during an attack on the Austrian positions of the I... regiment, some lower ranks were doused with acid, and one of the Cossacks had his cheek burned to the bone, as a result of which he soon died; On June 13, near the village of Bobrika, in Galicia, 4 lower ranks of the F... regiment were doused with a liquid that ignited when touched by clothing, and two of them then burned alive; On July 24, a German officer and soldiers were captured near Osovets, and jars of a caustic liquid that damaged vision were found in their possession. In addition to special devices, the enemy also resorted to throwing ordinary bottles filled with acids at our soldiers, as was established in the battles on the river. Ravka and near Lodz in the winter of 1914, and finally, on January 9, 1915, the ranks of the I ... regiment were found left by the Austrians in their trenches, near the village of Lipnoy, pots with acid that emitted suffocating fumes.

2nd Army. Order No. 32

Main Apartment, Saint-Quentin 16 October 1914

§ 4. Fire ejectors or liquid emitters

These methods will be made available to individual parts of the army by the commander-in-chief as needed. At the same time, the units will receive knowledgeable persons who are very necessary for the handling of these devices, and when the units receive the appropriate instructions, the composition of these persons should be reinforced by sappers specially selected for this purpose, after proper training.

The fire throwers are supervised by sappers specially trained for this purpose; These devices, which emit an instantly flammable liquid, are similar to fire extinguishers. Fire waves are applicable at a distance of 20 meters. Their effect is instant and deadly, throwing the enemy a long distance due to the spreading heat. Since they burn for 1/-2 minutes and the operation of the devices can be interrupted at will, it is advisable to eject the flame in short, separate flashes in order to be able to kill several objects with one dose of the contents. Fire ejectors will be primarily used during battles on the streets and in houses and will be stored ready for use in such places from where the attack will begin...

Throughout the war, flamethrowers were used as an auxiliary weapon, requiring particularly favorable conditions for their use in trench warfare. Backpack flamethrowers were used almost exclusively during an offensive, and when this offensive was carried out on a relatively narrow section of the front, had the nature of a rapid “short” strike (raid) and solved the problem of capturing a small section of positions. If it was possible to bring the flamethrowers to a distance of 30–40 steps from the first line of trenches, then the success of the attack was almost always ensured. Otherwise, the flamethrowers were shot as they moved with the bulky apparatus on their backs. Therefore, the use of backpack flamethrowers became possible exclusively in night attacks or at dawn, if the flamethrowers managed to crawl up to the enemy and occupy shell craters for their cover.

In Russia, the use of backpack flamethrowers when breaking through a fortified position was intended to “clear” trenches and communication passages from the enemy. Flamethrowers were to be used to “pave” the way for Russian infantry groups as they fought the enemy in his trenches and communication passages. The fight in the enemy's defense zone consists of a series of short blows from traverse to traverse, from dugout to dugout. Therefore, it was intended to achieve a complete combination of the work of flamethrowers with the actions of grenade launchers and the strike group.

In defense, backpack flamethrowers were located in the areas of platoons of the second echelons of companies and even battalions - if the second echelon of the battalion is intended exclusively for the defense of a given area and does not involve maneuvering.

The FmW-35 portable backpack flamethrower was produced in 1935-1940. It consisted of a machine (tubular frame) with two shoulder straps, to which two metal tanks were vertically attached: the large one contained the Flammöl No. 19 combustible mixture, and the small one, located to the left of it, contained compressed nitrogen. The large tank was connected by a flexible reinforced hose to a fire hose, and the small tank was connected to the large one by a hose with a valve. The flamethrower had electric ignition, which made it possible to arbitrarily regulate the duration of the shots. To use the weapon, the flamethrower, pointing the fire hose towards the target, turned on the igniter located at the end of the barrel, opened the nitrogen supply valve, and then the supply of the combustible mixture. The flamethrower could be used by one person, but the crew included 1 - 2 infantrymen who covered the flamethrower. A total of 1,200 units were produced. Performance characteristics of the flamethrower: fire mixture tank capacity – 11.8 l; number of shots – 35; maximum operating time – 45 s; jet range – 45 m; curb weight – 36 kg.

Backpack flamethrower Klein flammenwerfer (Kl.Fm.W)

The backpack flamethrower Klein flammenwerfer (Kl.Fm.W) or Flammenwerfer 40 klein was produced in 1940-1941. It worked on the principle of FmW.35, but had less volume and weight. The small flamethrower tank was located inside the large one. Performance characteristics of the flamethrower: fire mixture tank capacity – 7.5 l; jet range – 25 – 30 m; curb weight - 21.8 kg.

Backpack flamethrower Flammenwerfer 41 (FmW.41)

Backpack flamethrower Flammenwerfer 43 (FmW.43)

The flamethrower was produced in 1942-1945. and was the most widespread during the war. It consisted of a special machine with two shoulder belts, a large tank for fire mixture, a small tank with compressed gas, a special fire nozzle and an ignition device. The large and small reservoirs were located horizontally at the bottom of a trapezoidal semi-rigid canvas knapsack-type loom on a lightweight welded frame. This arrangement reduced the silhouette of the flamethrower, thereby reducing the likelihood of the enemy hitting the tank with the fire mixture. To eliminate misfires when igniting the fire mixture in winter, at the end of 1942 the ignition device in the flamethrower was replaced with a jet squib. The upgraded flamethrower was designated Flammenwerfer mit Strahlpatrone 41 (FmWS.41). Now its ammunition included a special pouch with 10 squibs. The weight was reduced to 18 kg, and the volume of the mixture to 7 liters.

A total of 64.3 thousand flamethrowers of both modifications were produced. Flamethrower performance characteristics: curb weight – 22 kg; fire mixture tank capacity – 7.5 l; nitrogen tank capacity – 3 l; jet range – 25 – 30 m; maximum operating time – 10 s.

As a result of further improvement of the design, the Flammenwerfer mit Strahlpatrone 41 flamethrower became the basis for subsequent work on the creation of new backpack flamethrowers - Flammenwerfer 43 (with a fire mixture volume of 9 liters and a firing range of 40 meters, weighing 24 kg) and Flammenwerfer 44 (with a fire mixture volume of 4 liters and a firing range of 28 meters, weighing 12 kg). However, the production of such flamethrowers was limited to only small-scale batches.

Flamethrower Einstoss-Flammenwerfer 46 (Einstossflammenwerfer)

In 1944, the Einstoss-Flammenwerfer 46 (Einstossflammenwerfer) disposable flamethrower was developed for parachute units. The flamethrower was capable of firing one half-second shot. They were also armed with infantry units and Volkssturm. In army units it was designated as "Volksflammerwerfer 46" or "Abwehrflammenwerfer 46". Performance characteristics: weight of equipped flamethrower – 3.6 kg; fire mixture tank volume - 1.7 l; jet range - 27 m; length - 0.6 m; diameter - 70 mm. In 1944-1945 30.7 thousand flamethrowers were fired.

The medium flamethrower "Mittlerer Flammenwerfer" was in service with the Wehrmacht sapper units. The flamethrower was moved by crew forces. Flamethrower performance characteristics: weight – 102 kg; fire mixture tank volume – 30 l; maximum operating time – 25 s; jet range – 25-30 m; calculation – 2 people.

The Flammenwerfer Anhanger flamethrower was powered by a pump driven by an engine, which was located on the chassis along with the flamethrower. Flamethrower performance characteristics: loaded weight – 408 kg; fire mixture tank volume – 150 l; maximum operating time – 24 s; jet range – 40-50 m.

The disposable, defensive flamethrower Abwehr Flammenwerfer 42 (A.Fm.W. 42) was developed on the basis of the Soviet high-explosive flamethrower FOG-1. For use, it was buried in the ground, leaving a disguised nozzle pipe on the surface. The device was triggered either by remote control or by contact with a tripwire. A total of 50 thousand units were produced. Performance characteristics of the flamethrower: fire mixture volume – 29 l; affected area - a strip 30 m long, 15 m wide; maximum operating time – 3 s.

Today we started talking about flamethrowers of World War II.
The main flamethrower in service with our units was the ROGS-3 flamethrower. It was developed and put into production
since 1942, and in June it began to enter service with newly formed individual companies of backpack flamethrowers - 120 flamethrowers per company.
ROKS-3 assembly consists of a fire hose gun, a flexible hose, a tank for fire mixture, a compressed air cylinder, a gearbox and a set of belt equipment for carrying. Flame throwing is carried out using compressed air pressure. In the cylinder the air is under a pressure of 150 atmospheres, in the reducer the pressure is reduced to the working pressure - 17 atmospheres. Under this pressure, air is supplied to the tank with the fire mixture. Air pressure forces the mixture through the intake tube and flexible hose into the valve box of the fire hose gun. When you press the trigger, the valve opens and the fire mixture is thrown out through the barrel and the turbulence damper. At the same time, the spring-loaded striker breaks the primer of the ignition cartridge, which accelerates the flame towards the muzzle and ignites the emitted stream of fire mixture.

The ROKS-3 flamethrower used a viscous fire mixture for firing. The weight of one charge of the mixture is 8.5 kg, the maximum throwing range is up to 40-42 m (depending on the direction and strength of the wind). The number of ignition cartridges in the ammunition load is 10 pieces. With one charge, the flamethrower could fire 1-2 long shots or 6-8 short ones - the duration of the shot was regulated by pressing the trigger. The weight of the equipped flamethrower is 23 kg.
The first combat use of ROKS-3 occurred in Stalingrad, during assault operations in the city. Subsequently, backpack flamethrowers were used primarily to break through defenses in fortified areas, both to destroy manpower and to repel counterattacks by armored vehicles. Despite the creation (except for individual companies) in May 1944 of separate battalions of backpack flamethrowers (as part of assault engineer brigades), flamethrowers usually operated in squads or groups (3-5 people) as part of rifle units or assault groups.

A characteristic feature of the development of the views of Soviet military science on the use of flamethrowers in the pre-war period was that these views never denied the importance of flamethrowers in modern warfare. Meanwhile, most foreign armies, as a result of an incorrect assessment of the experience of the First World War, came to the Second World War with an underestimation or even complete denial of the importance of flamethrower weapons. The experience of the war in Spain, the fighting at Khalkhin Gol, and especially the experience of the Soviet-Finnish war confirmed that flamethrower weapons. And in general the use of fire as a weapon. not only has it not lost its importance as a melee weapon, but on the contrary, it is acquiring a major role in modern warfare, especially when breaking through fortified defenses with powerful long-term structures. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Red Army had well-established views on the use of flamethrower weapons in battle. It was believed that the flamethrower did not solve independent combat missions. Therefore, flamethrower units were to be used only in close cooperation with infantry and tanks, artillerymen and sappers. Flame throwing had to be combined with rifle and machine gun fire and a bayonet strike. The task of flamethrowers in an offensive was to burn out the defending enemy from cover. The practice of using flamethrowers in battles has shown that after flamethrowing, unaffected personnel, as a rule, left cover and came under fire from small arms and artillery. One of the tasks of subunits and units of high-explosive flamethrowers in the offensive was to hold captured lines and bridgeheads. In defense, flamethrowers were supposed to be used suddenly and massively at the moment when the attacking enemy approached the range of a flamethrower shot. Relevant instructions and manuals were published on the combat use of flamethrowers and the training of flamethrowers.
At the end of the war, ROGS 3 were actively used by the ShISBr.

For firing, a standard mixture of 60% fuel oil and 40% kerosene was mainly used, but a viscous fire mixture (a solution of OP-2 powder in motor gasoline), crude oil, and motor oil mixed with kerosene could also be used.

The first new type of weapon to appear in the industrial 20th century was the jet flamethrower. Moreover, the manufacturers initially planned it not as an army weapon, but as a police weapon to disperse demonstrators. A strange way to pacify your own citizens by burning them to the ground.

Alexey Ardashev

Flamethrower tank OT-133 based on the T-26 light tank (1939)

Hit of World War II - backpack flamethrower ROKS-3

American M1A1 flamethrower from World War II

In the early morning of July 30, 1915, the British troops were stunned by an unprecedented spectacle: huge flames suddenly burst out from the German trenches and lashed with hissing and whistling towards the British. “Completely unexpectedly, the first lines of troops at the front were engulfed in flames,” an eyewitness recalled with horror. “It was not visible where the fire came from. The soldiers seemed to be surrounded by furiously spinning flames, which were accompanied by a loud roar and thick clouds of black smoke; here and there drops of boiling oil fell into the trenches or trenches. Screams and howls shook the air. Throwing down their weapons, the British infantry fled in panic to the rear, leaving their positions without firing a single shot. This is how flamethrowers entered the battlefield.

Fire behind you

The backpack fire device was first proposed to the Russian Minister of War in 1898 by the Russian inventor Sieger-Korn. The device was found difficult and dangerous to use and was not accepted for service under the pretext of “unrealism.”

Three years later, the German inventor Fiedler created a flamethrower of a similar design, which was adopted without hesitation by the Reuter. As a result, Germany managed to significantly outstrip other countries in the development and creation of new weapons. The use of poisonous gases no longer achieved their goals - the enemy now had gas masks. In an effort to maintain the initiative, the Germans used a new weapon - flamethrowers. On January 18, 1915, a volunteer sapper squad was formed to test new weapons. The flamethrower was used at Verdun against the French and British. In both cases, he caused panic in the ranks of the enemy infantry, and the Germans managed to take enemy positions with few losses. No one could remain in the trench when a stream of fire burst through the parapet.

On the Russian front, the Germans first used flamethrowers on November 9, 1916 in the battle near Baranovichi. However, here they were unable to achieve success. The Russian soldiers suffered losses, but did not lose their heads and stubbornly defended themselves. The German infantry, rising under the cover of flamethrowers to attack, encountered strong rifle and machine-gun fire. The attack was thwarted.

The German monopoly on flamethrowers did not last long - by the beginning of 1916, all the warring armies, including Russia, were armed with various systems of these weapons.

The construction of flamethrowers in Russia began in the spring of 1915, even before their use by German troops, and a year later a backpack flamethrower designed by Tavarnitsky was adopted for service. At the same time, Russian engineers Stranden, Povarin, and Stolitsa invented a high-explosive piston flamethrower: from it the flammable mixture was ejected not by compressed gas, but by a powder charge. At the beginning of 1917, a flamethrower called SPS had already entered mass production.

How they work

Regardless of the type and design, the principle of operation of flamethrowers is the same. Flamethrowers (or flamethrowers, as they used to say) are devices that emit jets of highly flammable liquid at a distance of 15 to 200 m. The liquid is thrown out of the tank through a special fire hose by the force of compressed air, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen or powder gases and ignites when it exits fire hose with a special igniter.

In World War I, two types of flamethrowers were used: backpack flamethrowers for offensive operations, heavy ones for defense. Between the world wars, a third type of flamethrower appeared - high-explosive.

A backpack flamethrower is a steel tank with a capacity of 15-20 liters, filled with flammable liquid and compressed gas. When the tap is opened, the liquid is thrown out through a flexible rubber hose and a metal fire nozzle and ignited by an igniter.

The heavy flamethrower consists of an iron tank with a capacity of about 200 liters with an outlet pipe, a tap and brackets for manual carrying. A fire hose with a control handle and an igniter is movably mounted on a carriage. The flight range of the jet is 40-60 m, the sector of destruction is 130-1800. A shot from a flamethrower hits an area of ​​300-500 m2. One shot can knock out up to a platoon of infantry.

A high-explosive flamethrower differs in design and principle of operation from backpack flamethrowers - the fire mixture is ejected from the tank by the pressure of gases formed during the combustion of a powder charge. An incendiary cartridge is placed on the nozzle, and a powder ejection cartridge with an electric fuse is inserted into the charger. Powder gases eject liquid at a distance of 35-50 m.

The main disadvantage of the jet flamethrower is its short range. When shooting at long distances, the system pressure needs to increase, but this is not easy to do - the fire mixture is simply pulverized (sprayed). This can only be combated by increasing the viscosity (thickening the mixture). But at the same time, a freely flying burning jet of fire mixture may not reach the target, completely burning out in the air.

Cocktail

All the terrifying power of flamethrower-incendiary weapons lies in incendiary substances. Their combustion temperature is 800−10000C or more (up to 35000C) with a very stable flame. Fire mixtures do not contain oxidizing agents and burn due to oxygen in the air. Incendiaries are mixtures of various flammable liquids: oil, gasoline and kerosene, light coal oil with benzene, a solution of phosphorus in carbon disulfide, etc. Fire mixtures based on petroleum products can be either liquid or viscous. The former consist of a mixture of gasoline with heavy motor fuel and lubricating oil. In this case, a wide swirling jet of intense flame is formed, flying 20-25 meters. The burning mixture is capable of flowing into the cracks and holes of target objects, but a significant part of it burns out in flight. The main disadvantage of liquid mixtures is that they do not stick to objects.

Napalms, that is, thickened mixtures, are a different matter. They can stick to objects and thereby increase the affected area. Liquid petroleum products are used as their fuel base - gasoline, jet fuel, benzene, kerosene and a mixture of gasoline with heavy motor fuel. Polystyrene or polybutadiene are most often used as thickeners.

Napalm is highly flammable and sticks even to wet surfaces. It is impossible to extinguish it with water, so it floats on the surface, continuing to burn. The burning temperature of napalm is 800−11000C. Metallized incendiary mixtures (pyrogels) have a higher combustion temperature - 1400−16000C. They are made by adding powders of certain metals (magnesium, sodium), heavy petroleum products (asphalt, fuel oil) and some types of flammable polymers - isobutyl methacrylate, polybutadiene - to ordinary napalm.

Lighter people

The army profession of a flamethrower was extremely dangerous - as a rule, you had to get within a few tens of meters to the enemy with a huge piece of iron behind your back. According to an unwritten rule, soldiers of all armies of World War II did not take flamethrowers and snipers prisoner; they were shot on the spot.

For every flamethrower there was at least one and a half flamethrowers. The fact is that high-explosive flamethrowers were disposable (after operation, a factory reload was required), and the work of a flamethrower with such weapons was akin to sapper work. High-explosive flamethrowers were dug in front of their own trenches and fortifications at a distance of several tens of meters, leaving only a camouflaged nozzle on the surface. When the enemy approached within firing distance (from 10 to 100 m), the flamethrowers were activated (“exploded”).

The battle for the Shchuchinkovsky bridgehead is indicative. The battalion was able to fire its first fire salvo only an hour after the start of the attack, having already lost 10% of its personnel and all its artillery. 23 flamethrowers were blown up, destroying 3 tanks and 60 infantrymen. Having come under fire, the Germans retreated 200-300 m and began to shoot Soviet positions from tank guns with impunity. Our fighters moved to reserve camouflaged positions, and the situation repeated itself. As a result, the battalion, having used up almost the entire supply of flamethrowers and having lost more than half of its strength, destroyed by the evening six more tanks, one self-propelled gun and 260 fascists, barely holding the bridgehead. This classic fight shows the advantages and disadvantages of flamethrowers - they are useless beyond 100m and are terrifyingly effective when used unexpectedly at point-blank range.

Soviet flamethrowers managed to use high-explosive flamethrowers on the offensive. For example, in one section of the Western Front, before a night attack, 42 ​​(!) high-explosive flamethrowers were buried at a distance of only 30-40 m from a German wooden-earth defensive embankment with machine gun and artillery embrasures. At dawn, the flamethrowers were blown up in one salvo, completely destroying a kilometer of the enemy’s first line of defense. In this episode, one admires the fantastic courage of the flamethrowers - to bury a 32-kg cylinder 30 m from a machine-gun embrasure!

No less heroic were the actions of flamethrowers with ROKS backpack flamethrowers. A fighter with an additional 23 kg on his back was required to run to the trenches under deadly enemy fire, get within 20-30 m of a fortified machine-gun nest, and only then fire a volley. Here is a far from complete list of German losses from Soviet backpack flamethrowers: 34,000 people, 120 tanks, self-propelled guns and armored personnel carriers, more than 3,000 bunkers, bunkers and other firing points, 145 vehicles.

Costumed Burners

The German Wehrmacht in 1939-1940 used a portable flamethrower mod. 1935, reminiscent of flamethrowers from the First World War. To protect the flamethrowers themselves from burns, special leather suits were developed: jacket, trousers and gloves. Lightweight "small improved flamethrower" mod. 1940 could be served on the battlefield by only one fighter.

The Germans used flamethrowers extremely effectively when capturing Belgian border forts. The paratroopers landed directly on the combat surface of the casemates and silenced the firing points with flamethrower shots into the embrasures. In this case, a new product was used: an L-shaped tip on the fire hose, which allowed the flamethrower to stand on the side of the embrasure or act from above when firing.

The battles in the winter of 1941 showed that at low temperatures German flamethrowers were unsuitable due to unreliable ignition of flammable liquids. The Wehrmacht adopted a flamethrower mod. 1941, which took into account the experience of the combat use of German and Soviet flamethrowers. According to the Soviet model, ignition cartridges were used in the flammable liquid ignition system. In 1944, the FmW 46 disposable flamethrower was created for parachute units, resembling a giant syringe weighing 3.6 kg, 600 mm long and 70 mm in diameter. It provided flamethrowing at 30 m.

At the end of the war, 232 backpack flamethrowers were transferred to the Reich fire departments. With their help, they burned the corpses of civilians who died in air-raid shelters during air raids on German cities.

In the post-war period, the LPO-50 light infantry flamethrower was adopted in the USSR, providing three fire shots. It is now produced in China under the name Type 74 and is in service with many countries around the world, former members of the Warsaw Pact and some countries in Southeast Asia.

Jet flamethrowers have replaced jet flamethrowers, where the fire mixture, enclosed in a sealed capsule, is delivered by a jet projectile hundreds and thousands of meters. But that is another story.

I was born in 1926 in a Volga village (now it does not exist). There were seven children in the family, I was the third. In 1940, the family moved to the city of Yoshkar-Ola (Mari Republic), where the father worked as a carpenter at an ammunition factory.

I stayed to finish the village seven-year school. I met the war as a sixteen-year-old boy. I was just in the city - I remember there was some kind of holiday there, and then the radio announced that the war had begun. I returned home to the village, and our men were already being taken away. Then our turn came, I was drafted into the army in the fall of '43.

The training ground was near Moscow, and there the distribution by branches of the military took place. I don’t know by what criteria we were selected, but I ended up in the flamethrowers. They showed everything there, and they let me shoot from a flamethrower, though with water! Apparently they were afraid that someone would set themselves on fire. It must be said that the flamethrower is a terrible weapon, and effective. There is no need for any infantry here: three flamethrowers can maintain the entire line of defense. It is impossible to hide from such a fire (1500 0 C) - everything is burning. If a fire drop hits a person, then there is no use in extinguishing it, just tearing off clothes, and even then you won’t have time - everything happens instantly. The inconvenience was that the range was short. To attack, you had to crawl 20 meters. After the war, they made flamethrowers that could shoot at more than 200 meters.

Upon graduation, I was given the rank of corporal and sent to the front. There he soon received a junior sergeant, and then a sergeant. He commanded a flamethrower unit on the 1st, 2nd Baltic and 3rd Belorussian fronts. I had to fight as part of assault groups. The task was to destroy the enemy’s equipment and manpower and clear the way for the infantry. All artillery and engineering groups walked behind. The attack always began with artillery barrage - they were supposed to bombard us, but sometimes they also hit us. Well, communication back then was not like it is now, when you can reach any corner.

I had ten people under my command. This is how we went on missions: we chose the worst weather. Slush, rain, snow, fog, night - that’s our job. We were as dirty as pigs. Any obstacle can be overcome as quickly as possible - crawl as close as possible. It’s very difficult with a person. I was experienced in this regard. Always knew his subordinates. And now I remember everyone’s names – Vanya, Kolya, Fedya. Three of us went on missions, it was no longer possible. They killed us like I don’t know who... So I take three of them and instruct: “If it’s just a rocket and you raised your hand like that, don’t take it away, just keep it there. Raise your head, don’t nod.” There, if you did something wrong, that’s it, you’ll be killed.

Well, what do I remember? This is my first operation. It was just our offensive in Belarus. The Germans began to retreat, but we deliberately did not cross their path. He told his friends: “Lie down and don’t move.” And we settled down in the bush. At first they sent reconnaissance past us. We walked further, closer - we don’t touch them. Then the equipment arrived and they began to remove ammunition. And this is more important to us. When the cars started moving, I aimed at the center, swiped a segment - the cars caught fire. And as soon as I managed to jump away, everything there exploded, but the craters remained - you can’t get through, you can’t get through.

Then here's another task of mine. It happened near the city of Proekul, in Latvia. I already had a lot of experience, but by that time I had lost 10 people (one remained). I asked for replenishment, they gave me young people. And young people - it’s worse than that. When a soldier is under fire, he at least thinks. During the offensive, they set up an ambush near the road. I see a passenger car like our Moskvich coming. My comrade (name was Tolya) and I jumped out from both sides, pointed guns, stopped the car. I open the door and look - there are officers there. He grabbed the first one by the chest and pulled him out. They didn’t resist because they simply weren’t expecting us, we did everything so smartly. After all, their reconnaissance had passed, the infantry had passed through, they were told by radio that everything was calm. We waited for this moment.

This means that I myself led someone like a general. When I grabbed him, in a sinful act, I tore off the order and the cross from him, I thought, I’ll be alive, even if I show it to people. I took him off the road, but he doesn’t go any further and says something in his own way. I don’t understand their language, but I have to walk 200 meters and still have no time to figure it out. How I slapped him! My nerves can't stand it. It's simple there. I hit him, he fell, I kicked him: “Come on!” Get up! I take him to the commander’s headquarters. The translator sat there and translated it: the sergeant of the flamethrower unit beat the general. And the commander still comes up to me, hugs me - “well done!”, he says.

In general, they respected me. He was the first from the battalion to receive the Order of Glory, then he was the first to receive a second award, and a third. They killed us often. No one surrendered to me as a prisoner. Everyone was afraid of this, but it didn’t happen. My task was according to instructions, a secret one: if I was surrounded, I had to kill myself (I had a pistol) - yes, this was my duty, like every flamethrower. The infantry did not have this. And I also had to open the flamethrower, release the fuel, scatter the cartridges, in general, destroy the weapon. And no one even thought about captivity, under any circumstances. Everyone knew their instructions and signed them upon joining the flamethrower troops. And the internal attitude was: I’d rather die, but I won’t give up.

In 1943 the Germans were still very stubborn. I don’t even know what helped us then. There were few weapons then; they appeared more in 1944. Here are our Katyushas, ​​but at first they weren’t there either. When I arrived, there weren’t enough machine guns. Once it even happened like this: I saw a dead soldier lying there, he was swollen, and the canvas belt was crushing his body. What should I do? But you need to take off your weapon. So, I pressed it with my boot, turned everything around, took off the disk and hung it on myself. So I armed myself. Where to go?

Outfit? Well, what’s there, the only thing is that they gave me boots. So I wore them all out. The overcoat was given to me at the beginning, and I wore it until the end of the war. In Eastern Europe, the weather was always almost the same: slush, endless mud. The cold couldn't have been more than minus ten. But you can still freeze. Wrap yourself up in whatever you have on. There was an incident, they said. Zhukov arrived, conducted a review, and the soldiers were all barefoot: some had a footcloth on their feet, some had their soles tied. He ordered the commander to be shot, and the soldiers were shod. Pests were everywhere. I knew one staff clerk, a foreman under the commander. He also boasted that he always had a lot of money. The division is being replenished - 25 thousand people, and when the fighting is over, there are not many people left. But the money came for everyone. The order was this: the soldier had to receive it or they would send it to their relatives. So the staff officers didn’t do this, but instead filled their own pockets full.

They ate, I don’t even know what. Well, I ate porridge once when I came back from my first assignment. Before assignments, it sometimes happened: the elder calls and says: “Who are you taking with you?” Then they take us into a room, and there on the table there is sausage, alcohol - as much as you want. I take half a glass of alcohol, dilute it with water, drink it, and eat some sausage. And you can’t eat much of everything there. They say, take as much as you want with you, otherwise you might get stuck somewhere during a mission, who will feed you there. How much can you take? Half a ring of sausage will fit into my pocket - I don’t take it anymore. When you come another time, there is no kitchen. What to eat? Everyone was starving more and more. Well, it was a difficult time, there was a lot missing. If only to end the war, the main thing was...

Newspapers? Radio? Oh, maybe they only show this in some movies. There was nothing like that. In general, I have not seen a single film that would show how everything really happened. I don’t know what they are hiding...

And when we went to Europe, nothing changed much. First, we were transferred to another front - we covered 95 kilometers in 24 hours. Once we stopped for a rest. And they carried all the equipment on themselves - a flamethrower on their backs, and they also took an additional machine gun. Then we walked across Poland. We had this order in our relations with the Poles. We knew that they were harmful (we were warned). They were unfriendly and looked at us as if we were an enemy. If one of them did anything, I had the right to kill him right away, immediately. And this was practiced. And so, when this began, the Poles became smart and began to respect us. In Latvia and Lithuania they also did the same thing against the Poles. We were also instructed “not to talk” and that’s all.

There we also had the right to go into the store and buy something. Well, you go in: they treated us there not very attentively, not well. And then, one of ours disappeared there. They killed him, they didn’t even find his body. Then they started walking around in threes and with machine guns. One remains at the door, two enter the store. One is shopping, the other is on guard. Immediately the attitude changed: they ran to serve us, and the attacks stopped.

There was no such attitude in Ukraine, only in Western Ukraine. And the Belarusians received us very well. We shared everything with the local partisans...

What can be said about the reasons for our failures and victories? Our people are resilient. It was scary there: under fire all the time. You need a dog's endurance and fighting spirit. Our soldier is more stubborn, more persistent. He will lie there until he is crushed. More weapons. We had a good one, but if from the very beginning of the war there had been as much of it as there was in 1944, they would not have gotten anywhere. But if the commander is cowardly, panic results. If he doesn’t set an example, the soldier won’t go anywhere. Basically, of course, everything depends on the commander. However, not from everyone. Well, I saw the battalion commander once, but I don’t know what to call him. I only found out the company commander when the war ended, and I won’t tell you that – the soldiers almost killed him. He disappeared and was never seen again. They were hiding, you know. Everything rested with the squad leader and platoon commander...

One incident became an example of personal heroism for me. I once saw Marshal Ivan Khristoforovich Bagramyan inspecting the positions. He walked at a strolling pace, waving his cane. And suddenly their guns fired a volley, the shells exploded very close. So all the commanders around fell into the grooves. And he moves on calmly. So they all felt ashamed. Here's how. I then wrote him a letter expressing personal respect...

Why did they retreat in the first year of the war? There was betrayal. Even in forty-three. I was just near Moscow, recovering from an injury. There was a military plant nearby - it was blown up. Yes, they fooled around so that one shift worked, the second took over, and the third was also at the plant, since it was necessary to increase production. All three shifts were blown up - it was the spies who were working!

How was life after the war? In 1945 I was admitted to a hospital in Pskov. It was such a broken building, half of it was just ruins. After he was sent to Moscow to a collection point for those who had recovered. Here they trained, were given the rank of lieutenant and were taken to Krasnoyarsk, where new units were formed. He served here in the city of Nazarov until 1955. It was like an ordinary combat company, only almost only front-line soldiers served there. And we all wondered why they were keeping us for so long. Then I found out, they told me in confidence that they were preparing for an attack on Alaska and they needed experienced, trained people. They have already invented weapons for preliminary shelling, such that they can hit Alaska directly from our Chukotka. And there were many small parts like ours scattered around. So, if you pulled them together, the force would be great!

I served in this special company for a year, only then they let me go home on leave. Where should we go? At home, the whole village fell apart, and my male friends did not return. What to do? I went to the city where my brother lived. There I met a kindergarten nurse. The next day he proposed, and a day later we signed (I, as a front-line soldier, was signed at the registry office without a 15-day period on the day of submitting documents). The next day I went back to get settled. In the unit they gave me an apartment. Then my wife arrived and brought her mother-in-law with her.

It was only in 1955 that I was allowed to demobilize. We moved to Novosibirsk: my wife’s brother lived here and had been calling him for a long time. He got a job at the Turbogenerator Plant. He worked under the supervision of A. A. Nezhevenko. There was such a case once: they were making equipment for China and India. And so one generator had to be installed on four-meter pins. To secure them, I had to drill holes on top. But as? You can't lift the machine up there. So, when there were a day left before the project was due, the director came to me: no one knew what to do. This is where a small Austrian machine, which I once picked up from a landfill and repaired, came in handy. After that, the director is nowhere without me. And when he went to work at the Institute of Nuclear Physics, he invited me to join him. He needed me here. This was in 1961. I got a job as a waste-coordinator. We made parts for rockets. And six months later Nezhevenko died. Of the workers, I was the only one invited to the funeral.

The director of the institute was Academician Budker, and we also had a good relationship with him. He was easy to communicate with and often visited production sites. There was a case, I remember this: he personally brought me a task, drawings in an envelope, even the shop manager didn’t know about them. The same device was ordered from the Leningrad plant. Then it turned out that I did better than them. A month later, when I had even forgotten about this task, they brought me a sealed envelope. I opened it during the break, and there were 500 rubles. I got scared and secretly went to ask the director what it was, maybe some kind of provocation. And he told me that the bonus was for an important task. And this also happened. Budker comes up and asks: “Kolya, when did you rest? “You’ll go tomorrow.” Then, as soon as I write a request for leave, I know that they will let me go.

I am not a party member myself. I didn’t want to join the party because I saw how they violate everything and steal. This is not for me. And all the time they called me to the party, dragged me...

Now I head the Veterans Council at the plant. He always organized celebrations on the occasion of Victory Day. Today there is almost no one to invite. I always negotiated with our canteen. Four managers have changed, and I’m still working here...

Recorded by Daria Sheremeteva