The World's Largest Flamethrower?
This is the M2 Flamethrower.
It was used by The US Marine Corps in WW2 to devastating effect. Ideal for taking out fortified positions such as bunkers or trenches.
And this is the M9-7 FlameThrower, used later by the US again in vietnam.
However, these two are children’s toys in comparison to a little known British Invention that dates all the way back to 1915.
This is the Livens Large Gallery Flame Projector, it weighs 2.5 tons was 17m in length and took 300 men just to bring it to the front lines. The whole thing was concealed in a shallow tunnel. When in use the nozzle was pushed upwards through the earth by a pneumatic cylinder. When fired it had a range of 90m.
4 were deployed at the Battle of The Somme. 2 were rendered unusable before use due to German Shelling. However, 2 were used in action, significantly reducing British Casualties in their sectors. Furthermore, fifty German Soldiers immediately surrendered upon seeing the Liven’s Flame Projector in use. Which is lucky because the thing can only fire 3 times before it’s empty.
One more was deployed later in Belgium in 1917 but was found to be too cumbersome to realistically use in battle and to susceptible to damage from shelling. The project was therefore abandoned after this.
