USMC011
King & Country
The ‘M2 Flamethrower’ was the U.S. made, man-portable backpack flamethrower used in WW2. Although its ‘burn-time’ was just 7 seconds and its range a mere 20-40 yards it was a very useful weapon... especially in close-quarter battle situations such as the ‘island-hopping’ campaign in the Pacific during WW2.
The Marines used it extensively against pill-boxes, bunkers and trenches defended by determined, die-hard Japanese.
The Battle of TARAWA was fought between 20-23 November 1943 and was part of the U.S. invasion of the Gilbert Islands in the central Pacific region. Although not the first time U.S. forces had met the Japanese in battle it was the first time they had faced serious opposition to an amphibious landing. On the tiny Tarawa Atoll more than 4,500 Japanese defenders were well-supplied and expertly dug-in and fought virtually to the last man. Opposing them were the men of the 2nd Marine Division, U.S.M.C., some of America’s toughest and best fighting forces.
Of approximately 12,000 Marines who assaulted Tarawa 3,146 became casualties with almost 1,000 killed and over 2,000 wounded. That was the deadly toll of just 76 hours of bloody, brutal, non-stop combat.