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Flammenwerfer M.16

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The Flammenwerfer M.16 or Grossflammenwerfer (Grof) M.16 was the second version of the large flamethrower Grof M.12 designed by the German engineer Richard Fiedler and was used during the first World War by Austrian and German forces. After the first successes of the small flamethrower, the Kleinflammenwerfer M.15, by Verdun in 1915, the Germans decided to build a more effective flamethrower. So in early 1916, the first M.16 were developed and supplied to the front. Unlike his fixed predecessor the M.16 was usually operated by two men. The oil is forced out of a metal hose from the tank at a high pressure and then it is ignited by a hydrogen torch.
A smaller, lighter version of the Grof, the Kleinflammenwerfer (Kleif) M.16, was also designed for one man portable use. The Kleif was often used by German Pionier and Stosstrupp squads for rapid advances.

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Flammenwerfer M.16 captured by Russian soldiers.
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Kleinflammenwerfer (Kleif) M.16.

Specifications

  • Weight: 70 pounds
  • Range: 20 Yards

Film

Title Actor Character Note Date
The Lost Battalion German troops 2001
The Red Baron German soldier Kleif 2008

Video Games

Game Title Appears as Mods Notation Date
Battlefield: 1918 2004
NecroVisioN: Lost Company unusable 2010
Battle of Empires: 1914-1918 "Kleif" Kleinflammenwerfer M.16 2015


Wechselapparat M1917

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Wechselapparat Wex M1917 - flamethrower.

The Wechselapparat M1917, nicknamed Wex, was a lightweight modified version of the M.16. Since 1916, the German flamethrower troops upgraded increasingly to the so-called "Wex", a one-man flamethrower of the next generation with an eye-catching annular tank holding twelve liters of fire oil. In the middle of the ring sat a spherical compressed air tank, with its contents the M.16. could be used either in ten flame surges to a max of 30 meters range or fire three bursts up to 100 meters. The ignition of the flame jet was carried out automatically with a small gas flame.

Wechselapparat in German means "exchange apparatus," referring to how the nitrogen propellant gas in the spherical central tank is exchanged to the larger doughnut-shaped fuel tank, pumping out the fuel.

The Wex saw effective use in 1917/18 and was the basis for a number of flamethrowers including the Model 40 German flamethrower and the British No. 2 Portable Flamethrower in World War II. After the first World War the Germans were supposed to destroy all their flamethrowers but the most were used by German Freikorps. Some of the Wex were used in Finland in the 1920s.

In 1940, a small number of the updated lightweight Flammenwerfer 40 klein were produced and issued as a temporary measure to combat the shortcomings of the Flammenwerfer 35 in the form of weight and bulkiness. However, they were pretty quickly abandoned in favor of Flammenwerfer 41.



Film

Title Actor Character Notation Date
Wonder Woman Seen in a German trench 2017

Video Games

Game Title Appears as Mods Notation Date
The Great War 1918 2013
Battle of Empires: 1914-1918 "Wex" 2015
Verdun "Wechselapparat M1917 Wex" 2015
Battlefield 1 "Wex" 2016
Screaming Steel: 1914-1918 "Wechselapparat" 2018
Beyond The Wire "Wechselapparat" 2022

Anime

Game Title Character Note Release Date
Saga of Tanya the Evil Empire troops 2017