US Army Flamethrower & Light Mortar teams (Winter)

Description

Flamethrowers were used throughout the war, especially in the Pacific, to clear out tunnels and bunkers. During the Normandy landings the number of flamethrowers was increased to allow the men to open a gap in the fortified German lines. Mortars were the most commonly available type of support weapon. Normally they were deployed in a suitable rear position, no further than 100 yards from the observer in order to ‘cover the most dangerous approaches to the platoon area’. The standard light mortar was of relatively large calibre at 60mm. It fired a correspondingly larger and more effective shell over a greater range than the smaller mortars used by the Germans and British. The only problem was the weight (19kg) that meant a larger team was needed to move it.