Editing Battle of Iwo Jima (section)

==Flamethrowers==
[[File:Flamethrower-iwo-jima-194502.jpg|thumb|left|upright|A flamethrower operator of E Company, [[2nd Battalion 9th Marines]], [[3rd Marine Division]], runs under fire on Iwo Jima.]]

The United States [[M2 flamethrower]] was heavily used in the Pacific. It features two tanks containing fuel and compressed gas respectively, which are combined and ignited to produce a stream of flaming liquid out of the tip.<ref>{{cite web |author=Division of Military History and Diplomacy, National Museum of American History |title=Flamethrower |publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]] |url=https://americanhistory.si.edu/militaryhistory/collection/object.asp?ID=246 |access-date=10 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628182414/http://americanhistory.si.edu/militaryhistory/collection/object.asp?ID=246 |archive-date=28 June 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>

These flamethrowers were used to kill Japanese holed into pillboxes, buildings and caves. A battalion would assign one flamethrower per platoon with one reserve flamethrower in each group. Flamethrower operators were usually in more danger than regular troops as the short range of their weapon required close combat, and the visibility of the flames on the battlefield made them a prominent target for snipers. Still, they were essential to breaking the dug-in enemy.

For better protection, flamethrowers were mounted on [[flame tank]]s, and one battalion commander called these the "best single weapon of the operation."<ref name="USAFlame" /> Prior to Saipan the Marine Corps had left flamethrowing tank development to the Army. They had placed an order with the Army for nine tanks per division. At [[Schofield Barracks]] in Hawaii, Colonel Unmacht's [[Classified information#Top Secret (TS)|top secret]] "Flame Thrower Group" located eight [[M4 Sherman|M4A3 Sherman]] medium tanks to convert for Operation Detachment. His Seabees, from the 117th CB, worked to combine the best features of three different flame units, the [[Ronson flamethrower|Ronson]], the Navy model I and the Navy Mk-1,{{sfn|Quinlan|1948|p=51}} which soon led to the far better CB-H2.{{sfn|Quinlan|1948|p=52}} The U.S. Army [[Chemical Corps]] variously identified these tanks as POA-CWS-H1,{{sfn|Unmacht|1948}} (Pacific Ocean Area-Chemical Warfare Section-Hawaii) CWS-POA-H2, CWS-POA-H1 H2, OR CWS-"75"-H1 H2 mechanized flamethrowers. U.S. Marine and U.S. Army observer documents from Iwo Jima refer to them as the CB-Mk-1 or CB-H1.<ref name=Chicago/> Marines on the lines simply called them the Mark I.<ref name="Chicago"/> The official USMC designation was "M4 A3R5".<ref name="Chicago"/> The Japanese referred to them as M1 tanks, and it is speculated that they did so because of a poor translation of "MH-1".<ref name="Chicago">{{citation |title=History Friday: Technological Surprise & the Defeat of the 193rd Tank Battalion at Kakuza Ridge |first=Trent |last=Telenko |date=30 August 2013 |work=Chicago Boyz Blog archive |url=https://chicagoboyz.net/archives/38455.html |access-date=22 August 2020 |archive-date=30 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030135734/https://chicagoboyz.net/archives/38455.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

On Iwo Jima the flame tanks all landed on D-day and went into action on D+2, sparingly at first. As the battle progressed, portable flame units wielded on foot sustained casualty rates up to 92%, leaving few troops trained to use the weapon. More and more calls came for the Mark-1 flame tanks, to the point that the Marines became dependent upon them and would hold up their assault until a flame tank was available.<ref name="USAFlame"/> Since each tank battalion had only four, they were pooled among units and would dispatch from their respective refueling locations as the battle progressed. Towards the end of the battle, 5th Marine tanks expended between {{cvt|5000|to|10,000|usgal|L}} of [[napalm]] per day.<ref name="USAFlame">{{harvnb|Kelber|Birdsell|1990|pp=558–583, 586}}</ref>