Editing Napalm (section)

== Military use ==
=== World War II ===
[[File:Napalm Bombing of Brunei Bay, Borneo.jpg|thumb|Results of a 9 July 1945 napalm strike by a [[United States Army Air Forces|United States Army Air Force]] on a Japanese outpost off the coast of the island of [[Borneo]]]]
The first use of napalm in combat was in August 1943 during the [[Allied invasion of Sicily]], when American troops, using napalm-fueled [[flamethrower]]s, burned down a wheat field where German forces were believed to be hiding.<ref name=":1" /> Napalm incendiary bombs were first used the following year, although the exact date and battle are disputed.{{Efn|Claimed dates including a 15 February air raid on [[Pohnpei]],<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> a 6 March air raid on Berlin,<ref name="Berlin" /><ref name="bfbs">{{Cite web |date=2021-08-02 |title=What Is Napalm And Is It Still Used In Warfare? |url=https://www.forcesnews.com/technology/weapons-and-kit/what-napalm-and-it-still-used-warfare |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=BFBS Forces News}}</ref> and a 18 July air raid on [[Tinian]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=Henry I. Jr. |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofusmarin03usma |title=Central Pacific Drive |last2=Nalty |first2=Bernard C. |last3=Turnbladh |first3=Edwin T. |publisher=US Marine Corps |year=1966 |series=[[History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II]] |volume=3 |location=Washington D.C. |oclc=927428034 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>}}

Two-thirds of napalm bombs produced during WWII were used in the [[Pacific War]]. Napalm was often deployed against Japanese fortifications on [[Saipan]], [[Iwo Jima]], the [[Philippines]], and [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]], where deeply dug-in Japanese troops refused to surrender.<ref name="Berlin">{{Cite book |last1=Kebler |first1=Brooks E. |url=https://archive.org/details/chemicalwarfares00kleb |title=The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals in Combat |last2=Birdsell |first2=Dale |publisher=United States Army |year=1966 |editor-last=Conn |editor-first=Stetson |location=Washington D.C. |pages=159-163, 630-635 |lccn=66-60001 |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Following a shortage of conventional [[thermite]] bombs, General [[Curtis LeMay]], among other high-ranking servicemen, ordered [[air raids on Japan]] to start using napalm instead.<ref>
{{Cite book |last=De Chant |first=John A. |title=Devilbirds: The Story of United States Marine Corps Aviation in World War II |publisher=Harper & Brothers Publishers |year=1947 |location=New York |page=155 |oclc=698844424}}</ref> A 1946 report by the National Defense Research Council claims that 40,000 tons of [[M69 incendiary|M69]]s were dropped on Japan throughout the war,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bauer |first1=E.E. |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/AD0221598.pdf |title=Fire Warfare, Incendiaries and Flame Throwers |last2=Bogrow |first2=Alexander |last3=Engisch |first3=G.W. |last4=Haworth |first4=M.D. |last5=Hulse |first5=S.M. |last6=Keevil |first6=C.S. |last7=Knox |first7=W.T. |last8=McMillen |first8=E.L. |last9=Messing |first9=R.F. |publisher=National Defense Research Council |year=1946 |editor-last=Ewell |editor-first=Raymond H. |location=Washington D.C. |editor-last2=Newhall |editor-first2=Robert M. |last10=Mysels |first10=K.H. |last11=Reed |first11=C.E. |last12=Stanbury |first12=G.R.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Wellerstein |first=Alex |author-link=Alex Wellerstein |date=August 30, 2013 |title=Who Made That Firebomb? |url=http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2013/08/30/who-made-that-firebomb |access-date=September 12, 2020 |website=RESTRICTED DATA: The Nuclear Secrecy Blog}}</ref> damaging 64 cities and causing more deaths than the [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Doan-Nguyen |first=Ryan H. |date=2023-02-16 |title=Napalm, Birthed in Harvard's Basement |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2023/2/16/napalm-scrut/ |access-date=2024-11-25 |website=The Harvard Crimson}}</ref>

German fortifications and transportation hubs were targeted with napalm during both [[Operation Overlord]] and the [[Battle of the Bulge]], sometimes in conjunction with artillery.<ref name="Berlin" /> During the [[Allied siege of La Rochelle]], napalm was dropped on the outskirts of the [[Royan pocket]], inadvertently killing French civilians.<ref>{{cite book |author=Zinn |first=Howard |author-link=Howard Zinn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JGLkwCNI7sIC |title=The Zinn Reader: Writings on Disobedience and Democracy |publisher=Seven Stories Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-1-888363-54-8 |location=New York |pages=267–281 |chapter=The Bombing of Royan |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JGLkwCNI7sIC&pg=PA267 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

The [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF) used napalm to a limited extent in both the Pacific War and the European Theater.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=McCue |first1=Paul |author-link1=Paul McCue |title=SAS Operation Bulbasket: Behind the Lines in Occupied France, 1944 |last2=Baker |first2=Max |publisher=Pen and Sword Books |year=1990 |isbn=978-1-4738-1795-1 |location=Barnsley |pages=104}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=McKinstry |first=Leo |author-link=Leo McKinstry |url=https://archive.org/details/hurricanevictoro0000mcki/mode/2up |title=Hurricane: Victor of the Battle of Britain |date=2011 |publisher=John Murray |isbn=978-1-84854-341-6 |location=London |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>
=== Korean War ===
Napalm was widely used by the US during the [[Korean War]].<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Harden |first=Blaine |date=2017-10-02 |title=How One Man Helped Burn Down North Korea |url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/10/02/donald-nichols-book-north-korea-215665/ |access-date=2024-11-24 |website=POLITICO Magazine}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> The ground forces in [[North Korea]] holding defensive positions were often outnumbered by Chinese and North Koreans, but US [[United States Air Force|Air Force]] and [[United States Navy|Navy]] [[naval aviator|aviator]]s had control of the air over nearly all of the [[Korean Peninsula]]. Hence, the American and other UN aviators used napalm for [[close air support]] of the ground troops.<ref name=":2" /> Napalm was used most notably at the beginning of the [[Outpost Harry|Battle of Outpost Harry]].<ref>{{Cite interview |last=Burkhalter |first=Thomas H. |interviewer=Mark Van Ells |title=Transcript of an Oral History Interview with THOMAS H. BURKHALTER |url=https://wisvetsmuseum.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/BurkhalterThomas-_OH509.pdf |access-date=2024-11-26 |publisher=[[Wisconsin Veterans Museum]] |date=1996-02-22 |quote=Outpost Harry we got air support, a mixed blessing... God, they’d drop napalm from enormous heights over there.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Elphick |first=James |date=2019-01-28 |title=How the soldiers of Outpost Harry decimated an entire Chinese Division |url=https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/how-the-soldiers-of-outpost-harry-decimated-an-entire-chinese-division/ |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=We Are The Mighty}}</ref>

Eighth Army chemical officer Donald Bode reported that, on an "average good day", UN pilots used {{Convert|70000|USgal|l|abbr=off|sp=us|disp=output only}} (70,000 US gal; {{Convert|70000|USgal|impgal|disp=output only}}) of napalm, with approximately {{Convert|60000|USgal|l|abbr=off|sp=us|disp=output only}} (60,000 US gal; {{Convert|60000|USgal|impgal|disp=output only}}) of this thrown by US forces.<ref name=":1">{{cite book |last1=Neer |first1=Robert |url=https://archive.org/details/napalmamericanbi0000neer/mode/2up |title=Napalm: An American Biography |date=2013 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-07301-2 |location=Cambridge |pages= |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> The ''[[New York Herald Tribune]]'' hailed "Napalm, the No. 1 Weapon in Korea".<ref name=":3">{{cite book |last=Pembroke |first=Michael |title=Korea: Where the American Century Began |publisher=Hardie Grant Books |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-78607-473-7 |location=San Francisco |page=152}}</ref> [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|British Prime Minister]] [[Winston Churchill]] privately criticized the use of napalm in Korea, writing that it was "very cruel", as US/UN forces, he wrote, were "splashing it all over the civilian population", "tortur[ing] great masses of people". He conveyed these sentiments to U.S. [[Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff]] [[Omar Bradley]], who "never published the statement". Publicly, Churchill allowed Bradley "to issue a statement that confirmed U.K. support for U.S. napalm attacks".<ref name=":1" />
=== Vietnam War ===
[[File:US riverboat using napalm in Vietnam.jpg|thumb|A [[Monitor (Vietnam War)#Zippo Monitor|"Zippo"]] riverboat of the US [[Brown-water navy]] firing an ignited napalm mixture from a riverboat-mounted [[flamethrower]] in Vietnam]]
{{Expand section|date=November 2024}}
Napalm became an intrinsic element of US military action during the [[Vietnam War]] as forces made increasing use of it for its tactical and psychological effects.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://thevietnamwar.info/napalm-vietnam-war/|title=Napalm in Vietnam War|last=Rohn|first=Alan|website=The Vietnam War|date=18 January 2014 |language=en-US|access-date=28 October 2019}}</ref> Reportedly about {{Convert|388000|ST|t|abbr=off|disp=output only}} (388,000 short tons; {{Convert|388000|ST|LT|disp=output only}}) of US napalm bombs were dropped in the region between 1963 and 1973.<ref name=":1" /> The US Air Force and US Navy used napalm with great effect against all kinds of targets, such as troops, tanks, buildings, jungles, and even [[railroad tunnel]]s. The effect was not always purely physical as its destructive effects and ability to spread uncontrolled had psychological effects on Vietnamese forces and civilians as well.<ref>{{cite web|title=Liquid Fire – How Napalm Was Used in the Vietnam War|url=https://www.warhistoryonline.com/vietnam-war/history-napalm-vietnam-war.html/2|website=www.warhistoryonline.com|date=June 2016 |publisher=Nikola Budanovic|access-date=8 November 2017|ref=Napalm became a psychological weapon, as the enemy was terrified of the hell on earth caused by its use.}}</ref> 

=== Others ===
During the [[Greek Civil War]], after the capture of [[Mount Vitsi]] during [[Operation Pyrsos]], the [[Hellenic Air Force]] bombed [[Mount Grammos]]—a stronghold for the opposing [[Democratic Army of Greece]]—with US-supplied napalm.<ref>{{Cite book |last=House |first=Jonathan M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T5lxAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT70 |title=A Military History of the Cold War, 1944–1962 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-8061-4690-4 |page=70 |language=en |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Featherstone |first1=Kevin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UCKBDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA211 |title=The Last Ottomans: The Muslim Minority of Greece, 1940–49 |last2=Papadimitriou |first2=Dimitris |last3=Mamarelis |first3=Argyris |last4=Niarchos |first4=Georgios |date=2011 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |isbn=978-0-230-29465-3 |page=211 |language=en |via=Google Books}}</ref>

The [[French Air Force]] regularly used napalm for close air support of ground operations in both the [[First Indochina War]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fall |first=Bernard B. |author-link=Bernard B. Fall |url=https://archive.org/details/StreetWithoutJoy |title=Street Without Joy |date=1961 |publisher=Stackpole Books |location=Harrisburg |pages=34–37, 197 |oclc=1020224769 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Grant |first=Rebecca |date=August 2004 |title=Dien Bien Phu |url=https://www.airandspaceforces.com/app/uploads/2004/08/0804_August2004.pdf |access-date=2024-11-27 |magazine=Air Force Magazine |pages=78–86 |volume=87 |issue=8}}</ref> and the [[Algerian War]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Stora |first=Benjamin |author-link=Benjamin Stora |date=October 2007 |title=Avoir 20 ans en Kabylie |trans-title=Being 20 years old in Kabylie |url=https://www.lhistoire.fr/avoir-20-ans-en-kabylie |access-date=2024-11-27 |magazine=L'Histoire |pages=28–29 |language=fr |issue=324}}</ref><ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Kellou |first=Dorothee M. |title=A Microhistory of the Forced Resettlement of the Algerian Muslim Population During the Algerian War of Independence (1954–1962): Mansourah, Kabylia |date=2012-04-18 |access-date=2024-11-27 |degree=MA |publisher=Georgetown University |url=https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/bitstream/handle/10822/557506/Kellou_georgetown_0076M_11824.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y}}</ref> At first, the canisters were simply pushed out the cargo doors of transport planes, such as the [[Amiot AAC.1]];<ref>{{Cite web |last=Forsgren |first=Jan |date=2022-02-07 |title=Cold War History: French Ju 52s |url=https://www.key.aero/article/cold-war-history-french-ju-52s |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=Key Aero}}</ref> later mostly [[Douglas A-26 Invader|B-26]] bombers were used.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

Peruvian forces employed napalm throughout the 1960s against both communist insurgents and the [[Matsés]] indigenous group; four prominent Matsés villages were bombed during the [[:es:Masacre_a_comunidades_matsés_de_1964_(Perú)|1964 Matsés massacres]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Colby |first1=Gerard |author-link1=Gerard Colby |url=https://archive.org/details/ConquestOfTheAmazon |title=Thy Will Be Done – The Conquest of the Amazon: Nelson Rockefeller and Evangelism in the Age of Oil |last2=Dennett |first2=Charlotte |date=1995 |publisher=HarperPerennial |isbn=978-0-06-016764-6 |location=New York |page=466, 491-493 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

From 1968–1978, [[Rhodesia]] produced a variant of napalm for use in the [[Rhodesian Bush War]],<ref name="Fireforce">{{Cite book |last= |first= |title=Fireforce Exposed: Rhodesian Security Forces and Their Role in Defending White Supremacy |publisher=The Anti-Apartheid Movement |year=1979 |isbn=978-0-900065-04-0 |location=London |pages=39–40}}</ref> nicknamed ''Frantan'' (short for "frangible tank").<ref>{{cite book |last=Petter-Bowyer |first=P.J.H |title=Winds of Destruction: the Autobiography of a Rhodesian Combat Pilot |publisher=30° South Publishers |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-9584890-3-4 |edition=2nd |location=Johannesburg}}</ref> Around the same time, its ally [[South Africa]] targeted guerrilla bases in [[Angola]] with napalm during the [[South African Border War]].<ref name="Nortje">{{cite book |last=Nortje |first=Piet |title=32 Battalion: The Inside Story of South Africa's Elite Fighting Unit |publisher=Zebra Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-86872-914-2 |location=New York |page=158}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Baines |first=Gary |year=2012 |title=Vietnam Analogies and Metaphors: The Cultural Codification of South Africa's Border War |journal=Safundi |volume=12 |issue=1–2 |pages=73–90 |doi=10.1080/17533171.2011.642591}}</ref>

In 2018, Turkey was accused of using napalm in [[Operation Olive Branch]] against Kurdish nationalist groups.<ref>{{cite web |last=Dettmer |first=Jamie |date=2018-01-28 |title=Kurds Accuse Turks of Dropping Napalm |url=https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/kurds-accuse-turks-dropping-napalm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925211954/https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/kurds-accuse-turks-dropping-napalm/ |archive-date=25 September 2020 |access-date=8 August 2020 |website=Voice of America}}</ref>