PzKpfw II (Flamm) flamethrower tank; note the three-barrel smoke grenade discharger on the rear of the track fender, source: Worldwarphotos.info with the permission of the operator, edited

A Tank for the Light Divisions

Within the numerous family of light Panzer II tanks, two variants emerged that differed considerably from their siblings. They entered history under the designations Ausf. D and Ausf. E (Ausf. = Ausführung = variant or version). Development of the Panzer II Ausf. D was carried out at MAN from the beginning of 1937, and the designers tailored it for the so-called light divisions. The army's primary requirement for the new tank was high speed, since the light divisions were intended to function as a kind of armoured cavalry. During 1938 the first prototype was produced, but the design continued to mature and change. In September 1938 the army placed an order for 85 of these fast tanks, and series production began in October.

The engineers at MAN did not stop there, however, and continued experimenting with different types of tracks. The best results were apparently achieved with tracks using lubricated pins and metal cleats (or spuds, as they are sometimes called). The innovation was approved by the army, and MAN began preparing to introduce it into series production. Although nothing had actually changed apart from the tracks, this apparently gave the army sufficient reason to assign the tank a new variant designation: Ausf. E.

The Army Changes Its Mind

Series production of the Ausf. D, however, was destined to be short-lived. Barely a quarter of a year after it began, the army had a fundamental change of heart. The new "fast" tank had evidently failed to meet expectations, and as early as January 1939 a decision was taken to terminate its production prematurely – though it was not quite as simple as that. The army no longer wanted any more complete Panzer II Ausf. D tanks (nor the planned Panzer II Ausf. E), but it remained very interested in their chassis, which it decided to repurpose for an entirely different role: the construction of flamethrower tanks.

PzKpfw II (Flamm) on the Eastern Front; the flamethrower turrets are fitted with protective fabric dust covers, source: Worldwarphotos.info with the permission of the operator, edited

The last series-production Panzer II Ausf. D tanks were completed in March or April 1939. Of the 85 ordered, only 43 were finished. From April 1939 onwards, the production lines turned out only bare chassis with armoured hulls but without fighting turrets or armament. The same applied to the chassis with the new track type that MAN had already prepared for the Panzer II Ausf. E. Between April and August 1939 the factory delivered a total of 46 bare chassis: 39 with the original tracks (corresponding to the Ausf. D) and 7 with the new tracks (corresponding to the planned Ausf. E). For the time being, however, these chassis most likely went into storage, where they waited as mere semi-finished components for their completion as flamethrower tanks.

The new flamethrower tank was to be armed, according to the army's requirements, with one machine gun in a rotating turret and two independently operated flamethrowers. Modification of the armoured hull and development of a completely new machine gun turret was ordered from Wegmann & Co. of Kassel (though some sources state that the vehicle's design was drawn up by Daimler-Benz, with Wegmann & Co. serving only as manufacturer). The first verification prototype of the new Flammpanzer was ready in July 1939.

Construction Description

The chassis, taken from the Panzer II Ausf. D and Ausf. E, had four large road wheels on each side, sprung by torsion bars and fitted with rubber-tyred rims. The hull layout for the crew compartment and the engine deck remained essentially unchanged from the series-production Panzer II Ausf. D. The front wall of the crew compartment was formed by a single flat plate 30 mm thick, in which the vision ports for the driver and radio operator were set. The entry hatches for both men were positioned ahead of this wall on the nose of the hull. The frontal armour of the hull was also 30 mm thick. At the rear of the vehicle was the engine compartment, housing the Maybach HL 62 TRM six-cylinder petrol engine with a displacement of 6,191 litres, producing 140 horsepower at 2,600 rpm.

close-up view of one of the flamethrower turrets on the PzKpfw II (Flamm); the machine gun aperture and the vision ports in the turret are clearly visible, source: Flickr.com with the permission of the publishing user, edited

The engine was connected to a Maybach SRG 14 479 gearbox with seven forward speeds and one reverse (though some sources cite a different gearbox type). The vehicle weighed 11 or 12 tonnes depending on the source, and its maximum speed was 55 km/h. Typical cruising speed was around 40 km/h on road and between 15 and 20 km/h cross-country. The fuel tank held 200 litres of petrol, giving the Flammpanzer a range of approximately 250 km on road and 125 km cross-country (one might expect this figure to broadly match the original Panzer II Ausf. D, but the authors of the publications consulted here see it differently).

At the front of the fenders on each track were newly installed small rotating turrets housing the flamethrower nozzles. Each could traverse independently of the other through 180° (90° left and 90° right). The front ends of the fenders were modified so that dripping incendiary mixture could flow more easily to the ground. Behind these rotating turrets, cylindrical fuel tanks containing the incendiary compound were mounted on the fenders. The tanks were enclosed in steel boxes so that they were effectively invisible during normal operation. Each held 160 litres of the incendiary mixture known as Flammöl, sufficient for approximately 80 two-to-three-second flame bursts from each flamethrower.

Inside the fighting compartment, four pressurised cylinders of compressed nitrogen were stored, serving as the propellant to expel the incendiary mixture from the nozzles. Acetylene, stored in small pressurised cylinders immediately in front of the fuel tanks, was used to ignite the mixture and was itself ignited by an electric spark. A complete "reload" of the flamethrower tank – refilling the Flammöl, replacing the four nitrogen cylinders and two acetylene cylinders – took approximately 30 minutes.

PzKpfw II (Flamm); the steel box on the fender above the track, which housed the fuel tank for the incendiary mixture, is clearly visible, source: Flickr.com with the permission of the publishing user, edited

On the hull roof sat a very low fighting turret, developed specifically for this vehicle. In its front face was the aperture for a 7.92 mm MG 34 machine gun. On either side of the machine gun were observation ports fitted with heavy protective covers. Additional ports were set into the side and rear walls of the turret, and a square entry hatch with a single-piece lid was located on the turret roof. The frontal armour of the turret was 30 mm thick; the side and rear walls were 14.5 mm and the roof 10 mm.

The machine gun aperture allowed vertical traverse of the barrel from -10° to +20°. Aiming was carried out using a K.Z.F. 2 sight with 1.8× magnification and an 18° field of view. Machine gun ammunition stowage amounted to 1,800 rounds in 12 belts of 150 rounds each. As for communications equipment, standard flamethrower tanks were most likely fitted only with the Fu 2 radio receiver. Only platoon commanders' tanks appear to have had transmitting capability, being equipped with the Fu 5 radio set. Some tanks had three-barrel smoke grenade dischargers fitted at the rear of their fenders.

The new flamethrower tank received the official designation PzKpfw II (Flamm) and the ordnance inventory code Sd.Kfz. 122. The name Flammpanzer II is also in common use, and some sources record an unofficial wartime nickname – Flammingo, i.e. flamingo. The vehicle had a three-man crew consisting of a driver, a radio operator, and a commander. The commander operated the machine gun in the turret and the left flamethrower, while the radio operator was responsible for the right flamethrower.

a pair of PzKpfw II (Flamm) flamethrower tanks on the Eastern Front, source: Worldwarphotos.info with the permission of the operator, edited

Series Production

As mentioned above, the first prototype of the Flammpanzer II was built in July 1939. Series production at Wegmann & Co. did not begin until January 1940, however, when the first two examples were delivered. A further four followed in February, four in March, and ten in April. These first twenty series vehicles were returned by the army to MAN in April 1940 for additional modifications. What exactly the modifications involved is unfortunately not recorded in the literature.

In March 1940 – while series production was already underway – the army ordered that all existing PzKpfw II Ausf. D combat tanks (i.e. the 43 completed before April 1939) were to be withdrawn from combat units and likewise converted into Flammpanzers. From May to October 1940 a total of 86 PzKpfw II (Flamm) flamethrower tanks could therefore be delivered, including those returned in April for retrospective modification. A further three Flammpanzers were then delivered in February 1941. This exhausted all available chassis (46 + 43 = 89), so one might have expected production to have definitively ended – but that was not the case.

Resumed Production

In March 1941 the Waffenamt signed a contract with MAN for the production of chassis for a further 150 flamethrower tanks. MAN therefore had to restart its long-discontinued production of Ausf. D tank chassis. The newly manufactured chassis were not entirely identical to the originals, however. For some reason they received new drive sprockets with only eight spokes, and the idler wheels were also of a different pattern. To clearly distinguish them, the chassis from the resumed production run were designated Ausf. D2, while the originals produced in 1939 were retrospectively redesignated Ausf. D1.

a rare photograph of a PzKpfw II (Flamm) on the Ausf. E chassis, identifiable by the raised metal cleats on its tracks; only 7 vehicles with this chassis were built, source: Flickr.com with the permission of the publishing user, edited

Of the 150 Flammpanzers ordered in 1941, only 62 were ultimately built. Deliveries proceeded at a relatively slow pace from August 1941 through to March 1942. Production was cut short due to a change in army priorities. The fighting in the Soviet Union had demonstrated that the Wehrmacht needed not so much flamethrower tanks as vehicles capable of destroying the heavily armoured Russian tanks. A decision was therefore taken that the remaining Ausf. D2 chassis from the 150 ordered would not after all be used to build Flammpanzers, but instead to build Marder II tank destroyers. The 62 already completed flamethrower tanks were also to be withdrawn from storage and from combat units, returned to the factory, and likewise converted into Marder II destroyers.

So, adding it all up: a total of 151 Flammpanzer II flamethrower tanks were produced between 1940 and 1942 – 82 on the Ausf. D1 chassis, 7 on the Ausf. E chassis, and 62 on the Ausf. D2 chassis. The last-mentioned 62 were subsequently dismantled again, with their chassis used for the Marder II tank destroyers. If that was just about comprehensible so far, hold onto your hats. The flamethrower tanks on the Ausf. D1 and Ausf. E chassis were retrospectively designated PzKpfw II (Flamm) Ausf. A, while those on the newer Ausf. D2 chassis received the designation PzKpfw II (Flamm) Ausf. B. If you have kept track of all those Ausf. designations without getting lost, congratulations.

Organisation

The Flammpanzer II flamethrower tanks were organised into independent battalions. The first of these was formed at Wünsdorf in March 1940 under the name Panzerabteilung (F) 100. The second battalion was formed in May 1940 and designated Panzerabteilung (F) 101. A flamethrower tank battalion consisted of three companies (Kompanie). Each company was made up of four platoons (Zug): three flamethrower platoons and one tank platoon. Each flamethrower platoon had four Flammpanzers; the tank platoon had five standard PzKpfw II tanks. Adding the company and battalion headquarters, a flamethrower battalion had an established strength of 42 Flammpanzer IIs and 25 standard PzKpfw II tanks (plus other vehicles).

one of the few available photographs of a PzKpfw II (Flamm) in the Ausf. B version (i.e. on the Ausf. D2 chassis, identifiable by the lower number of spokes on the drive sprocket), source: Flickr.com with the permission of the publishing user, edited

Combat Tactics

The flamethrower tank was designed to destroy and flush out enemy personnel – primarily those sheltering in bunkers, fortified positions, or ordinary buildings. For effective engagement, the Flammpanzer II had to close to within approximately 30 metres of its target. During the approach it could at least in theory exploit its high speed. During the actual flamethrower firing, however, speed was of little advantage – on the contrary, at high speed it was very difficult to direct the stream of burning liquid accurately.

The tactical manual for crews stated that firing from a halt was most effective. A burst at zero elevation (nozzle pointing horizontally) would cover an area 10 to 20 metres long, and by rotating the turret it was possible to cover a width of around 50 metres without difficulty. One attack option was to first spray the target with unignited mixture, allow it a moment to seep into any gaps or openings, and then ignite everything with a second burst. Flammpanzers were to be constantly covered during an attack by the standard Panzer II tanks from their own battalion. A flamethrower battalion was not to be committed on its own, but as support for other formations, whether infantry or armoured.

Combat Deployment

Both battalions – Panzerabteilung (F) 100 and 101 – took part in the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. When deployed correctly, Flammpanzers could be a highly effective weapon. This is demonstrated by a report from the 101st Battalion dated 26 August 1941, when it was fighting as part of the 7th Panzer Division. Three companies of the battalion were tasked with clearing an area of approximately 2×2 kilometres on the edge of a forest where Russian infantrymen concealed among piles of felled logs and branches were holding up the German infantry's advance with their fire. The Russians had no weapons heavier than machine guns, so the flamethrower tanks drove through the area without any losses of their own, burning one pile after another. Estimated Russian losses at the conclusion of the action were 100 to 150 dead, more than 11 machine guns destroyed, one mortar, four vehicles, and possibly even one Russian tank.

three PzKpfw II (Flamm) during maintenance somewhere on the Eastern Front, source: Flickr.com, edited

A report from the 100th Battalion dated 20 October 1941 stated that it currently had only 7 serviceable PzKpfw II (Flamm) vehicles, with a further 21 under repair. The 101st Battalion reported an even worse situation on 8 November of the same year: just 5 serviceable Flammpanzers and 20 more under repair. Battalion 100 was withdrawn from the Eastern Front in November, and Battalion 101 followed a month later. Both battalions were subsequently reorganised as standard armoured units and incorporated into the Grossdeutschland division and the 24th Panzer Division respectively.

Technical Data

ARTICLE
CONTENTS:

A TANK FOR THE LIGHT DIVISIONS

THE ARMY CHANGES ITS MIND

CONSTRUCTION DESCRIPTION

SERIES PRODUCTION

RESUMED PRODUCTION

ORGANISATION

COMBAT TACTICS

COMBAT DEPLOYMENT

TECHNICAL DATA