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The first use of napalm in combat was in August 1943 during the Allied invasion of Sicily, when American troops, using napalm-fueled flamethrowers, burned down a wheat field where German forces were believed to be hiding. [10] Napalm incendiary bombs were first used the following year, although the exact date and battle are disputed. [a]
The bomblet used napalm as an incendiary filler, improving on earlier designs which used thermite or magnesium fillers that burned more intensely, but were less energy- and weight-efficient, and were easier to extinguish. [4] In Germany they were filled with jellied oil and dropped in clusters of 36 in the non-aerodynamic M19 bomb. [5]
These weapons were dropped from B-29s in clusters, and used napalm as their incendiary filler. After the bomb struck the ground, a fuse ignited a charge which first sprayed napalm from the weapon, and then ignited it. [22] Prior to March 1945, stockpiles of incendiary bombs were built up in the Mariana Islands.
The bombs were mostly the 500-pound (230 kg) E-46 cluster bomb which released 38 napalm-carrying M-69 incendiary bomblets at an altitude of 2,000–2,500 ft (610–760 m). The M-69s punched through thin roofing material or landed on the ground; in either case they ignited 3–5 seconds later, throwing out a jet of flaming napalm globs.
The most successful bomb to come out of the May–September 1943 tests against the mock-up Japanese homes was the napalm-filled M-69 Incendiary cluster bomb. Contenders had been the M-47 (containing coconut oil, rubber, and gasoline) and the M-50 (a blend of magnesium and powdered aluminum and iron oxide).
Reportedly about 388,000 tons of US napalm bombs were dropped in the region between 1963 and 1973, compared to 32,357 tons used over three years in the Korean War, and 16,500 tons dropped on Japan in 1945. [17] [18] Incendiary bombs used in the late 20th century sometimes contained thermite, made from aluminium and ferric oxide. It takes very ...
Napalm, used by the Americans for flamethrowers and incendiary bombs, was increased in production from 500,000 lb (230,000 kg) in 1943 to 8 million lb (3.6 kt) in 1944. Much of the napalm went from nine US factories to bomb-assembly plants making the M-69 incendiary and packing 38 of them into the E-46 cluster bomb; these were shipped across ...
With the invention of Napalm and its significantly improved flamethrowing distance, two to three times as far as the M1's, the flamethrower M1 platform needed to be adjusted to meet the higher operating pressure necessary to maximize the projection of napalm. The resulting M1A1 allowed for fire at pillboxes fifty yards away with 50% of its ...