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Portable Flame Thrower M2-2 — Background and Themes

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In Category - Electrical Technology

Authors: United States. War Department Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2016 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: United States. Army -- Equipment -- Handbooks, manuals, etc.; Flame throwers -- Handbooks, manuals, etc. Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 30,338

Reading time 132 min

Text sections 8

The source record for Portable Flame Thrower M2-2 — Background and Themes measures this digital text at 30,338 words, 2 hr 12 min estimated reading time, and 8 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 14.3 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “United States. Army -- Equipment -- Handbooks, manuals, etc.,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #53669

A technical manual for the M2-2 portable flame thrower, detailing its components, operation, maintenance, and lubrication, with precise instructions and diagrams.

Editorial Edition Score 4.7/5

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Edition quality

File: pg53669

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The spelling, hyphenation and punctuation is as the original, with the exception of apparent typographical errors.

Italic text is denoted as _underscore_. Bold text is denoted as =equals sign=. Underlined text is also denoted as _underscore_, Generally used at beginning of paragraphs.

_War Department Technical Manual_ _TM 3-376A_

PORTABLE FLAME THROWER M2-2

DISSEMINATION OF RESTRICTED MATTER. The information contained in restricted documents and the essential characteristics of restricted material may be given to any person known to be in the service of the United States and to persons of undoubted loyalty and discretion who are cooperating in Government work, but will not be communicated to the public or to the press except by authorized military public relations agencies. (See also par. 18b, AR 380-5, 28 Sep 1942.)

_War Department - 16 May 1944_

WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, 25, D. C. 16 May 1944

TM 3-376A, Portable Flame Thrower M2-2 is published for the information and guidance of all concerned.

[A. G. 300.7 (21 March 44)]

By order of the Secretary of War:

G. C. MARSHALL, _Chief of Staff_.

Official: J. A. ULIO, _Major General_, _The Adjutant General_.

R & H (5); Bn 2, 7, 17 (2); C & H 3 (5); IC & H 5 (5); C 2, 7, 17 (2); X. ID: T/O & E 72T, Light Div; 17, Armd Div; IR: T/O 5-192, Hq & Hq Co, Engr Comb Gr; 5-171, Engr Comb Regt; IBn: T/O 5-15, Engr Comb Bn; 5-35, Engr Bn Sep; 5-175, Engr Bn, Comb Regt; 5-215, Armd Engr Bn; 5-475T, Engr Bn, Light Div; IC: T/O 5-16, Hq & Hq & Sv Co, Engr Combat Bn; 5-17, Engr Comb Co; 5-192, Hq & Hq Co, Engr Comb Gr; 5-36, Hq & Hq & Sv Co, Engr Bn (Sep); 5-37, Co, Engr Bn (Sep); 5-176, Hq & Hq Det, Engr Bn, Engr Comb Regt; 5-216, Hq & Hq Co, Armd Engr Bn; 5-217, Co, Armd Engr Bn; 5-476T, Hq & Hq Co, Engr Bn, Light Div; 5477-T, Co, Engr Bn, Light Div.

(For explanation of symbols see Par 26, FM 21-6)

PORTABLE FLAME THROWER M2-2

WAR DEPARTMENT WASHINGTON, 25, D. C., 16 May 1945

TM 3-376A, 16 May 1944, is changed as follows:

=10. ITEMS WITH EACH FLAME THROWER.=

_b. Kit, spare parts, for portable flame thrower M2-2, assembly B81-6-=190=._

_g._ (Added). Army Service Forces Catalog CW 7-440114, Organizational Spare Parts and Equipment: 1st and 2d Echelons: for Flame Thrower, Portable, M2-2.

Fig. 8. Contents of tool kit:

B. 1 Wrench, hex, * * * set screws, H22-49-12.

=2 Wrench, hex, 5/32-inch across flats for 5/16-inch socket-head set screws, H22-49-140.=

Fig 9. Contents of spare parts kit:

F. (Added). 3 Tubes, deflector, A81-1-501. (See fig. 39.)

G. (Added). 3 Locknuts, pipe, hex, 1/8-inch, H98-5-382 (for use with deflector tube). (See fig. 39.)

H. (Added). 1 Support, diaphragm, A81-1-428. (See fig. 47.)

_m._ (Added). New gun may be received with valve spring removed from barrel and valve assembly. Spring comes tied to barrel. This is done to prevent strain on valve diaphragm assembly caused by pressure of spring in gun during storage and shipment. When weapon is being prepared for operation, spring must be untied from barrel and installed in gun, as described in paragraph 75.

_n._ (Added). Pressure regulator may be shipped at zero adjustment to prevent possibility of strain on diaphragm during shipment and storage. A regulator shipped in this condition has a tag (tied to the tank coupling) stating that the regulator is not set. When weapon is received in this condition, it must be adjusted as described in paragraph 67 before it can be operated.

=*These changes supersede TB 3-376A-1, 19 October 1944.=

_b. Use of water in training._ Water may be used (instead of fuel) for elementary practice firing. Ignition cylinders are * * * piece, and lubricated (Par. 49). =Use of water, however, should always be supplemented by firing ignited fuel because water does not give a correct impression of stream and flame characteristics.=

=17. CONNECTING TANK GROUP AND GUN GROUP.=

_a._ Place the new * * * to 2 minutes. =Slight pressure sometimes builds up in the fuel tanks, even though the pressure-tank valve has not been opened, and causes some overflow of fuel when the coupling plug is removed. This pressure may be relieved by—=

=(1) Standing the tank group upright.=

=(2) Slightly opening filling plug on top of fuel tanks to bleed the pressure.=

=(3) Closing the opening at filling plug and tightening it with wrench.=

=18. LOADING WITH IGNITION CYLINDER.=

_b. Precautions._ Care must be * * * front of gun. =Do not ignite the ignition cartridge until the weapon is to be fired at the target.=

When the firer * * * mission, he should:

_a._ =First=, remove and discard the ignition cylinder, =as the ignition cylinder should never be present when blowing out fuel or after blowing out fuel except when preparing for a new mission. To remove cylinder, proceed= as follows:

Continue Reading →

The manual opens with a restricted classification notice and a distribution list dense with military abbreviations, immediately situating the reader within a wartime logistical framework. The text is organized into numbered sections and paragraphs, each addressing a specific aspect of the weapon system—from the contents of the spare parts kit to the lubrication order that must remain with the equipment at all times. The language is imperative and exact: “Open and close pressure-tank valve to test for ease of operation.” This is not a narrative but a set of commands and specifications, where every threaded fitting and hex wrench is cataloged by part number.

Structure as Instruction

The manual’s structure mirrors its purpose: to guide a soldier through the weapon’s care. Sections proceed from general description to step-by-step procedures, with cross-references to figures and other paragraphs. For example, the lubrication section (XIII) refers to War Department Lubrication Order No. 4001, which is to be fastened inside the packing chest. The text does not explain why lubrication is needed; it simply states the intervals and methods. This assumes a reader who already understands the weapon’s role. The structure itself enforces compliance: the order of sections—before-operation service, during-operation, after-operation—creates a temporal routine that the operator is expected to internalize.

Recurring Images of Precision

Throughout the manual, the reader encounters a world of exact measurements and standardized parts. The spare parts kit includes “3 Tubes, deflector, A81-1-501” and “1 Support, diaphragm, A81-1-428.” The lubrication order specifies grease types by temperature: No. 1 above +32°F, No. 0 below. Even the cotton cord is described as “No. 4 hard braided, mildewproof, O.D., (1/8-inch diameter by 25-feet skeins).” These details create a visual texture of industrial uniformity. The flame thrower is not a singular object but an assembly of interchangeable components, each with a designated code. The manual’s language reduces the weapon to a set of parts to be maintained, not a tool of destruction.

Movement Between Scenes: From Workshop to Field

The manual shifts between two implied settings: the maintenance area and the field of operation. In the workshop, the operator cleans parts with “gasoline, dry cleaning solvent, or other solvent” and applies grease. In the field, the same operator must perform “before, during, and after operation services.” The text bridges these scenes through conditional statements: “If the tank group has been immersed in water for several hours, the flexible shaft of the pressure valve may have lost its lubricant.” This movement is not geographical but procedural—the manual anticipates environments where the weapon might be submerged, frozen, or subjected to strain. The reader is trained to move mentally from the packing chest to the muddy foxhole.

The Weapon as a System of Records

Beyond hardware, the manual emphasizes documentation. A “record of firing (Par 2) should be kept with each flame thrower” to track when six missions have been fired. The lubrication order itself is a document that “supersedes all conflicting lubrication Instructions dated prior to 5 MAY 1944.” The weapon is embedded in a paper trail: catalogs, technical manuals, and Army Service Forces lists. This bureaucratic layer is as integral as the fuel tanks. The manual instructs the operator to requisition replacements through the “Office of the Chief, Chemical Warfare Service.” The flame thrower is thus not only a physical device but also a node in a supply chain, its maintenance governed by regulations that extend beyond the battlefield.

Readers approaching this manual should attend to its silences: it never describes the weapon’s effect on targets, only its mechanical function. The language of parts and procedures creates a clinical distance. To understand the manual fully, one must read it as a document of its time—a wartime artifact that treats a flame thrower as a piece of equipment to be serviced, not feared. The precision of its instructions reveals the military’s effort to standardize even the most terrifying tools of war.

I keep thinking about that strange manual—the way it treated fire as a mere mechanism, all oiling and valves. It made me wonder about the people who made such tools, their quieter lives. I stumbled on Eminent literary and scientific men of Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Vol. 2 (of 3) — Edition Insights and felt the same hush—how we rarely see the hands behind the work.