This also brought adoption of a new, streamlined flamethrowing system to replace the aging FmW 35 series in the 'Flammenwerfer 41'.
In 1941, the Germans opened the second front to the east, the 'Eastern Front', by invading the Soviet Union in June. Comparatively, flamethrowers were one of the ultimate psychological tools of war - if one could get within range of the enemy that is. Additionally, the system, as a whole and fully filled, weighed close to 80lbs and this on the back of a sole operator - making for one cumbersome weapon. While effective in testing and early war usage, the German Army soon learned that the unforgiving Soviet winter played havoc on their many well-engineered weapons including the FmW 35 series - ignition becoming the primary problem. Both were combined at the projector and ignited via a hydrogen based system. One tank held the fuel whilst the other held the required propellant.
The FmW 35 series incorporated a twin-tank backpack configuration with a line running to the hand-held projector. The type was a single-user evolution of the three-man, team-based system of World War 1 to which the German Army debuted against the French in 1914. All major powers of World War 2 fielded some sort of man-portable flamethrower (or 'flame projector') during the conflict - the Germans developing and adopting the 'Flammenwerfer 35' of 1935.
