page_title: Petroleum Warfare Department
section_title: Valentine
hierarchical_section_title: Petroleum Warfare Department / Vehicle mounted flamethrowers / Valentine
caption_attribution_description: TANKS AND ARMOURED FIGHTING VEHICLES OF THE BRITISH ARMY 1939-45: Valentine flamethrower (gas-operated equipment).
context_page_description: The Petroleum Warfare Department was an organisation established in Britain in 1940 in response to the invasion crisis during World War II, when it appeared that Germany would invade the country. The department was initially tasked with developing the uses of petroleum as a weapon of war and it oversaw the introduction of a wide range of flame warfare weapons. Later in the war, the department was instrumental in the creation of the Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation that cleared runways of fog allowing the landing of aircraft returning from bombing raids over Germany in poor visibility; and Operation Pluto which installed prefabricated fuel pipelines between England and France soon after the Allied Invasion of Normandy in June 1944.
context_section_description: George John Rackham, an ex-Tank Corps officer and tank designer who was a bus designer at Associated Equipment Company (AEC), developed a flamethrower that became known as the Heavy Pump Unit. One version consisted of a Worthington Simpson Pump driven by a Rolls-Royce Kestrel engine and another used a Mather and Platt pump powered by a Napier Lion engine. Projecting liquid at 750 imperial gallons (3,400 l) per minute, it produced an awe-inspiring jet of flame. The Heavy Pump Unit was mounted on an AEC 6×6 chassis and there was also a small projector on a two-wheeled carriage that could be towed and then manhandled by the crew as far as the hose would stretch. A demonstration of the Heavy Pump Unit on the lawns around Leeds Castle in Kent were witnessed by the Secretary of State for War, Lord Margesson. Shortly afterwards General Alec Richardson, Director of Armoured Fighting Vehicles and the War Office, saw a similar demonstration and the PWD were soon asked for a similar weapon mounted on a tank.
  Work began on two prototypes based on the Valentine tank, both had fuel stored in a trailer but each employed a different system for generating the gas pressure required for the flame projector. One system produced by the Ministry of Supply (MoS) used gas from slow burning cordite charges that produced a pressure of 260 psi (1,800 kPa) and achieved a range of 80 yards (73 m). This system had a projector mounted in a small sub-turret that allowed the projector to be aimed. The other prototype, produced by PWD used compressed hydrogen to supply 300 psi (2,100 kPa) of pressure giving a range of 85 yards (78 m). This version seems to have been relatively crude, requiring the entire vehicle to moved to aim the projector. Even so, the PWD system won out in a competitive trial. Its main advantage was that gas pressure was maintained allowing, if required, continuous discharge; whereas, the MoS prototype had to wait between bursts while the cordite built up more gas pressure. The two development teams merged under PWD.
caption: Valentine flamethrower (gas-operated equipment)
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