Napalm, Agent Orange - The Vietnam War The Vietnam War U.S. riverboat firing napalm into forest Napalm U.S. troops used a substance known as napalm from about 1965 to 1972 in the Vietnam War; napalm is a mixture of plastic polystyrene, hydrocarbon benzene, and gasoline. This mixture creates a jelly-like substance that, when ignited, sticks to practically anything and burns up to ten minutes. The effects of napalm on the human body are unbearably painful and almost always cause death among its victims. “Napalm is the most terrible pain you can ever imagine” said Kim Phúc, a survivor from a napalm bombing. “Water boils at 212°F. Napalm generates temperatures 1,500°F to 2,200°F.” Kim Phúc sustained third degree burns to portions of her body. She was one of the only survivors of such extreme measures Napalm was first used in flamethrowers for U.S. ground troops; they burned down sections of forest and bushes in hopes of eliminating any enemy guerrilla fighters.

Later on in the war B-52 Bombers began dropping napalm bombs and other incendiary explosives. Air raids that used napalm were much more devastating than flamethrowers; a single bomb was capable of destroying areas up to 2,500 square yards. Throughout the duration of the war, 1965 – 1973, eight million tons of bombs were dropped over Vietnam; this was more than three times the amount used in WWII. Agent Orange Agent Orange is a toxic chemical herbicide that was used from about 1965 – 1970 in the Vietnam War. It was one of the main mixtures used during Operation Ranch Hand. Operation Ranch Hand was intended to deprive Vietnamese farmers and guerilla fighters of clean food and water in hopes they would relocate to areas more heavily controlled by the U.S. By the end of the operation over twenty million gallons of herbicides and defoliants were sprayed over forests and fields. Agent Orange is fifty times more concentrated than normal agricultural herbicides; this extreme intensity completely destroyed all plants in the area. Agent Orange not only had devastating effects on agriculture but also on people and animals.

The Vietnam Red Cross recorded over 4.8 million deaths and 400,000 children born with birth defects due to exposure to Agent Orange. Agent Orange was later determined to be in violation of the Geneva Contract. U.S. troops gradually stopped using Agent Orange and any other harmful herbicides. Napalm in Vietnam War - The Vietnam War The Vietnam War Leave a comment Last Updated on March 9, 2014 Don't Miss Stories Follow the Vietnam War Support Us Donate Development & Early Use During the World War I, gasoline was used in combat flamethrowers. However, the essential problem with gasoline was that it burned out too quickly to be effective. To increase its effectiveness, the US Chemical Warfare used latex from rubber trees to jell gasoline. With natural rubber, the mixed gasoline now could shot further, stuck to the target better, and burned longer. Nonetheless, when the US entered the war in Pacific, natural rubber was in shortage. From 1942 to 1943, a team of chemists led by Louis Fieser at Harvard University developed successfully a replacement which later known as Napalm.

Napalm was formulated by mixing naphthenic and palmitic acids with gasoline. It was first employed in incendiary bombs and later for flamethrowers. On March 6 1944, the first napalm bomb was dropped on Berlin by an US aircraft. Later, napalm began to be used widely and proved its highly effectiveness. In the Pacific Theater of the World War II, napalm was one of the tactical weapons against deeply dug-in Japanese troops. On the night of March 9 1945, 330 American bombers headed for Tokyo and dropped 690,000 pound of napalm within an hour. Tokyo was bathed in firestorm. In that one night, napalm probably killed over 100,000 men and almost destroyed Japanese’s will of fighting. In Korean War, napalm was described as “the most outstanding weapon” andthat without it North Korea and their Chinese allies would have conquered South Korea. Napalm in Vietnam Napalm, which was considered as one of the most successful weapons, was quickly employed in the Vietnam War in 1963.

388,000 tons of napalm was dropped in Vietnam during 1963 -1973 period – more than ten times the amount of napalm used in Korea. At the beginning, napalm was used in flamethrowers for U.S. and ARVN ground forces and soon became an effective weapon in clearing bunkers. Even if the flame could not penetrate into the entire bunker, it still consumed all the oxygen and suffocated those inside. Flamethrowers were also used to destroy enemy’s villages. Later on, U.S. bombers began to drop napalm bombs. The explosion of napalm bombs caused a lot more devastation than flamethrower’s. A 2,500-square-yard area could be engulfed in flame by a single bomb. However, dropping napalm from high-speed aircraft was not so accurate. This resulted in a large number of innocent civilians suffering serious harm. The wound caused by napalm is too deep to heal. When contacting human, napalm immediately clung to the skin and melt off the flesh. The only way to put it out is to smother it as trying to wipe it off only spread it around and expanding the burnt area.

Napalm gradually became a symbol of the brutality of the Vietnam War. Effects on American Public Unlike many wars before when the brutality of napalm was censored by the government, in Vietnam, it was exposed massively by the media. Thousands of pictures and videos about napalm’s devastation were reported daily in the press. One of the most indelible pictures about the cruelty of napalm was the “Napalm Girl” – a photograph of a nine-year-old girl and a group of children are running down the road after a South Vietnamese napalm attack on her village. The girl was naked and screaming because napalm was burning her body. The more the media emphasized on the pain caused by napalm, the more it helped to strengthen antiwar movement . In October 1966, the first demonstration against the use of napalm was conducted at the Berkeley campus of the University of California and Wayne State University in Michigan. In the following year, hundreds of protests continued in larger scale. The Dow Chemical Company who manufactured napalm for the U.S. government from 1965 to 1969 and its products were boycotted all over the country.

Dow recruiters also faced a storm of protests by college students, who called them as “baby killers”. Napalm continued to be used in Iraq (1980–88, 1991), Angola (1993) and Yugoslavia (1991-1996). However, because of its brutality, its use against concentrations of civilians was banned by the United Nations in 1980. email Napalm in War Napalm in War US Napalm Inventory Napalm in War Napalm appeared fairly late in WWII and was used much more in Korea and later. Napalm was a big hit with the allied forces, who used it extensively in World War II in flamethrowers and fire bombs. The napalm was mixed in varying concentrations of 6% (for flame throwers) and 12-15% for bombs mixed on site (for use in perimeter defense). After the first few months of World War II, napalm was mixed in England and shipped in 55-gallon drums to the Continent, where it was handled by air chemical companies.

The most common type of fire-bomb was the napalm bomb, an explosive mix of jellied gasoline which later gained notoriety in the Vietnam War. The first use of napalm occurred on July 23, 1944, during pre-invasion air strikes on the island of Tinian, part of the Marianas island chain in the Pacific. It was used by the Allied Forces in World War II against cities in Japan. The primary dispersment of napalm was through the usage of 165-gallon containers. The bombs were longer than a tin can, but about as big around. They fell to earth trailing cloth tails that fluttered behind them. A single firebomb dropped from an airplane at low-altitude was capable of producing damage to a 2500-yd2 area. In targeted Japanese cities, napalm bombs burned out 40% of the land area. In a Japanese residential neighborhoods with wood and paper houses, there was no way to fight the fires. On March 9 and 10, 1945, US forces dropped more than 1,500 tons of napalm bombs, all produced at Rocky Mountain Arsenal, on Tokyo.

The resulting firestorm destroyed enormous sections of the city. In the battle of Iwo Jima, aircraft from small escort aircraft carriers delivered napalm bombs and rockets to the island and supported US troops. When indendiary weapons were dropped on bunkers in Germany, the intense heat literally baked and dehydrated the dead, giving rise to the German word "Bombenbrandschrumpfeichen," meaning "firebomb shrunken flesh." Allied bombers dropped an estimated 3.4 kilotons of incendiaries on the German city of Dresden. The attack on Dresden in February 1945 has always been a contentious issue because of the number of lives lost, the lateness of the war, and the cultural significance of the city. The city was a legitimate military target, and the allied air forces did attempt to precisely bomb the city's marshaling yards.

In the Dresden bombing attacks of 14-15 February 1945, the American Eighth Air Force and the RAF Bomber Command together employed a total of 1,299 bomber aircraft (527 from the Eighth Air Force, 722 from the RAF Bomber Command) for a total weight, on targets, of 3906.9 tons. Of this tonnage, 1247.6 tons were expanded by the Eighth Air Force, 2659.3 tons by the RAF Bomber Command. The Americans employed 953.3 tons of high explosive bombs and 294.3 tons of incendiary bombs -- all aimed at the Dresden Marshalling Yards. The British employed 1477.7 tons of high explosive bombs and 1181.6 tons of incendiary bombs -- all aimed against the Dresden city area. Military records indicate that about half of the bombs that rained on Dresden were napalm bombs. The exact number of casualties from the Dresden bombings can never be firmly established.

Most of the latest German post-war estimates are that about 25,000 persons were killed and about 30,000 were wounded, virtually all of these being casualties from the RAF incendiary attack of 13/14 February 1945. If opprobrium attaches to anyone, it should be Winston Churchill who specifically asked that east German cities be bombed to create refugees and spread havoc. Although Dresden was an unfortunate victim of circumstance, such was not the case for Berlin. The Allies placed the German capital in a different category, ordering attacks on "city center" and employing the maximum number of incendiary bombs. During the Korean War, the US dropped approximately 250,000 pounds of napalm per day. The napalm-filled bombs were initially made in Japan. They were made of plastic, cost forty dollars each, and held 100 gallons. By 1951, new ones were being made which held 90 gallons. The Navy used Corsairs and dive-bombers to carry their bombs; the Air Force used F-Sls, F-80s, F-86s and B-26s.

They experimented at one time with carrying six tanks of napalm on an F-80, but the normal load was two tanks of gasoline and two tanks of napalm. On an average good day, the expenditures of napalm were: Air Force, 45,000 gallons; Navy, 10,000 to 12,000 gallons; Marines, 4,000 to 5,000 gallons. At one time there was considerable difficulty in getting a good mix because there were no thermometers to test the temperature of the gasoline. The personnel mixing the gel would get the current temperature from the weather report, but the gasoline would be from 10 to 15 degrees colder than the air temperature from sitting out in the cold overnight. That problem was solved by using thermometers and the E3R2 mixing unit. The E3R2 is very efficient, and when standardized will alleviate mixing problems. Often, fire-bomb tanks were only half-filled with napalm to lighten the load so that jets could take off from a short runway without difficulty. This required the expenditure of more tanks, but was necessary at times.

The tactics in Korea were much the same as those used during World War II. Napalm fire bombs had been dropped from high-altitude bombers, but with little success. Dive-bombing at very low levels (25 feet) was satisfactory, but the effectiveness of the bomb was reduced to some extent by its skipping when it hit. Napalm was very effective against enemy personnel and as an antitank weapon. A hit anywhere within fifty feet of a tank was effective. It was used widely and successfully against dug-in enemy personnel. When the bomb landed, the burning napalm spread out and dropped down into foxholes. It was especially effective against trenches and improvised protections such as drainage and irrigation ditches where enemy soldiers were spread out along a wide front. The lack of enemy ground fire allowed low-level bombing, even as low as 25 feet. However, a number of duds resulted from drops as low as that. There were three main reasons for duds: extremely low altitudes, failure to arm the bomb, and broken arming wires. The value of napalm was indicated by the great number of requests for its use.

Ground commanders quickly discovered that air strikes were the most effective weapon against enemy positions dug in on the reverse slopes of the ridges. Napalm, dropped from low altitude, was recognized as the most effective air weapon against tanks, troops in trenches, and inflammable targets. Marine pilots' favorite was a mix of high-explosive, incendiary, and armor-piercing 20mm cannon ammunition, which disintegrated vehicles, stopped locomotives, and mowed down enemy troops. American pilots sometimes attacked civilian-clad groups in South Korea on suspicion they harbored enemy infiltrators. Survivors and other witnesses said as many as 300 civilian refugees were killed in the US air attack at a cave near Youngchoon, 90 miles southeast of Seoul. The attack took place on 20 January 1951, in the seventh month of the Korean War. When the American firebombs hit, hundreds of terrified refugees trapped in the cave rushed for the entrance, but only a dozen escaped.

On 21 March 2000, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea issued a memorandum detailing records of "criminal acts against humanity" committed by United States troops during the three-year Korean War (1950-1953). The DPRK report stated that the United States killed peaceful citizens by indiscriminate bombing and naval bombardment against urban and rural areas in the North. According to the DPRK, from 11 July to 20 August 1951, more than 10,000 United States planes had conducted over 250 air raids on Pyongyang, dropping as many as 4,000 bombs, killing 4,000 civilians and wounding 2,500 more. From 11 to 12 July 1952, 400 United States planes dropped more than 6,000 napalm bombs and time-bombs, killing 8,000 civilians, including women and children. "Town and country were reduced to ashes and several million peaceable inhabitants killed", the Permanent Representative of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Li Hyong Chol, said.

According to the DPRK report, Napalm and other bombs dropped by United States war planes totaled more than 600,000 tons, which was 3.7 times the 161,425 tons dropped over Japan during the Pacific War. The US used napalm during the Vietnam War [although technically speaking, it was not "napalm" per se because it included neither naphthalene nor palmitate, but instead was the Napalm-B mixture of polystyrene, gasoline and benzene]. To its critics, napalm represented the fiery essence of all that was horrible about the war in Vietnam. Most people still associate napalm with the image of a young girl running with a group of other victims, skin peeling off in layers, after her village was doused with napalm. Images of napalm igniting in jungles, in villages, and on the people of Vietnam are still cultural icons of the era. It is routinely cited along with Agent Orange as an example of American apathy to the cruelty of modern weapons.

Nearly 400,000 tons of napalm were dropped on targets in Vietnam, giving rise to the Army marching song which includes the chorus line, "Napalm sticks to kids!". Vietnamese fighter escort aircraft, when using napalm to clear landing zones, often made the strikes just before the helicopters arrived; the resulting fire and smoke constituted a serious hazard to the helicopters. A single CH-47 could drop two and one-half tons of napalm on an enemy installation. Naturally, this method of dropping napalm was only used on specific targets where tactical air could not be effectively used. Since the US would not attack irrigation dikes in North Vietnam, the North Vietnamese exploited the situation by placing anti-aircraft sites atop or adjacent to dikes. The air defenses threatened US forces, and by degrading bombing accuracy against lawful targets led to greater incidental civilian casualties. The Johnson administration denied repeated requests for authorization to attack these air defense sites. When they were finally authorized for attack during Linebacker I, the targets were attacked with weapons that would minimize the risk of structural damage to the dikes. This was accomplished through the use of napalm, strafing, cluster munitions, and other antipersonnel weapons.

Dow Chemical was responsible for the manufacture of napalm for the US military between 1965 and 1969. Demonstrations against the company stirred public controversy. Harun Farocki's astute 1969 film "Inextinguishable Fire" focused on the production of Napalm B by the Dow Chemical Company. After weighing the moral and practical aspects, Dow decided that its first obligation was to the government. Israel used napalm during the 1967 war and in the 1980's in Lebanon. On June 8, 1967, Israel attacked the USS Liberty. Thirty-four American soldiers were killed and one hundred and seventy one were wounded. Both the US and Israeli governments have ruled the attack a tragic case of mistaken identity, but many survivors remain unconvinced. The Israeli forces attacked the ship with napalm, with canon fire, and with torpedoes. They did everything they could to blow up the ship; firing, for example, five torpedoes at the ship, one of which blew a forty-foot hole into the ship. This was followed by shots at the life rafts of people trying to escape the ship.

In Angola, the Portuguese military used defoliants and napalm, mined trails, and poisoned water holes as tactics to counter their adversaries. By 1969, the Biafrans had reassessed the resolve of their Nigerian opponent. The verdict was that the unrestrained aerial attacks on undefended hospitals and markets, especially with napalm, and the tightening blockade were further evidence of the Federal desire to commit genocide, i.e., the eradication of the Ibo population. In May 1972, when the Brazilian military operation effectively started, FOGUERA had about 80 guerrilla fighters. One of the first operations completed in the area was a clean-sweep action over the only existing mountains in the region, the Andorinhas Mountains, which do not have natural cover. After being bombarded with napalm by the Air Force, the mountains were the object of a vigorous search and encirclement mission conducted by a large force. The results were dismal because the guerrillas were never there. In the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, Moshe Dayan was nearly injured when an Egyptian helicopter dropped a napalm barrel near him at Adan's command post on the east bank.

During the 1982 Falklands conflict, the Argentine PUCARA proved an enduring craft. They were hit numerous times by British small arms fire and by BLOWPIPE SAMS, but were often able to return to their base for repair. They were used to combat British helicopters and shot down two. They also delivered NAPALM against British positions on at least one occasion. In early November 1994, Serbs from within Croatia launched missile and air strikes on the Bihac pocket. Bosnian Serbs and the rebel Muslim forces attacked the Bihac pocket from Croatia. During an attack on November 18, these forces used napalm and cluster bombs, which the Security Council noted was "in clear violation of Bihac's status as a safe area." The air attacks from Croatia led the Security Council to authorize the use of NATO air power on targets in Croatia. Napalm was used during the Persian Gulf War. The Marine Corps dropped all of the approximately 500 MK-77s used in the Gulf War. They were delivered primarily by the AV-8 Harriers from relatively low altitudes.

During Operation Desert Storm MK-77s were used to ignite the Iraqis oil-filled fire trenches, which were part of barriers constructed in southern Kuwait. The massive defeat of the Iraqi military machine tempted the Iraqi Kurds to revolt against the Baghdad regime. Encouraged by American radio broadcasts to rise up against their 'dictator', the Kurds of northern Iraq rebelled against a nominally defeated and certainly weakened Saddam Hussein in March of 1991. Shortly after the war ended, Kurdish rebels attacked disorganized Iraqi units and seized control of several towns in northern Iraq. From the town of Rania, this sedition spread quickly through the Kurdish north. Fear of being drawn into an Iraqi civil war and possible diplomatic repercussions precluded President Bush from committing US forces to support the Kurds. Within days Iraqi forces recovered and launched a ruthless counteroffensive including napalm and chemical attacks from helicopters. They quickly reclaimed lost territory and crushed the rebellion. In late 1997, Turkey launched attacks on Kurdish villages in Northern Iraq. Turkey said that they were pursuing the PKK into Northern Iraq. The use of napalm and cluster bombs against civilians in Northern Iraq was part of Turkey's military efforts against the Kurds.

NEWSLETTER ElginHistory12 - Napalm ElginHistory12 Created by Keenan Strand Napalm Napalm is a gelling agent generally mixed with petroleum or a similar fuel for use in an incendiary device. It is primarily used as an anti-personnel weapon. "Napalm" gets its name because of the two constituents its mixed with, naphthenic acid, and palmitic acid. Development The use of fire as a weapon was first used by the ancient Greeks, who referred to it as "sticky fire". The development of napalm was precipitated by the use of jellied gasoline mixtures by the Allied Forces during World War II. Latex that was used in the older forms of incendiary bombs had became logistically impossible to use during the Pacific Theater of Operations since natural rubber was almost impossible to obtain, as the many rubber plantations had been overrun by the Japanese armies. Scientists and engineers began to find news ways to create incendiary bombs without the use of natural oil. Using artificial rubber, a team of chemists led by Louis Fieser at Harvard University was the first one to develop synthetic napalm, during 1942 for the U.S. Armed Forces.

From 1965-1969 the Dow Chemical Company manufactured "Napalm B" for the American forces. After the devastating effect of Napalm B was shown to the public, many of the chemists began to boycott the program. Later Napalm B became a symbol for the Vietnam War. Historical Use In 1942, researchers at Harvard University found that a jelly gasoline-like substance burnt more slowly and thus proved more effective. This new mixture of chemicals was widely used in the Second World War in flame throwers and fire bombs. Napalm bombs burned out about 40% of the area of Japanese target cities in the World War. The useful weapons were continuing to be improved, the napalm was one of those weapons. With the abundance of many more chemical compounds available after World War II, the safely stored and just-as-effective napalm B was developed. On July 17, 1944, napalm incendiary bombs were dropped for the first time by 14 American P-38 Lightning aircraft, near St. Lo, France. More napalms were being used by American forces during the Pacific Theater of Operations.

In 1944-1945, napalms were used as a tactical weapon against Japanese bunkers, pillboxes, tunnels, and other fortifications. Napalms were usually dropped by aviators of the U.S. Navy, the United States Army Air Forces, and the U.S. Marine Corps in support of their ground troops. Napalm B was also used during the Greek civil war between the Greek army and the Communist rebels. During the last year of this Civil war in 1949, the U.S. increased their military support towards Greek Government by introducing them to the napalm B weapon. Napalm B was also widely used by the United Nations military force during the Korean War. Effects on People and Civilians When used as a incendiary weapon, napalms can cause severe burns to the skin and the body, asphyxiation, unconsciousness, and death. A napalm explosion can create an atmosphere of greater than 20% carbon monoxide and firestorms with self-perpetuating windstorms of up to 70 miles an hour.

One of the main anti-personnel features napalm contains is that it sticks to the humans skin, with no practical way for removal of the burning substance. Napalm proved to be extremely effective against dug-in enemy personnel due to its ability to flow into foxholes, trenches, and bunkers. Even people in undamaged shelters can be killed by hypothermia/heat stroke, radiant heat, dehydration, suffocation, smoke exposure, or carbon monoxide poisoning. Deaths like this commonly occurred during the raid of German cities such as Dresden and Hamburg. One napalm strike released from a low flying plane can damage an area of 2,500 square yards. International Law International law does not halt the usage of incendiary weapons or napalms against military targets, however, use against civilian targets was banned by the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons in 1980. Napalm and its Effects on Human Beings 1. GILBERT DREYFUS Napalm and its Effects on Human Beings The word ‘napalm’ is derived from the two words ‘naphthene’ and ‘palmitate’.

Napalm itself is a jelly obtained from the salts of aluminium, palmitic or other fatty acids, and naphthenic acids. These acids give a viscous consistency to gasoline so that an incendiary jelly results. We have developed the habit of calling ‘napalm’, not only the napalm itself, but also the material resulting when it is mixed with gasoline to form the incendiary weapon. The generic precursors of this weapon go back to the flame-throwers first used in the First World War. These flame-throwers had a limited effective range because of the fluidity of the liquids. Therefore an attempt was made to diminish fluidity and render the liquids more adherent. An example of primitive success in this area is the early Molotov cocktail in which a simple fragment of cotton was added to adhere to a tank and to render the combustion of the gasoline more effective. The first napalm was developed by American technicians of the Chemical Corps during the Second World War. They observed that latex mixed with gasoline took on a viscous consistency which gave good results. But as the sources of latex were blocked after Pearl Harbor, they had to find a synthetic.

They sought a jelly which could be prepared at low temperatures, which was easily handled, stable and not too costly. A soap-like aluminium mixture - aluminium salts with fatty acids - met these requirements, especially the acids having from ten to sixteen carbons, like palmitic acid and oleic and other unsaturated acids. Napalm comes in the form of a grey-white powder resembling soap powder; it can be made effective by mixing it with gasoline on the battlefield. The use of fire as a weapon by soldiers is very ancient, but the {191} technology in modern terms really began, in a rudimentary way, during the First World War and became generalized during the Second World War. Napalm conferred on a flammable substance the properties necessary for extended use and the aeroplane furnished an efficient delivery system. Until the beginning of the Second World War, magnesium was the incendiary substance most frequently employed by all belligerents. But from 1942 on, it was recognized that magnesium was expensive and in too short supply for massive use. Therefore, as napalm was developed, it became the prime material in the manufacture of incendiary bombs.

The first model in service, the M-69 bomb weighing six and a half pounds, was used in great quantities against Japan. The models which followed were developed too late to use against Japan, but they were used during the Korean War and then by the French in Indochina and Algeria. To utilize napalm effectively, large target areas are preferable. Flame-throwing aircraft have proved ineffective because conventional aircraft fly too fast to be accurate. On the other hand, excellent results are obtained by dropping fire bombs made from launchable drums filled with gasoline jellied with napalm. The napalm drums have exterior ignition devices consisting of small incendiary bombs or phosphorous grenades. There are a number of different containers for napalm. Those most frequently used contain nearly 500 litres of gasoline, jellied by an addition of napalm varying from six to thirteen per cent - six per cent seems more often used. Such a bomb will cover with flames a surface 75 feet wide by 270 feet long. To obtain the best results, the bomb should fall as rapidly as possible, giving, by momentum, a greater length to the surface covered.

Therefore the best means of delivery is not to drop the bomb vertically, but to launch it from low altitude - about 100 feet - from a ‘hedge-hopping’ aircraft. The Americans use two types of napalm and several different means of delivery. The two napalms are ‘ordinary’, which produces a temperature of 800-1,200°C [1,472-2,152°F] and ‘super-napalm’, enriched with polystyrene, sodium, magnesium or phosphorus, with which the temperatures reach 1,500-2,000°C [2,732-3,632°F]. These two napalms are principally used in {192} drums of from 60 to 630 litres capacity and in bombs weighing from 100 to 200 kilos [220-440 lbs.]; the US 7th Fleet also uses napalm missiles. Since napalm is essentially an incendiary product, it sets fire to any combustible matter with which it comes in contact. A human being in the open cannot protect himself against it.

Napalm acts not only by burning but has an equally devastating effect which consists of a complicated process whereby shock, absorption of oxygen from the air [deoxygenation], smoke and noxious gases become lethal. The Surgeon-General of the French Army has described the massive poisoning by carbon monoxide after a napalm attack and points out that none of those burned in the central strike area survives because of this phenomenon. Only those who have been on the periphery of the strike zone can survive the massive deoxygenation. An examination of some of the methods of execution practised during the Middle Ages sheds some light on these effects. In executions by burning at the stake, when large fires were used, the victim died rapidly from carbon monoxide poisoning before being actually burned by the flames; when small fires were used, a longer and much crueller death by flame resulted. (From this has come the popular French expression for being on tenterhooks: brûler à petit feu, to roast over a slow fire.) During the Second World War, troops found Japanese shelters which had been struck by napalm bombs in which all the occupants were dead without having been burned at all.

These soldiers had died, apparently without pain, and with an expression of fright and surprise frozen on to their faces; they had been instantaneously and massively poisoned by carbon monoxide. The only way to escape the asphyxiating effects of napalm is to flee into the open air - where the direct destruction by burning from flaming splashes is greatest. In a strike zone it is almost impossible to escape the effects of napalm by taking shelter, for one cannot hold one’s breath for the time it takes napalm to burn off. The carbon monoxide poisoning itself paralyses the will and robs the victim of the ability to move. From the above it can be seen that a napalm bombardment has two principal effects: fire and asphyxiation. When napalm strikes human beings the resulting burns are distinguishable from ordinary {193} burns by the fact that they are covered with a viscous black magma resembling tar. The depth of the burn is always considerable. The extensive fires caused by the combustion of flammable structures in contact with napalm prolong the effect of the primary burning. The asphyxiating effect of napalm is due to the incomplete combustion of the compound, which produces carbon monoxide.

This phenomenon has been reported in areas ravaged by the fire storms caused by bombardment of cities with conventional bombs during the Second World War. The lethality of carbon monoxide is well known and it was tried by the Nazis as a destructive gas for the mass execution of civilians. The source of this gas was the exhaust of diesel motors which was either directed into an enclosure built on to a truck or into a gas chamber. The method was too primitive and was abandoned in favour of cyanide derivatives. We now turn to the poison -and-burn pathology of napalm. Carbon monoxide poisoning is most effective. Carbon monoxide dissolves rapidly into blood plasmas. Combined with haemoglobin, it imparts to the red corpuscles a very stable combination of carboxy-haemoglobin, which is more stable than the combination with oxygen. The combining with haemoglobin is powerful and rapid, occurring within a few hundredths of a second. It is 250 times more rapid and powerful than the reaction with oxygen. The elimination of carbon monoxide, on the other hand, is much more slow and difficult.

Once combined with haemoglobin, carbon monoxide suppresses the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood pigment, thereby inhibiting the function of haemoglobin in supplying oxygen to the tissues. Carbon monoxide also seems to have an effect on the iron-containing cells and combines readily with the respiratory enzymes, bringing about direct disturbances of cellular respiration in addition to those caused by the lack of oxygen. The chemical effects of carbon monoxide depend on its concentration in the surrounding air. With as little as one per cent, it is toxic. With higher concentrations, ideation is disturbed and there are hallucinations. Concurrently there occur motor disturbances and paralysis which prevent walking and all desire to escape. Beginning with a saturation of fifteen to forty per cent of {194} the haemoglobin, encephalic disturbances, cardio-respiratory failure and fatal coma appear. Survivors of poisoning who have received emergency treatment exhibit permanent neurological after-effects which range from mild to very severe. Prognosis for coma depends in large part on the therapeutic facilities. The immediate use of oxygen therapy is called for since the symptoms are reversible with a forced intake of oxygen. Modern resuscitation equipment is imperative. One can imagine the unavailability of such equipment in a target area in Vietnam.

The second and most evident effect of napalm is the burn. The explosion of a 200-litre napalm incendiary bomb precipitates massive destruction by flames in a circle about 240 feet in diameter. In that zone the heat is from 1,800-3,600°F and the carbon monoxide release is massive; within this zone, there will be no survivors. Outside this zone unsheltered individuals will suffer burns from flaming splashes of napalm of a gravity in proportion to the amount of cutaneous surface affected. Parts not protected by clothing - face, hands, often the upper and lower members will be burned. The fire affects the clothing also, which can contribute to localized burning, rendering the effect worse. After bombardment of a group of people by napalm, the wounded - in need of immediate treatment if they are to survive - will be found around the periphery of the strike zone. The possibility of treatment is a function of the gravity of the burn. Besides the extent and depth of burning, age is a determining factor since the effects are more severe on children and the old. Also, burns on the face and neck are more serious for a child than for an adult.

Gravity is expressed in terms of percentage of the body surface affected. Any adult burned on more than ten per cent of the body, or any child burned on more than eight per cent, is considered critically burned. Doctors also distinguish between superficial burns - first and second degree burns where the thermal lesion involves only the epidermis - and third degree burns, where the destruction of all skin, epidermis and dermis, renders any spontaneous healing impossible. Burning which goes as deep as the tissues (third degree) develops scabs which, when they fall off, leave an open wound susceptible to infection. A third-degree burn will never heal aseptically. Because of napalm’s adhesive quality, the burns it {195} causes are almost always of the third degree. It is estimated that a napalm burn affecting as little as five per cent of the body surface is grave. A serious burn progresses through successive stages: first of shock and poisoning; second of infection; and third of healing. Any grave burn becomes a generalized illness due to the loss of body fluid and the breakdown of the body’s mechanism for fluid balance. Immediately after burning there is shock due to pain and fear.

Towards the sixth hour and for three or four days thereafter, true physiological shock due to the leakage of liquid plasma from the burned areas sets m. The amount of this fluid loss is proportional to the amount of burned surface. Some loss occurs at the exterior but mostly in the subcutaneous tissues, causing oedema which is sometimes considerable. The direct consequence of the plasma leakage is a haemoconcentration from diminution of the blood mass. The diminution of the blood mass leads to a circulatory slowing and often to cardiovascular collapse, which in turn compromise the oxygenation of the tissues and cause multiple metabolic disturbances. Beginning with the third and fourth days, a reverse phenomenon of reabsorption of the exuded liquids takes place. The tissues and red corpuscles release their liquids into the circulatory system bringing about a haemodilution causing anaemia and hypertension with crises of cerebral and pulmonary oedema. Also around the third day, the consequences of liver and kidney damage appear. This is an anoxia of the tissues due to the build-up of toxic products coming from the reabsorption into the blood stream of the destroyed tissues. Later, nutritional disturbances appear which are a result of the nitrogen loss following nitrogen destruction.

Thus within ten days such a burned person loses about eleven pounds from fluid loss alone. In addition every profound burn is a wound that is susceptible to infection. This is especially true since the initial inadequacy of general resistance facilitates the multiplication of microbes. Once established, this infection further inhibits nutrition and blocks healing. Thus a vicious, often irreversible circle is created which is responsible for more than fifty per cent of the secondary deaths from burns. Such deaths can often appear months after the trauma. Finally, the healing process develops with elimination of the {196} necrotic tissues. A second-degree burn heals in a few weeks. By contrast, in a deep burn, the epidermatization [growth of new skin] can only start from the periphery of the wound, if one has been unable to make a graft, to build a fragile scar tissue. This tendency to heal from the periphery causes granular, sclerotic tissue to form on the wound, further inhibiting healing. In napalm burns, a final element is of great importance; this is the gravity of facial burning. Eye burns can lead to loss of one or both eyes.

Nasal and ear passages involved develop extended suppuration and necrosis which abscess with unbearable pain to the patient. The face becomes hideous with psychological trauma of formidable proportions. There are other lingering damages: lesions of the bone, which do not show up on X-rays, and appearance of cysts of certain joints and bones of the hand - for instance, the metacarpus - which persist for many years after the initial burning. The treatment of the burned is directed at those symptoms we have just enumerated. It is simple and generic, but requires that treatment be undertaken immediately, that it should be prolonged and attentive and that it should be given by a very advanced medical organization. At the bombardment site, extreme care must be taken not to increase the risk of infection. The patient should be wrapped in a sheet and given pain-killing injections, and antibiotic injections and anti-tetanus serum to combat infection. If possible, an infusion of glucose or saline solution should be given and the victim evacuated immediately to a medical facility of the ‘general hospital’ level. Every burn victim should be treated as an incipient shock case and should receive emergency treatment without delay. This is of extreme urgency; if shock is not prevented it will establish itself and become irreversible.

If so treated, the burned person will pass the crisis in from six to ten days. It can be seen that in countries with good medical organization it is possible to reduce the mortality from severe burning. In underdeveloped areas, or during great cataclysms such as war, this is another matter. In medical summation, then, treatment consists of compensation for liquid loss by blood transfusion, plasma, substitutes, saline solutions (especially at the time of haemodilution), prevention of infection by antibiotics, oxygenation under pressure {197} and high-calorie intake. After these emergency treatments follow long-term care, dressing, antiseptic cleaning of the wounds, excision of necrotic tissue and, if possible, grafting. Grafting requires good general health, clean wounds and the availability of skin from unburned parts of the body. The present state of medical science does not allow us to take grafts from any donor other than the recipient himself. It is evident that the treatment of a burn victim is difficult, even with specialized personnel and the most modern equipment. Even with this, the suffering of the patient is intense and onerous.

It is obvious that under repeated bombardments which destroy structures which might be used for evacuation - when medical personnel are overworked and subject to lethal attacks themselves - these ideal conditions we have described are impossible. There is no resemblance between conditions prevailing when treating accident victims during peacetime and victims of deliberate attacks. The emergency treatment of a mass of burn victims in areas remote from medical centres and without adequate means of evacuation presents insuperable problems. It is therefore inadvisable in such conditions to try to save the worst case, who will, no matter what is done, die within a week. One ought to concentrate efforts upon the less gravely burned with between ten and twenty per cent of the body surface affected and without impairment of the digestive tract. In Vietnam, a limited number of gravely burned persons can be treated in a general hospital, especially those in Hanoi, but the majority of victims are treated in the village maternity infirmaries and the district hospitals where skin grafting is not possible. Instead of grafting, wounds are left to heal by slow skin extension from the wound periphery. I do not have definitive statistics, but it seems that only about thirty per cent of those wounded by napalm and not killed outright can be saved.

If the victim does survive, the dermatological consequences of napalm burns are especially serious. After the surgery there is a great risk of superinfections. Poor grafting also leaves serious after-effects. Retractile skin and contraction of scars form huge welts which will need further treatment. Keloid and hypertrophic scars will form to limit and inhibit the normal elasticity of the skin, which in turn inhibits the normal movement {198} of the member. These scars are prone to pyodermic and microdermic infections. The new skin is extremely fragile, and scleroatrophied skin will always be susceptible to minor infections that a normal skin would easily combat. Lastly, concerning the medical effects of napalm recovery, there is the spectre of secondary cancers. Old burn scars show a frequency of skin cancer out of proportion to such appearance in normal skin. This cancer consists of a spino-cellular epithelioma with a negative prognosis because of the rapid invasion by the malignant cells of the related ganglion areas. Napalm, to conclude, whether it is used strategically on the battlefield or in the bombardment of urban areas or village collectives, is a means of extensive undiscriminating destruction.

It affects primarily human beings, livestock, crops and light inflammable structures such as houses. Its use in heavily populated areas will produce immense loss of life from burning and asphyxiation. In survivors, corporal injuries of the greatest gravity with functional sequels which prevent the resumption of normal life are the rule. Though some of the victims may partially recuperate after long and costly treatment, nothing much can be done for the majority of napalm-burned persons. Napalm | Military Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia For other uses, see Napalm (disambiguation) . An Ecuadorian Air Force IAI Kfir aeroplane drops napalm on a target during Dominic "Blue Horizon", a US-Ecuador joint military exercise. Napalm is a mixture of a thickening / gelling agent and petroleum or a similar fuel for use in an incendiary device . It was initially used against buildings, and later was used primarily as an anti-personnel weapon that sticks to skin and causes severe burns when on fire. Napalm was developed in 1942, in a secret laboratory at Harvard University in Massachusetts, by a team led by chemist Louis Fieser .

[1] Its first recorded use was in the European theatre of war; it was used extensively in incendiary attacks on Japanese cities. "Napalm" is a combination of the names of two of the constituents of the gelling agent: naphthenic acid and palmitic acid . "Napalm B" is the more modern version of napalm and, although distinctly different in its chemical composition, it is often referred to simply as "napalm". [2] In 1980, the United Nations declared "the gel's use on concentrations of civilians a war crime". [1] Contents Edit Napalm B is chemically distinct from its predecessor Napalm. It is usually a mixture of polystyrene and benzene , used as a thickening agent to make jellied gasoline. One of the advantages of this new mixture lies in its increased safety while being handled and stored. Many accidents had been attributed to personnel smoking around stockpiles. [3] Napalm B has a commonly quoted composition of 21% benzene , 33% gasoline (itself containing between 1% and 4% (estimated) benzene to raise its octane number ), and 46% polystyrene .

This mixture is more difficult to ignite than napalm. [4] A reliable pyrotechnic initiator , often based on thermite (for ordinary napalm) or white phosphorus (for newer compositions), has been used. [2] [4] The original napalm usually burned for 15 to 30 seconds while Napalm B can burn for up to 10 minutes. [4] Napalm was used in flamethrowers and bombs by U.S. and Allied forces in World War II. It is believed to be formulated to burn at a specified rate and to adhere to surfaces to increase its stopping power. During combustion, Napalm rapidly deoxygenates the available air and generates large amounts of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Napalm bombs were used during the Vietnam War . [2] Napalm was also used during the Korean War , most notably during the defense of " Outpost Harry " in South Korea during the night of June 10–11, 1953[ citation needed ]. Alternative compositions exist for different uses, e.g. triethylaluminium , a pyrophoric compound that aids ignition. Development Edit Use of fire in warfare has a long history .

Greek fire , also described as "sticky fire" (πῦρ κολλητικόν) is believed to have had a petroleum base. The development of napalm was precipitated by the use of jellied gasoline mixtures by the Allied forces during World War II . [2] The supply of latex that had been used in these early forms of incendiary devices became scarce during the Pacific Theater of Operations , since natural rubber was almost impossible to obtain after the capture by the Japanese army of the rubber plantations in Malaya, Indonesia , Vietnam, and Thailand. This shortage of natural rubber prompted the chemists at U.S. companies such as Du Pont and Standard Oil, and researchers at Harvard University, to strive to develop factory-made alternatives - artificial rubber for all uses, including vehicle tires, tank tracks, gaskets, hoses, medical supplies and rain clothing. A team of chemists led by Louis Fieser at Harvard University was the first one to develop synthetic napalm, during 1942 for the U.S. Armed Forces .

[5] "The production of napalm was first entrusted to Nuodex Products, and by the middle of April 1942 they had developed a brown, dry powder that was not sticky by itself, but when mixed with gasoline turned into an extremely sticky and flammable substance." One of Fieser's colleagues suggested adding phosphorus to the mix which increased the "ability to penetrate deeply...into the musculature, where it would continue to burn day after day." [6] On 4 July 1942, the first test occurred on the football field near the Harvard Business school. [6] Tests under operational conditions were carried out at Jefferson Proving Ground on condemned farm buildings, and subsequently at Dugway Proving Ground on buildings designed and constructed to represent those to be found in German and Japanese towns, [7] [8] this new mixture of chemicals was widely used in the Second World War in incendiary bombs and in flame throwers. From 1965 to 1969, the Dow Chemical Company manufactured napalm B for the American armed forces.

After news reports of napalm B's deadly and disfiguring effects were published, Dow Chemical experienced some boycotts of all its products, and its recruiters for new chemists, chemical engineers, etc., graduating from college were subject to campus boycotts. The management of the Dow Chemical Company decided that "its first obligation was the government." Meanwhile, napalm B became a symbol for the Vietnam War. [9] Military use Edit The French Aviation navale drops napalm over Viet Minh guerrilla positions during an ambush (December 1953). Napalm was first employed in incendiary bombs and went on to be used as fuel for flamethrowers. [10] The first recorded strategic use of napalm incendiary bombs occurred in an attack by the USAAF on Berlin on 6 March 1944, using American AN-M76 incendiary bombs (with PT-1 (Pyrogel) filler). [11] [12] The second known attack, this time a tactical operation by De Havilland D.H.98 Mosquito FB Mk.VIs of No.

140 Wing RAF , Second Tactical Air Force on 14 July 1944, also employed the AM-M76 incendiary in a reprisal attack on the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division „Götz von Berlichingen“ in Bonneuil-Matours ; soldiers of this Waffen SS unit had captured and then murdered a British SAS prisoner-of-war , Lt. Tomos Stephens, taking part in Operation Bulbasket , and seven local Resistance fighters; although it was not known at the time of the air strike, 31 other POWs from the same SAS unit, and an American airman who had joined up with the SAS unit, had also been executed. [13] Further use of napalm by American forces occurred in the Pacific Theater of Operations, where in 1944 and 1945, napalm was used as a tactical weapon against Japanese bunkers, pillboxes, tunnels, and other fortifications, especially on Saipan, Iwo Jima , the Philippines, and Okinawa, where deeply dug-in Japanese troops refused to surrender. Napalm bombs were dropped by aviators of the U.S.

Navy , the United States Army Air Forces , and the U.S. Marine Corps in support of their ground troops. [14] Then, when the U.S. Army Air Forces on the Marianas Islands ran out of conventional thermite incendiary bombs for its B-29 Superfortresses to drop on Japanese cities, its top commanders, such as General Curtis E. LeMay , turned to napalm bombs to continue its fire raids on the large Japanese cities. [15] In the European Theater of Operations napalm was used by American forces [16] in the siege of La Rochelle in April 1945 against German soldiers (and inadvertently French civilians in Royan ) - about two weeks before the end of the war. [17] Napalm B was also used during the Greek Civil War between the Greek Army and Communist rebels. During the last year of this Civil War, 1949, the United States increased its military aid to the Greek Government by introducing a new weapon to finish off the war: napalm B. The first napalm attack in Greece took place on the mountain of Grammos , which was the stronghold of the Communist rebels.[ citation needed ] Riverboat of the U.S.

Brown-water navy deploying an ignited napalm mixture from a riverboat mounted flamethrower in Vietnam. Napalm B was also widely used by the United Nations military forces during the Korean War . [2] These Allied ground forces in Korea were frequently outnumbered, and greatly, by their Chinese and North Korean attackers, but the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy naval aviators had control of the air over nearly all of the Korean Peninsula. Hence, close air support of the ground troops along the border between North Korea and South Korea was vital, and the American and other U.N. aviators turned to napalm B as an important weapon for defending against communist ground attacks. Napalm B became an intrinsic element of U.S. military action during the Vietnam War; as forces increasingly employed its widespread tactical as well as psychological effects. [18] Reportedly about 388,000 tons of U.S. 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.

[1] The US Air Force and US Navy used napalm with great effect against all kinds of targets to include troops , tanks , buildings, jungles, and even railroad tunnels . The effect was not always purely physical as napalm had psychological effects on the enemy as well.[ citation needed ] Other uses include: by France during the First Indochina War (1946–1954), the Algerian War (1954–1962), [19] the Portuguese Colonial War (1961–1974), The Six-Day War by Israel (1967), in Nigeria (1969), India and Pakistan (1965 and 1971), Turkey (1974), by Morocco during the Western Sahara War (1975–1991), Iran (1980–88), Brazil (1972), Egypt (1973), Iraq (1980–88, 1991), Angola (1993), Yugoslavia (1991-1996), and by Argentina (1982).

[2] [20] Effects on people File:TrangBang.jpg "Napalm is the most terrible pain you can imagine," said Kim Phúc , a napalm bombing survivor known from a famous Vietnam War photograph. "Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius (212°F). Napalm generates temperatures of 800 to 1,200 degrees Celsius (1,500-2,200°F)." [21] When used as a part of an incendiary weapon , napalm can cause severe burns (ranging from superficial to subdermal ) to the skin and body, asphyxiation, unconsciousness , and death. In this implementation, napalm fires can create an atmosphere of greater than 20% carbon monoxide [2] and firestorms with self-perpetuating winds of up to 70 miles per hour (110 km/h). One of the main anti-personnel features of napalm is that it sticks to human skin, with no practical method for removal of the burning substance.[ citation needed ] Napalm is effective against dug-in enemy personnel.

The burning incendiary composition flows into foxholes , trenches and bunkers , and drainage and irrigation ditches and other improvised troop shelters. Even people in undamaged shelters can be killed by hyperthermia / heat stroke , radiant heat , dehydration, suffocation , smoke exposure, or carbon monoxide poisoning . The firebombing raids on German cities , e.g. Dresden and Hamburg , frequently caused death by this mechanism. [4] One firebomb released from a low-flying plane can damage an area of 2,500 square yards (2,100 m2). [4] International law Edit International law does not prohibit the use of napalm or other incendiaries against military targets, [21] but use against civilian populations was banned by the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) in 1980. [22] Protocol III of the CCW restricts the use of all incendiary weapons, but a number of states have not acceded to all of the protocols of the CCW.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), states are considered a party to the convention, which entered into force as international law in December 1983, if they ratify at least two of the five protocols. The United States signed it almost three decades after the General Assembly adopted it, on January 21, 2009: President Barack Obama’s first full day in office. America’s ratification, however, is subject to a diplomatic reservation that says it can disregard the treaty at its discretion if doing so would save civilian lives. See also Napalm, from Harvard to Vietnam - The Boston Globe Napalm, from Harvard to Vietnam The Boston Globe Tweet Share Photo from Louis Fieser, “The Scientific Method.” In 1942, Harvard scientists conducted the first test of a napalm bomb in a pond dug behind the Business School. By Gal Beckerman Globe Correspondent March 24, 2013 Since its introduction in World War II, where it was used to firebomb Japanese cities, napalm—highly incendiary and nearly impossible to extinguish—has made its way into American consciousness as a symbol of war gone horribly wrong.

Perhaps the most striking photograph to emerge from the Vietnam War was of a little girl, Kim Phuc, burnt by napalm , running and screaming. Dropping napalm on villages full of civilians wasn’t originally the goal. Napalm was invented at Harvard in the early 1940s, a gel named after the combination of naphthenic and palmitic acid that can turn petroleum or any other fuel into a sticky, burning weapon. Its inventor, a chemist who went on to do much good in the medical field, said that he never expected napalm to be used on people, only things. It’s a weapon that was born a hero, became a pariah, and now lingers on as a “war criminal on probation,” according to Robert N. Neer, a visiting lecturer at Columbia University. Advertisement IDEAS: Napalm was used during World War II to firebomb Japanese cities, and you argue that this fact made dropping an atomic bomb seem more acceptable, in a way. NEER: People at the time didn’t really appreciate that dropping the bomb was a significant departure from actions they had taken before, which seems strange to us today.

But when you understand that many dozens of Japanese cities had already been incinerated by napalm bombs prior to the detonation of the atomic bombs, and when you further understand that the damage of the atomic bomb was indistinguishable—or in some cases even less than—the fires that were created by napalm, then it helps to explain how it was perceived as just one bomb that would accomplish more efficiently what you could do with several hundred thousand napalm bombs. IDEAS: America also had the bizarre idea to attack Japan with napalm-armed bats? NEER: It was called Project X-Ray....The US spent about $24 million, in current dollars, on this plan to arm millions of American bats with tiny napalm time bombs and transport them to Japan in giant, ventilated bomb shells that would be cooled to keep them in hibernation. The shells would then be released, pop open, and the bats would revive from contact with the warm air, flying away and sheltering in houses or buildings where they would then detonate 15 to 30 minutes later.

They did lots of testing and had several airplanes requisitioned for the project, but unfortunately the only thing they managed to destroy was a brand new US Army Air Force base in New Mexico. IDEAS: You write that by the 1960s and 1970s with Vietnam, napalm became iconic, something palpably real for Americans. NEER: Two things happened with Vietnam. For one thing, the United States lost the war, and since napalm had become for the protest movement a symbol of our misguided actions in Vietnam, this loss had profound consequences for the way people perceived the weapon. And the second thing was that coverage of the Vietnam War and specifically descriptions of the effect of napalm on civilians were far more dramatic and extensive than in World War II. In World War II, much of napalm’s impact was in Japan, where there wasn’t much opportunity for correspondents to report on what was happening at the time, because they couldn’t go there. IDEAS: The inventor of napalm, Louis Fieser, seems to have had a complicated relationship with his invention. Robert Neer. NEER: Fieser said that he never imagined napalm would be used against people.

He thought it would be used to target things. And he devoted his entire life to medicines and chemicals that could help people. He helped synthesize Vitamin K. He was a beloved teacher to students at Harvard. He was part of team that determined smoking was a cause of death. So he’s a complex person. But with respect to his assertion that he never thought napalm would be used against people, it’s a little bit hard to completely credit that, since many of the tests that they did with the gel that they invented were on residential buildings, specifically on models of German and Japanese houses. The man was a genius, so it’s hard to believe he wouldn’t see the obvious implications of how it would be used. IDEAS: You also mention in the book that napalm experienced a kind of cultural revival after 9/11. NEER: After 9/11 there is a strain of the culture that celebrates napalm’s power. For example, if you play video games, like me, you know that napalm add-ons and weapons systems are very powerful. And the word itself has lost some of its specific historical allusions and has become a synonym for anything that’s really extreme.

For example, John Mayer said his love life with Jessica Simpson was like “sexual napalm.” Instead of being a horrifying symbol of war gone wrong, it was a patriotic example of American martial prowess. IDEAS: Today, you call napalm is a “war criminal on probation.” NEER: In the 1980s, the UN General Assembly adopted a treaty that defined the use of napalm or other incendiary weapons against concentrations of civilians as a war crime, even if there were military facilities there as well. At that point, napalm became a war criminal when used directly against civilians, but only with respect to that type of use, and therefore on probation. It’s still not illegal to use napalm under current international law in many contexts. Gal Beckerman is a journalist and author. His first book, “When They Come for Us, We’ll Be Gone: The Epic Struggle to Save Soviet Jewry,” was named a best book of the year by The New Yorker and The Washington Post in 2010, and has been released in paperback. Loading comments...

Incendiary device | Military Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit The first incendiary devices to be dropped during World War I fell on coastal towns in the south west of England on the night of 18–19 January 1915. The small number of German bombs, also known as firebombs, were finned containers filled with kerosene and oil and wrapped with tar-covered rope. They were dropped from Zeppelin airships. On 8 September 1915, Zeppelin L-13 dropped a large number of firebombs, but even then the results were poor and they were generally ineffective in terms of the damage inflicted. They did, however, have a considerable effect on the morale of the civilian population of the United Kingdom . [1] Development and use in World War II A German World War II incendiary bomb. Incendiary bombs were used extensively in World War II as an effective bombing weapon, often in a conjunction with high-explosive bombs.

[2] Many different configurations of incendiary bombs and a wide range of filling materials such as isobutyl methacrylate (IM) polymer, Napalm and similar jellied-petroleum formulae were used, many of them developed by the US Chemical Warfare Service . Different methods of delivery, e.g. small bombs, bomblet clusters and large bombs, were tested and implemented. [3] For example, a large bomb casing was filled with small sticks of incendiary ( bomblets ); the casing was designed to open at altitude, scattering the bomblets in order to cover a wide area. An explosive charge would then ignite the incendiary material, often starting a raging fire. The fire would burn at extreme temperatures that could destroy most buildings made of wood or other combustible materials (buildings constructed of stone tend to resist incendiary destruction unless they are first blown open by high explosives).

Burning Ballroom at the Royal Castle, Warsaw , as a result of incendiary bombing by the German Luftwaffe In World War II, incendiaries were principally developed in order to destroy the many small, decentralized war industries located (often intentionally) throughout vast tracts of city land in an effort to escape destruction by conventionally aimed high-explosive bombs. Nevertheless, the civilian destruction caused by such weapons quickly earned them a reputation as terror weapons with the targeted populations, and a number of shot-down aircrews (e.g., in German, Terrorflieger) were summarily executed by angry civilians upon capture.[ citation needed ] The Nazi regime began the campaign of incendiary bombings with the start of World War II with the bombing of Warsaw in World War II , and continued with the London Blitz and the bombing of Moscow, among other cities. Later, an extensive reprisal was exacted by the Allies in the strategic bombing campaign that lead to the annihilation of many German cities.

In the Pacific War , during the last seven months of strategic bombing by B-29 Superfortresses in the airwar against Japan , a change to firebombing tactics resulted in some 500,000 Japanese deaths and 5 million more made homeless. Sixty-seven Japanese cities lost significant areas to incendiary attacks. The most deadly single bombing raid in all history was Operation Meetinghouse , an incendiary attack that killed some 100,000 Tokyo residents in one night. British INC 4 LB type incendiary bomb. Top: complete device, Middle: dud found without the steel penetrator, Bottom: the remains after burning The 4 lb (1.8 kg) incendiary bomb, developed by ICI , was the standard light incendiary bomb used by RAF Bomber Command in very large numbers, declining slightly in 1944 to 35.8 million bombs produced (the decline being due to more bombs arriving from the USA). It was the weapon of choice for the British dehousing plan. The bomb consisted of a hollow body made from aluminium-magnesium alloy with a cast iron/steel nose, and filled with thermite incendiary pellets.

It was capable of burning for up to ten minutes. There was also a high explosive version and delayed high explosive versions (2–4 minutes) which were specifically designed to kill rescuers and firefighters. Other tactics consisted of using explosive bombs in the attack to fill the streets with craters and rubble, hindering rescue services. Towards the end of World War Two, the British introduced a much improved 30 lb (14 kg) incendiary bomb, whose fall was retarded by a small parachute and on impact sent out an extremely hot flame for 15 ft (4.6 m); it burned for approximately two minutes. Articles in late 1944 claimed that the flame was so hot it could crumble a brick wall. And for propaganda purposes the RAF dubbed the new incendiary bomb the Superflamer. Very little else is known about this new incendiary bomb that came into operational service late in the war in the European theater. [4] Around fifty-five million incendiary bombs were dropped on Germany by Avro Lancasters alone.

Many incendiary weapons developed and deployed during World War II were in the form of bombs and shells whose main incendiary component is white phosphorus (WP), and can be used in an offensive anti-personnel role against enemy troop concentrations, but WP is also used for signaling, smoke screens , and target-marking purposes. The U.S. Army and Marines used WP extensively in World War II and Korea for all three purposes, frequently using WP shells in large 4.2-inch chemical mortars. WP was widely credited by many Allied soldiers for breaking up numerous German infantry attacks and creating havoc among enemy troop concentrations during the latter part of World War II. The psychological impact of WP on the enemy was noted by many troop commanders in World War II, and captured 4.2-inch mortar men were sometimes summarily executed by German forces in reprisal .[ citation needed ] In both World War II and Korea, WP was found particularly useful in overcoming enemy human wave attacks . Post World War II incendiary weapons Edit Modern incendiary bombs usually contain thermite , made from aluminium and ferric oxide . The most effective formula is 25% aluminium and 75% iron oxide[ citation needed ].

It takes very high temperatures to ignite, but when alight, it can burn through solid steel. In World War II, such devices were employed in incendiary grenades to burn through heavy armor plate, or as a quick welding mechanism to destroy artillery and other complex machined weapons. A variety of pyrophoric materials can also be used: Selected organometallic compounds, most often triethylaluminium , trimethylaluminium , and some other alkyl and aryl derivates of aluminium, magnesium, boron, zinc, sodium , and lithium, can be used. Thickened triethylaluminium, a napalm-like substance that ignites in contact with air, is known as thickened pyrophoric agent , or TPA. During the Vietnam War , the U.S. Army developed the CBU-55 , a cluster bomb incendiary fueled by propane , a weapon that was used only once in warfare. [5] Napalm proper is no longer used by the United States , although the kerosene-fueled Mark 77 MOD 5 Firebomb is currently in use. The United States has confirmed the use of Mark 77s in Operation Iraqi Freedom .

Incendiary weapons and laws of warfare Edit According to the Protocol III of the UN Convention on Conventional Weapons governing the use of incendiary weapons: prohibits the use of incendiary weapons against civilians (effectively a reaffirmation of the general prohibition on attacks against civilians in Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions) prohibits the use of air-delivered incendiary weapons against military targets located within concentrations of civilians and loosely regulates the use of other types of incendiary weapons in such circumstances. [6] Protocol III states though that incendiary weapons do not include: Munitions which may have incidental incendiary effects, such as illuminates, tracers , smoke or signaling systems; Munitions designed to combine penetration, blast or fragmentation effects with an additional incendiary effect, such as armour-piercing projectiles, fragmentation shells, explosive bombs and similar combined-effects munitions in which the incendiary effect is not specifically designed to cause burn injury to persons, but to be used against military objectives, such as armoured vehicles, aircraft and installations or facilities. Use by criminal and terrorist groups Incendiary devices have been used by criminal, terrorist and direct action groups to commit arson attacks on their targets.

The Molotov cocktail is a classic incendiary device that has been used by insurrectionary anarchists and rioters .[ citation needed ] See also

Question: In which war was the napalm incendiary bomb first used?
Answer: World War II