A Small but Deadly Flamethrower.
A pre-war design, based upon the British Carden-Loyd Carrier, these tiny vehicles were built and used in vast numbers by the Italian Army during the Second World War.
They had been employed by the Italians in Ethiopia and Spain and sold to other nations including Hungary, China and Brasil. Against unarmoured troops they had some potential but confronted by tanks, or even armoured cars, they were death traps.
Although a number of these flamethrower carriers were captured in the Tobruk area there is no evidence from British sources of them ever being used.
The tiny vehicles were very cramped inside and must have been ghastly, when closed down, in the desert. Add to that the risk of having fuel pumped through the centre of the vehicle and any reluctance to use them is understandable.
The Tank Museum’s Carro L3/35 Lancia Fiamme
Our exhibit, which was captured in North Africa, is a flamethrower version which carried 500 litres of flame fuel in a special two-wheel trailer. Fuel was delivered by a pump, driven off the gearbox, which gave it a flaming range of about 40 yards. In fact the pump was so weak that crews were instructed not to use flame when driving at full speed, for fear of setting themselves alight.
