When was napalm first used?

Answer 1

Death by Fire:As an air delivered weapon, it was first used by Marine Aviation units on Iwo Jima in the Pacific Campaign of WWII, They were used at a higher level on Okinawa and would have seen extensive use if WWII had required an invasion of the Japanese mainland. The jellied gasoline product had bee in use since the days of trench warfare in WWI as a backpacked flamethrower.

As an infantry weapon it was extremely effective, providing death by burning, asphyxiation, and a potent psychological effect. Its limitations were numerous: a flamethrower operator became an obvious target, easily identified on the battlefield, capable of carrying only a few seconds of effectivness and required a support team that exceeded its effective use. This brought about this brought about the use of the flame tank, which provided a degree of survivability, extended duration of time on target and greatly increased stand-off range. That stand-off range had not kept up with the advances in anti-tank technology, which may have ended the use of ground delivered flame weapons.

The Korean War saw napalm used extensively in the ground support role and it was employed in the Vietnam War until a picture of a naked nine year old Vietnamese giril named Phan Thi Kim Phuc, severely burned was photographed on 8 June 1972 and displayed around the world. That photograph alone has spurred on the opposition to that weapon's future combat use. Perhaps its time to intensify training in hand to hand combat and the use of the bayonet.

Flame as a weapon has been around since pots of boiling oil were used to defend castles, Greek Fire, flaming arrows and flaming brands that were used in pre history. Newer and more effective weapons are now available. Death in combat requires greater efficiency, and science and technology are always available to fill in the gaps. May the Gods of War bless Bless the Military-Industrial Complex.