Napalm

The development of napalm was precipitated by the use of jellied gasoline mixtures by the Allied forces during World War II.{{cite book |last1=Fedoroff |first1=Basil T. |url=https://archive.org/details/DTIC_ADA011845/mode/2up |title=Encyclopedia of Explosives and Related Items |last2=Sheffield |first2=Oliver E. |publisher=Picatinny Arsenal |year=1974 |volume=6 |location=Morris County |pages=F56–F58 |chapter=Flame Throwers—Liquids and Gels |lccn=61-61759 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/DTIC_ADA011845/page/n437 |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}} Latex, used in these early forms of incendiary devices, became scarce, since natural rubber was almost impossible to obtain after the Japanese army captured the rubber plantations in Malaya, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand.

This shortage of natural rubber prompted chemists at US companies such as DuPont and Standard Oil of New Jersey, and researchers at Harvard University, 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 to develop synthetic napalm during 1942.{{cite web |year=2001 |title=Napalm |url=http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/webprojects2001/wright/napalm.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030917002422/https://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/webprojects2001/wright/napalm.htm |archive-date=2003-09-17 |access-date=2024-11-24 |website=chm.bris.ac.uk |publisher=University of Bristol}} "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."{{cite book |last=Lindqvist |first=Sven |author-link=Sven Lindqvist |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofbombing0000lind_e5k9 |title=A History of Bombing |publisher=The New Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-56584-625-8 |location=New York |page=105 |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}

On 4 July 1942, the first test occurred on the football field near the Harvard Business School. 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.{{cite book |title=Science in World War II: Chemistry |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1948 |editor-last=Noyes |editor-first=W.A. Jr. |location=Boston |pages=392–393}} This new mixture of chemicals was first approved for use on the front lines in 1943.{{Cite journal |last=Guillaume |first=Marine |date=December 2016 |title=Napalm in US Bombing Doctrine and Practice, 1942-1975 |url=https://apjjf.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/article-1253.pdf |journal=The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus |volume=14 |issue=23 |pages=1–15}}

File:Napalm Bombing of Brunei Bay, Borneo.jpg on a Japanese outpost off the coast of the island of Borneo]]

The first use of napalm in combat was in August 1943 during the Allied invasion of Sicily, when American troops, using napalm-fueled flamethrowers, burned down a wheat field where German forces were believed to be hiding. Napalm incendiary bombs were first used the following year, although the exact date and battle are disputed.{{Efn|Claimed dates including a 15 February air raid on Pohnpei, a 6 March air raid on Berlin,{{Cite web |date=2021-08-02 |title=What Is Napalm And Is It Still Used In Warfare? |url=https://www.forcesnews.com/technology/weapons-and-kit/what-napalm-and-it-still-used-warfare |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=BFBS Forces News}} and a 18 July air raid on Tinian.{{cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=Henry I. Jr. |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofusmarin03usma |title=Central Pacific Drive |last2=Nalty |first2=Bernard C. |last3=Turnbladh |first3=Edwin T. |publisher=US Marine Corps |year=1966 |series=History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II |volume=3 |location=Washington D.C. |oclc=927428034 |via=Internet Archive}}}}

Two-thirds of napalm bombs produced during WWII were used in the Pacific War. Napalm was often deployed against Japanese fortifications on Saipan, Iwo Jima, the Philippines, and Okinawa, where deeply dug-in Japanese troops refused to surrender.{{Cite book |last1=Kebler |first1=Brooks E. |url=https://archive.org/details/chemicalwarfares00kleb |title=The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals in Combat |last2=Birdsell |first2=Dale |publisher=United States Army |year=1966 |editor-last=Conn |editor-first=Stetson |location=Washington D.C. |pages=159-163, 630-635 |lccn=66-60001 |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}} Following a shortage of conventional thermite bombs, General Curtis LeMay, among other high-ranking servicemen, ordered air raids on Japan to start using napalm instead.

{{Cite book |last=De Chant |first=John A. |title=Devilbirds: The Story of United States Marine Corps Aviation in World War II |publisher=Harper & Brothers Publishers |year=1947 |location=New York |page=155 |oclc=698844424}} A 1946 report by the National Defense Research Council claims that 40,000 tons of M69s were dropped on Japan throughout the war,{{Cite book |last1=Bauer |first1=E.E. |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/AD0221598.pdf |title=Fire Warfare, Incendiaries and Flame Throwers |last2=Bogrow |first2=Alexander |last3=Engisch |first3=G.W. |last4=Haworth |first4=M.D. |last5=Hulse |first5=S.M. |last6=Keevil |first6=C.S. |last7=Knox |first7=W.T. |last8=McMillen |first8=E.L. |last9=Messing |first9=R.F. |publisher=National Defense Research Council |year=1946 |editor-last=Ewell |editor-first=Raymond H. |location=Washington D.C. |editor-last2=Newhall |editor-first2=Robert M. |last10=Mysels |first10=K.H. |last11=Reed |first11=C.E. |last12=Stanbury |first12=G.R.}}{{cite web |last=Wellerstein |first=Alex |author-link=Alex Wellerstein |date=August 30, 2013 |title=Who Made That Firebomb? |url=http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2013/08/30/who-made-that-firebomb |access-date=September 12, 2020 |website=RESTRICTED DATA: The Nuclear Secrecy Blog}} damaging 64 cities and causing more deaths than the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.{{Cite web |last=Doan-Nguyen |first=Ryan H. |date=2023-02-16 |title=Napalm, Birthed in Harvard's Basement |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2023/2/16/napalm-scrut/ |access-date=2024-11-25 |website=The Harvard Crimson}}

German fortifications and transportation hubs were targeted with napalm during both Operation Overlord and the Battle of the Bulge, sometimes in conjunction with artillery. During the Allied siege of La Rochelle, napalm was dropped on the outskirts of the Royan pocket, inadvertently killing French civilians.{{cite book |author=Zinn |first=Howard |author-link=Howard Zinn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JGLkwCNI7sIC |title=The Zinn Reader: Writings on Disobedience and Democracy |publisher=Seven Stories Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-1-888363-54-8 |location=New York |pages=267–281 |chapter=The Bombing of Royan |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JGLkwCNI7sIC&pg=PA267 |via=Google Books}}

The Royal Air Force (RAF) used napalm to a limited extent in both the Pacific War and the European Theater.{{Cite book |last1=McCue |first1=Paul |author-link1=Paul McCue |title=SAS Operation Bulbasket: Behind the Lines in Occupied France, 1944 |last2=Baker |first2=Max |publisher=Pen and Sword Books |year=1990 |isbn=978-1-4738-1795-1 |location=Barnsley |pages=104}}{{Cite book |last=McKinstry |first=Leo |author-link=Leo McKinstry |url=https://archive.org/details/hurricanevictoro0000mcki/mode/2up |title=Hurricane: Victor of the Battle of Britain |date=2011 |publisher=John Murray |isbn=978-1-84854-341-6 |location=London |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}

Napalm was widely used by the US during the Korean War.{{Cite web |last=Harden |first=Blaine |date=2017-10-02 |title=How One Man Helped Burn Down North Korea |url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/10/02/donald-nichols-book-north-korea-215665/ |access-date=2024-11-24 |website=POLITICO Magazine}} The ground forces in North Korea holding defensive positions were often outnumbered by Chinese and North Koreans, but US Air Force and Navy aviators had control of the air over nearly all of the Korean Peninsula. Hence, the American and other UN aviators used napalm for close air support of the ground troops. Napalm was used most notably at the beginning of the Battle of Outpost Harry.{{Cite interview |last=Burkhalter |first=Thomas H. |interviewer=Mark Van Ells |title=Transcript of an Oral History Interview with THOMAS H. BURKHALTER |url=https://wisvetsmuseum.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/BurkhalterThomas-_OH509.pdf |access-date=2024-11-26 |publisher=Wisconsin Veterans Museum |date=1996-02-22 |quote=Outpost Harry we got air support, a mixed blessing... God, they’d drop napalm from enormous heights over there.}}{{Cite web |last=Elphick |first=James |date=2019-01-28 |title=How the soldiers of Outpost Harry decimated an entire Chinese Division |url=https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/how-the-soldiers-of-outpost-harry-decimated-an-entire-chinese-division/ |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=We Are The Mighty}}

Eighth Army chemical officer Donald Bode reported that, on an "average good day", UN pilots used {{Convert|70000|USgal|l|abbr=off|sp=us|disp=output only}} (70,000 US gal; {{Convert|70000|USgal|impgal|disp=output only}}) of napalm, with approximately {{Convert|60000|USgal|l|abbr=off|sp=us|disp=output only}} (60,000 US gal; {{Convert|60000|USgal|impgal|disp=output only}}) of this thrown by US forces.{{cite book |last1=Neer |first1=Robert |url=https://archive.org/details/napalmamericanbi0000neer/mode/2up |title=Napalm: An American Biography |date=2013 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-07301-2 |location=Cambridge |pages= |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}} The New York Herald Tribune hailed "Napalm, the No. 1 Weapon in Korea".{{cite book |last=Pembroke |first=Michael |title=Korea: Where the American Century Began |publisher=Hardie Grant Books |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-78607-473-7 |location=San Francisco |page=152}} British Prime Minister Winston Churchill privately criticized the use of napalm in Korea, writing that it was "very cruel", as US/UN forces, he wrote, were "splashing it all over the civilian population", "tortur[ing] great masses of people". He conveyed these sentiments to U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Omar Bradley, who "never published the statement". Publicly, Churchill allowed Bradley "to issue a statement that confirmed U.K. support for U.S. napalm attacks".

File:US riverboat using napalm in Vietnam.jpg riverboat of the US Brown-water navy firing an ignited napalm mixture from a riverboat-mounted flamethrower in Vietnam]]

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Napalm became an intrinsic element of US military action during the Vietnam War as forces made increasing use of it for its tactical and psychological effects.{{cite web|url=http://thevietnamwar.info/napalm-vietnam-war/|title=Napalm in Vietnam War|last=Rohn|first=Alan|website=The Vietnam War|date=18 January 2014 |language=en-US|access-date=28 October 2019}} Reportedly about {{Convert|388000|ST|t|abbr=off|disp=output only}} (388,000 short tons; {{Convert|388000|ST|LT|disp=output only}}) of US napalm bombs were dropped in the region between 1963 and 1973. The US Air Force and US Navy used napalm with great effect against all kinds of targets, such as troops, tanks, buildings, jungles, and even railroad tunnels. The effect was not always purely physical as its destructive effects and ability to spread uncontrolled had psychological effects on Vietnamese forces and civilians as well.{{cite web|title=Liquid Fire – How Napalm Was Used in the Vietnam War|url=https://www.warhistoryonline.com/vietnam-war/history-napalm-vietnam-war.html/2|website=www.warhistoryonline.com|date=June 2016 |publisher=Nikola Budanovic|access-date=8 November 2017|ref=Napalm became a psychological weapon, as the enemy was petrified of the hell on earth caused by its use.}}

During the Greek Civil War, after the capture of Mount Vitsi during Operation Pyrsos, the Hellenic Air Force bombed Mount Grammos—a stronghold for the opposing Democratic Army of Greece—with US-supplied napalm.{{Cite book |last=House |first=Jonathan M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T5lxAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT70 |title=A Military History of the Cold War, 1944–1962 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-8061-4690-4 |page=70 |language=en |via=Google Books}}{{Cite book |last1=Featherstone |first1=Kevin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UCKBDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA211 |title=The Last Ottomans: The Muslim Minority of Greece, 1940–49 |last2=Papadimitriou |first2=Dimitris |last3=Mamarelis |first3=Argyris |last4=Niarchos |first4=Georgios |date=2011 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-0-230-29465-3 |page=211 |language=en |via=Google Books}}

The French Air Force regularly used napalm for close air support of ground operations in both the First Indochina War{{Cite book |last=Fall |first=Bernard B. |author-link=Bernard B. Fall |url=https://archive.org/details/StreetWithoutJoy |title=Street Without Joy |date=1961 |publisher=Stackpole Books |location=Harrisburg |pages=34–37, 197 |oclc=1020224769 |via=Internet Archive}}{{Cite magazine |last=Grant |first=Rebecca |date=August 2004 |title=Dien Bien Phu |url=https://www.airandspaceforces.com/app/uploads/2004/08/0804_August2004.pdf |access-date=2024-11-27 |magazine=Air Force Magazine |pages=78–86 |volume=87 |issue=8}} and the Algerian War.{{Cite magazine |last=Stora |first=Benjamin |author-link=Benjamin Stora |date=October 2007 |title=Avoir 20 ans en Kabylie |trans-title=Being 20 years old in Kabylie |url=https://www.lhistoire.fr/avoir-20-ans-en-kabylie |access-date=2024-11-27 |magazine=L'Histoire |pages=28–29 |language=fr |issue=324}}{{Cite thesis |last=Kellou |first=Dorothee M. |title=A Microhistory of the Forced Resettlement of the Algerian Muslim Population During the Algerian War of Independence (1954–1962): Mansourah, Kabylia |date=2012-04-18 |access-date=2024-11-27 |degree=MA |publisher=Georgetown University |url=https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/bitstream/handle/10822/557506/Kellou_georgetown_0076M_11824.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y}} At first, the canisters were simply pushed out the cargo doors of transport planes, such as the Amiot AAC.1;{{Cite web |last=Forsgren |first=Jan |date=2022-02-07 |title=Cold War History: French Ju 52s |url=https://www.key.aero/article/cold-war-history-french-ju-52s |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=Key Aero}} later mostly B-26 bombers were used.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

Peruvian forces employed napalm throughout the 1960s against both communist insurgents and the Matsés indigenous group; four prominent Matsés villages were bombed during the 1964 Matsés massacres.{{cite book |last1=Colby |first1=Gerard |author-link1=Gerard Colby |url=https://archive.org/details/ConquestOfTheAmazon |title=Thy Will Be Done – The Conquest of the Amazon: Nelson Rockefeller and Evangelism in the Age of Oil |last2=Dennett |first2=Charlotte |date=1995 |publisher=HarperPerennial |isbn=978-0-06-016764-6 |location=New York |page=466, 491-493 |via=Internet Archive}}

From 1968–1978, Rhodesia produced a variant of napalm for use in the Rhodesian Bush War,{{Cite book |last= |first= |title=Fireforce Exposed: Rhodesian Security Forces and Their Role in Defending White Supremacy |publisher=The Anti-Apartheid Movement |year=1979 |isbn=978-0-900065-04-0 |location=London |pages=39–40}} nicknamed Frantan (short for "frangible tank").{{cite book |last=Petter-Bowyer |first=P.J.H |title=Winds of Destruction: the Autobiography of a Rhodesian Combat Pilot |publisher=30° South Publishers |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-9584890-3-4 |edition=2nd |location=Johannesburg}} Around the same time, its ally South Africa targeted guerrilla bases in Angola with napalm during the South African Border War.{{cite book |last=Nortje |first=Piet |title=32 Battalion: The Inside Story of South Africa's Elite Fighting Unit |publisher=Zebra Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-86872-914-2 |location=New York |page=158}}{{Cite journal |last=Baines |first=Gary |year=2012 |title=Vietnam Analogies and Metaphors: The Cultural Codification of South Africa's Border War |journal=Safundi |volume=12 |issue=1–2 |pages=73–90 |doi=10.1080/17533171.2011.642591}}

In 2018, Turkey was accused of using napalm in Operation Olive Branch against Kurdish nationalist groups.{{cite web |last=Dettmer |first=Jamie |date=2018-01-28 |title=Kurds Accuse Turks of Dropping Napalm |url=https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/kurds-accuse-turks-dropping-napalm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925211954/https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/kurds-accuse-turks-dropping-napalm/ |archive-date=25 September 2020 |access-date=8 August 2020 |website=Voice of America}}

File:The Terror of War.jpg, burned with napalm at the age of 9 during the Vietnam War (1973).]]

When used as a part of an incendiary weapon, napalm causes severe burns. During combustion, napalm deoxygenates the available air and generates carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, so asphyxiation, loss of consciousness, and death are also possible. One napalm firebomb released from a low-flying plane can damage an area of {{convert|2500|sqyd|m2|sp=us|order=flip}}. Napalm is lethal even for dug-in enemy personnel, as it flows into foxholes, tunnels, and bunkers, and drainage and irrigation ditches and other improvised troop shelters. Even people in undamaged shelters can be killed by hyperthermia, radiant heat, dehydration, asphyxiation, smoke exposure, or carbon monoxide poisoning.{{Cite web |last=Vearrier |first=David |date=2022-03-02 |editor-last=Dembek |editor-first=Zygmunt F. |title=Napalm Exposure |url=https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/833665-overview |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=eMedicine}} Crews of armored fighting vehicles are also vulnerable, due to the intense heat conducted through the armor. Even in the case of a near miss, the heat can be enough to disable a vehicle.{{cite book |last=Kayne |first=Seymour M. |chapter=Napalm |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/DTIC_ADA057762/page/n185 |title=Encyclopedia of Explosives and Related Items |publisher=Picatinny Arsenal |year=1974 |volume=8 |location=Morris County, New Jersey |pages=N2–N3 |lccn=61-61759 |via=Internet Archive}}

International law does not specifically prohibit the use of napalm or other incendiaries against military targets, but use against civilian populations was banned under Protocol III of the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons in 1980, which entered into force as international law in December 1983.{{Cite web |last1=Docherty |first1=Bonnie |last2=Shortell |first2=Erin |last3=Macgale |first3=Jamie |last4=Chugh |first4=Aanchal |last5=Rather |first5=Shaiba |date=2020-11-09 |editor-last=Goose |editor-first=Steve |editor2-last=Wareham |editor2-first=Mary |title=They Burn Through Everything": The Human Cost of Incendiary Weapons and the Limits of International Law |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/11/09/they-burn-through-everything/human-cost-incendiary-weapons-and-limits |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=Human Rights Watch}}{{Cite web |last=Boddy |first=Alexis |date=2024-10-22 |editor-last=Joseph |editor-first=James |title=The Indiscriminate Danger of White Phosphorus: Exploring Its Use and Legal Status in Modern Warfare |url=https://www.jurist.org/features/2024/10/22/the-indiscriminate-danger-of-white-phosphorus-exploring-its-use-and-legal-status-in-modern-warfare/ |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=Jurist News}} As of January 2023, 126 countries have ratified Protocol III.{{cite web |title=Convention On Prohibitions Or Restrictions On The Use Of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed To Be Excessively Injurious Or To Have Indiscriminate Effects (With Protocols I, II And III) |url=https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/MTDSG/Volume%20II/Chapter%20XXVI/XXVI-2.en.pdf |accessdate=14 January 2023 |publisher=United Nations, Treaty Series , vol. 1342 |page=137}}

• {{annotated link|Flame fougasse}}
• {{annotated link|Greek fire}}
• {{annotated link|M69 incendiary}}
• {{annotated link|Mark 77 bomb}}
• {{annotated link|Molotov cocktail}}
• {{annotated link|Napalm Sticks to Kids|quote=yes}}
• {{annotated link|Triethylaluminium}}
• {{annotated link|White phosphorus munition}}

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{{Commons category|Napalm}}

• {{YouTube|nqEy5NjJOrY|Hawker Tempest WW II testing including Napalm dropping}}

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