Thomas Wictor
Red Army Technical Detachment
After the November Revolution of 1917 and the formation of the Workers' and Peasants Red Army on January 28, 1918, there was no centralized authority to direct gas and flame units.
Instead, individual Red formations created their own Technical Detachments and armed them with leftover Tsarist weapons. This six-man detachment photographed in early 1918 consists of infantrymen and sappers. At most they would be armed with two portable flamethrowers and no gas cylinders.
It wasn't until January 1919 that the Red Army formed its first dedicated flamethrower units.
Red Army Technical Detachment
After the November Revolution of 1917 and the formation of the Workers' and Peasants Red Army on January 28, 1918, there was no centralized authority to direct gas and flame units.
Instead, individual Red formations created their own Technical Detachments and armed them with leftover Tsarist weapons. This six-man detachment photographed in early 1918 consists of infantrymen and sappers. At most they would be armed with two portable flamethrowers and no gas cylinders.
It wasn't until January 1919 that the Red Army formed its first dedicated flamethrower units.