Lagonda flamethrower

It was believed that it would act as a deterrent to Luftwaffe dive-bombers targeting the lightly defended Merchant Navy ships and coastal bases of the Fleet Air Arm.

Designs were solicited from a number of sources, and the feasibility of the plans received was checked by a panel of consultants brought in from the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company.

According to Gerald Pawle, an engineer working on the project, the Lagonda flamethrower impressed and frightened staff officers invited to watch the demonstrations.

Further refinements were made to the design which increased its effective range to 200 feet (61 m), though a much larger quantity of fuel was needed to maintain the flame for any significant period of time.

When the RAF pilot arrived, the team responsible for the construction of the flamethrower, worried that the weapon would prove too effective, briefed him on exactly what he could expect to happen.

The pilot chosen for the runs had worked in a circus prior to the war, driving cars through rings and walls of fire on a regular basis.

In the belief that the Luftwaffe would have very few men with circus experience, limited production of the Lagonda naval flamethrower began, with weapons being installed onto coasters working in and around the River Thames.

While the installed flamethrowers did not produce a single confirmed enemy casualty before the end of the war, information gathered by the British Secret Intelligence Service suggested that the weapons had two noticeable effects upon the German armed forces.

The Bedford Cockatrice was ordered for the defence of the coastal bases of the Fleet Air Arm in the event of glider- or parachute-dropped invasion troops.

It was estimated that such troops would need roughly one minute upon landing to detach themselves from their equipment and open fire, and so the Cockatrice was believed to be the ideal fast-response defence vehicle, able to kill or terrorise into surrender a force of the small size expected to be attacking such remote airfields.