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Flame thrower's cap

Found on Monte Grappa, a hood and a glove used by the Flammieri, the first units to use flamethrowers, new and devastating weapons of the Great War.

The Kleinflammenwerfer, the smallest flamethrower, required only one man to operate and its tongues of flame reached 18m in distance, fuelled by compressed air, carbon dioxide and nitrogen.
Anyone using a Flammenwerfer could easily turn into a devastating human bomb, as well as suddenly explode due to a well-aimed enemy rifle shot. If the soldier was then hit, he could mistakenly direct the tongues of flame at his comrades. 

A very dangerous weapon, with devastating psychological power.

Because of its brutality, capturde operators were often executed on the spot. Quoting sources of the time, "no mercy was shown to those who had no mercy". The suits used by these assault troops consisted of gloves, hood and tunic made of asbestos fibre, a widely used material during the Great War.

After washing the objects from the earth with the appropriate precautions and safety devices, I used a spray silicone to block the metal fibres and carefully placed the objects in a sealed case.

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