 It was not until 1911 that the German Army accepted their first real flamethrowing device, creating a specialist regiment of twelve companies equipped with "Flammenwerferapparaten".Despite this, use of fire in a World War I battle predated flamethrower use, with a petrol spray being ignited by an incendiary bomb in the Argonne-Meuse sector in October 1914.The flamethrower was first used in World War I on February 26, 1915, when it was briefly used against the French outside Verdun.