The invincible battalion, US soldiers in Okinawa

The flamethrower tank had a high psychological impact on the battlefield. According to the American soldiers in Okinawa, the value of the flame throwing tanks was very important, because of their ability to dislodge Japanese soldiers from their trenches, so that the infantry could clear the area.

The results obtained by the  713th Armored Flamethrower Battalion in Okinawa from April 7th to June 30th, 1945 were incredible. 

The battalion was credited with the deaths of 4,788 and the capture of 49 enemy soldiers, not including Japanese soldiers killed by escort infantry or those estimated to be trapped in caves or fortifications.

Image D.Miller

These numbers can be contrasted with the battalion's losses of only seven dead and one missing in combat, which demonstrates the destruction capacity of the flamethrower tank and its survival on the battlefield. Of the 54 M4-Sherman tanks that started the campaign, 41 were hit and 26 of them returned to combat.

On the last day of the operation, June 30, 1945, the battalion had 37 operating tanks and two other tanks under maintenance (713th AAR, 6-38). The ingenuity and hard work of the mechanics kept the battalion more than 70% operational after more than three months of fighting. None of the flame throwing tanks could be replaced because there were no others in Okinawa.

Source

US Flamethrower Tanks of World War II. Bloomsbury Publishing