Yeah, for us a torch is something with an open flame--like the torches in brackets at Hogwarts or the Olympic torch. Or the sort of hand held torch one might have grabbed back in the day to head down into the catacombs.

As said, the British 'torch' is equivalent to our 'flashlight'.

I've heard many a British climber call their headlamps 'headtorches', but it still sounds funny. : )