The history of body armour - Maximum Protection

//GM APRIL 2024 – MILITARIA – RE-ENACTMENT – 3 PAGES//

Since the very earliest of times, soldiers have sought to protect themselves against the effects of enemy weapons by wearing some type of armour. There is much historical evidence to illustrate what they wore, such as leather and bronze protection in the ancient Egyptian and Greek cultures. During the period of the Roman army, circa 700 BC to circa 600 AD, different types of armour evolved, including ‘lorica hamata’ (chain mail) and ‘lorica squamata’ (lamella or scale). The more familiar ‘lorica segmentata’ was then adopted.

Early armour development

Over the centuries, complete suits of armour were developed for the nobility, but the poor men-at-arms had to wear padded jerkins, known as gambeson. By the 18th century, infantry had all but ceased the wearing of armour on the battlefield, and only certain cavalry regiments, such as the French Cuirassiers, would continue to wear breastplates into the First World War. The wearing of helmets had also stopped and with increasingly powerful rifles being developed, the infantry was exposed and vulnerable. This became a problem when WWI stagnated to become trench warfare, as snipers shot unwary sentries on lookout duties. To provide some protection, some armies at the time introduced body armour, and steel helmets began to come back into service from around 1916.

Partial protection

The Italian army issued a range of designs, some of which gave the wearer the appearance of a medieval knight. For example, the Arditi (meaning The Daring Ones) wore Farina helmets and carried knives or clubs to raid enemy trenches, which completed the image. The Germans developed a range of body armour and armour brow plates, known as Stirnpanzer, to be attached to the front of helmets to improve protection. The body armour was known variously as Brustpanzer, Sappenpanzer or Grabbenpanzer.

The design of the breastplate, made from 22mm thick steel, had shaped pieces which fitted over the wearer’s shoulders and were secured in place by leather straps. The lower abdomen, extending into the groin area, was protected by plates suspended by leather straps and the internal face, next to the wearer’s body, was lined with felt. Weighing between 20 and 24 lbs, perhaps as many as 500,000 items were produced from 1916, being issued to sentries and observers. Whilst it would have afforded some protection against small arms and shrapnel, its design of steel would have been wickedly cold to wear during the winter. The Stirnpanzer was attached to the helmet by means of slots that fitted over lugs, which projected from the helmet, and secured at the rear by a leather strap.

Some 50,000 of these items were produced and whilst offering protection, each added a further 4.5 lbs to the wearer’s head, which had to be supported by the neck. These protective measures probably did save lives, but the bulky designs meant they were not universally popular. The equipment did influence the British and French armies to consider body armour and whilst some types did make an appearance, they were not taken forward. Some re-enactment groups depicting German troops wear good quality replica examples of the Grabbenpanzer armour and Stirnpanzer, which are points of interest for visitors to see at an event.

These items are frequently seen in museums and collectors may have an example if they are fortunate enough to have tracked one down. They also extend their interest to body armour from WWII and later developments as worn in Vietnam, Northern Ireland, and Afghanistan. Such collections are fascinating to examine to see how textiles and materials led to a transition from steel to ballistic nylon, ceramic plates, and eventually Kevlar, plus other lightweight designs. The period of WWII is a particularly rich area for body armour, which includes some surprising developments from countries such as Japan and even Russia.

Different countries, different styles

The body armour used by the Japanese between 1941 and 1945, and even earlier during the war in China, varied in style from waistcoat, front-buttoning style, through to harness-type. These items were almost certainly not standard issue and may have been intended for use by high-ranking officers. Wartime photographs show some troops serving with units of Japanese Marines wearing body armour, usually of a bib or apron style, which slipped over the head and protected the chest and lower abdomen. These items are quite unusual and when they come up for sale they become of interest to collectors.

The Russian military expanded greatly during WWII, with the army numbering 500 divisions alone by 1945. Naturally, not all these millions could be issued with body armour but those troops serving in vital roles might have been fortunate to receive an issue of type known as Stalnoi Nagrudnik, with several designs being developed to afford extra protection. Made from steel plates up to 2.2mm in thickness and weighing almost 8 lbs, they offered protection against 9mm rounds at ranges of over 100m. They were valued by troops engaged in fighting in built-up areas, but they were not designed for tactical movements, such as crawling, because the weight and bulk hampered the wearer.

Even improved versions, such as the SN46, were not sufficient to stop the standard German army 178-grain 7.92mm bullet with a muzzle velocity of 2,620 fps. The Germans are known to have captured examples and produced copies, but these were not widely issued. For this reason, collectors value examples of this equipment, especially the German copies. Replica examples of WWII body armour are available from various outlets such as Soldier of Fortune (www.sofmilitary.co.uk), which produces the type as used by the British Airborne. These can be used by re-enactment groups on static displays to show uniforms and equipment of the period.

Flying suits and flak jackets

Aircrews serving in bombers, such as the Lancaster and B-17, benefitted from a type of body armour as designed and developed by Brigadier-General Malcolm C. Grow of the USAAF in conjunction with the British company of Wilkinson Sword. Grow had served during WWI, and between 1934 and 1939 he was flight surgeon to the US Army Air Corps. Startled by the growing casualty rates among bomber crews, he devised an idea for a flak suit to protect them. In October 1942, Grow and Wilkinson Sword produced a design using manganese steel plates, weighing 20 lbs, which covered the wearer’s chest and lower abdominal area down to the groin. It could stop a .45 calibre bullet at ‘close range’ but against heavier calibre projectiles the best it could do was offer some reduction in lethal wounding. Nevertheless, it proved popular and by 1944 around 13,500 sets were produced, with the RAF using the equipment and the USAAF being issued with some 9,600 examples. For his work in developing this piece of equipment which reduced casualties, Grow was awarded the US Legion of Merit. This is another exciting item of interest to collectors and from it, future designs in body armour would emerge.

Throughout the 1950s, the US Military introduced a series of flak jackets, such as the M-1955, said to be able to stop a Soviet 7.62x25mm 90-grain round from a Tokarev pistol. However, it could not stop the high-powered 7.62x39mm AK-47 round. Whilst not perfect, it did reduce serious wounding, which led to improved developments that would be used during the Vietnam War, such as the Fragmentation Protective Vest M-69, which had 12 layers of ballistic nylon and weighed 8 lbs.

The American company DuPont developed ballistic nylon, and the British army, learning from the American experience, issued their troops with ballistic nylon flak jackets when the troubles erupted in Northern Ireland. These items gave a degree of protection against some types of ammunition and were worn by foot patrols on the streets and drivers of vehicles on journeys between bases. In 1965, DuPont made another breakthrough in ballistic protection with the development of Kevlar, which led to the development of ever-increasingly effective levels of ballistic protection, like the type worn by the troops serving in Afghanistan. In turn, such progress continues to hold the interest of collectors and re-enactors alike.