GERMANS IN ARMOUR

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20072, 19 October 1939, Page 7

GERMANS IN ARMOUR

NEW WEAPONS OF WAR BALLOONS THAT EXPLODE LONDON, Oct. 13. Italian newspapers assert that German “shock troops” are equipped with ingeniously jointed bullet-proof duralumin armour, comprising a breastplate, shield, and helmet with visor and cheek-pieces. They are also equipped with sub-machine-guns and large broacl-bladed daggers. When these armoured infantrymen j first appeared, it is reported, the I French mistook the shining metal .bodies for gas cylinders and donned -gas masks. "Wasp’s nests”—-miniature steel fortresses* with deadly fire power—are another novelty. They are designed to catch enemy reconnoitring parties unawares. They consist of four men, with shields, accompanying an armoured motor-cycle, which carries a heavy machine-gun with a portable mounting machine-rifle affixed to the handlebars and two repeating rifles. A third novelty consists of balloons, which can be exploded at various heights by ground observers. The Germans claim that the explosion of one of these balloons has brought down at least one French aeroplane. The Allied High Command is reported not to be impressed by the reports that German shock troops are wearing bullet-proof armour. The British Army is not issuing armour to thq. infantry, apart from the regulation steel helmet. The Times recalls the unsuccessful trial of steel chestplates in the last war.