Return Of Armour Is Outstanding Feature Of This War

Taranaki Daily News, 31 August 1942, Page 2

Return Of Armour Is Outstanding Feature Of This War

AN outstanding feature of this war has been the increased use qf armoured protection, not only for warships— which monopolised this form of defence over a long period —but also for fighting vehicles, gu'ns, aircraft, men. It would almost seem that here we have a complete revolution in military methods, a virtual return to the system of the Middle Ages, when knights were bold, thanks to their shrewd assemblage of ironmongery. It is a revolution that has already borne its fruits in phenomenally low casualty-lists, and we owe it to the painstaking labours of our scientists in recent times, writes Donald Cowle in the sPhere- . . „ u Armour went out originally because it was too cumbersome and heavy, and those factors have governed its use ever since. Is it realised that a typical warship of fifty years ago carried armour plates no less than 24in. thick, and it was considered by experts then that any more armour would so reduce the speed of naval vessels that it would not be worth carrying? The trouble was that in those days it was impossible to increase the strengch of armour save by thickening it. No wonder the device

was all but abandoned for the purposes of land warfare. Men couldn't carry the weight of metal required to resist a bullet. Cavalry were the last to wear armour, those glittering cuirasses familiar to Horse Guards visitors, and the horses could take the strain, but 'soon the vulnerability of the animals themselves put an end to that. The soldier retained only one piece of metalled protection— his tin hat, Nucleus of Revolution. And that very tin hat contained the nucleus of the revolution which is here described. A young man named Robert Hadfield had experimented with a hard black mineral known as manganese, eventually producing a steel alloy which was not only tougher and stronger, but also lighter than any used before. Throughout the last war our Tommies unconsciously experimented with this, because their ugly but surprisingly efficient tin hats had been made of it. That is not all. Other nations had also been busily at work in their laboratories. Harvey, aa American, had invented a method of toughening steel by introducing carbon; Krupps, in Germany, had gone farther still by adding chromium to the nickel-carbon steel to produce what is known as cemented armour. The crux of the matter is, however, that Hadfield had demonstrated how steel could be toughened without increasing its weight. By working on that idea, scientists in recent times have produced alloys which can be used without undue inconvenience on the battlefield as armoured protection. Still it is doubtful whether even that metallurgical revolution would have made much difference but for the coincident development of the petroi engine- Here was a' means of reintroducing the cavalry principle along with the new, lighter armour. Tanks, cars, tractors— not to mention aircraft— jumped into the martial place previously occupied by the medieval charger. The growing importance of armour is demonstrated particularly by the evolution of the tank. At first this weapon was irresistible because the defence, with ordinary rifles and guns designed for other purposes, could not penetrate its armour. At the end of the last war, however, the Germans were developing useful anti-tank weapons, and most experts came to the conclusion that the vehicles must in future rely upon mobility for defence. So we all concentrated in the interregnum upon light, speedy tanks. The Germans discovered that mistake first, in their attack on Poland. As a -esult they took the drastic step of

gcrapping many of their tanks' ®n^ th,rougho\it the foolish winter of 19^9-49 they worked feverishly on tlie construction of heavier modols and on incicasin^ the armour of lighter ones. We were fir^ally galled to learn that the enemy had obtained much of his formidable new armour from the Pol-dino-Hut factory at Kladno, near Prague, and at Vitkovice, in Moravia. It was called "cancrete steel," and would resist the fire of llin. anti-tank weapons at 200 metres. So, ever since them, the Powers have been concentrating upon heavier and heavier armour for tanks, wit'n a resulting increase in the vehicle s size. It is not permitted to give the exact resistant qualities of our new models, but photographs demonstrate clearly enough the strength of their allenveloping armour. Particular attention to strength of armoured protection has also been paid by the Americans in the design of their mass-production 25-ton model, now rolling in increasing numbers from the Chrysler lines eveiy day. Host of Protected Vehicles. But the "armour-idea" has gone farther than that during this overturning war. Once upon a time the "armoured car" was something of a curiosity. Today it has become the only type of car used by the military during operations. From the original armoured car and such vehicles as the Bren carrier have evolved a host of steel-protected lorries, tractors, two-seaters, ambulances, wireless cars— in fact, all the panoply of the newlyemerged armoured division. Even the Home Guard places thin, but amazingly tough plates of the new steel alloys round private cars and motor-buses. The fighting motor-cyclist has become a posBibility, and rushes for ward with a light plate in front to give him surprisingly adequate protection. Nor does the modern knight in armour rely upon steel alone. The armour idea has been extended in our time to many other substances. We have heard about the bullet-proof tyres and glass on our fighting vehicles and aircraft. Once a new idea has been accepted, its use extends widely. Thus we find increasing attention being paid to arm-our-protection for gun crews both ashore and afloat. Casemates and shields were formeriy fitted on large guns only, but to-day we find them used with the smallest weapons, particularly with automatics like the Bren, Lewis, Hotchkiss and Vickers. On the larger guns the plates were normally about one inch in thickness, affording protection against shell fragments and rifle fire. But the employment of new alloys has enabled thinner plates to be fitted for many purposes, and there has been much experimenlation recently in shapes.

To-day you will find the light gunners on our ships standing in exposed positions and calmly holding their fire until attacking aircraft are well within range. They can do ' this thanks to the clever chield attached to their machine-guns, some protecting them from head to feet, others guarding head alone, while a few are designed in vanes, each providing a cubicle to be occupied for different angles of fire. All this started when the Nazis began their game of raking the exposed decks of ships with machinegun fire, but it is fundamentally part of the wider move to employ more armour. Flying Tanks? Armour in aircraft was formeriy impossible on account of the weight, but the new alloys have agair, effected an important revolution, so much so that the fighters and bombers of to-morrow may be veritable flying tanks. The marriage of the tank and the aeroplane may indeed be one of the culminating wonders ' of this war- It all started, strangely enough, when our pilots began shooting at Messerschmitt attackers from below and in a vulnerable part not only of those aircraft but also of the tender Boche anatomy ! The next batch of Messerschmitts came out with armoured seats, and a race began between German and British designers to decide who could build the best-protected aircraft! The improvement of the cannon-gun has, however, had a fundamental influence on this trend. And now for the real knights in armour. Is there any likelihood of providing individual men with armoured protection? Official opinion still seems to be that there isn't much hope. But the Germans have already experimented with bullet-proof duralumin breastplates for Storm-troopers, and it would be as well to keep an open mind on the subject, with ceaseless experiment to ascertain whether light alloys could not solve the problem. During the last war it took two years to convince the War Office that a shrapnel helmet might be practicable. One medical specialist in this country has for long been advocating the use of light chest-armour, based on his experience that most chest-wound casualties of 1914-18 died of haemorrhage while in the trenches. How many stories have we heard of cigarette-cases and wallets in breastpockets deflecting a bullet and so saving a man's precious life? Yet another idea with which the scientists have been experimenting is a visor for the eyes, to guard against splinters. That the armour idea will spread still further is unquestionable. The speed of developments will be governed by only two factors — first, progress of research in metallurgy, especially towards redueing the weight of protective plates; and segond. readiness of the authorities to forget old prejudices and adopt new ideas.