Bullet-proof Officer's Tunic

[MikB]

anyone can write a testimonial which is not signed at all, and I assume only unpopular officers would buy one of these jackets: why else would you want one that would resist bullets manufactured by your own side?

cheers Martin B

That is a very valid point. Jerry's 9mm pistol round, though not such a good stopper of the unprotected human, could probably out-penetrate the 455 by a factor of 2 or more. In fact the 455 was probably one of the least capable penetrators on standard issue - except perhaps for the French 8mm revolver round.

Being hit by any handgun round was an event of very small probability compared to rifle-calibre rounds and most especially shell splinters from artillery. It may be that prospective purchasers didn't generally know that rifle-calibre rounds were more powerful than revolver by a factor of 10 or more, but shrapnel balls were much more comparable, so it's less surprising that testimonials came from individuals saved from these by the tunic.

After all, those hit by rifle rounds, or shell splinters at close range, weren't doing much writing...

Regards,

MikB

[truthergw]

I wonder how many were bought by mums, wives or sweethearts?

[Lancashire Fusilier]

A real cool dude - he even has armoured sun glasses

Apparently, armoured goggles were offered for sale in WW1.

[Seadog]

Everything evolves with time and technology. What we see here are the attempts to protect the soldier from threats that could be anticipated at the time. The fact that under certain circumstances these devices did work as evidenced by the experience of Capt Kinred of the Glosters. Today we see very sophisticated versions of body armour and there are numerous cases of this saving the wearer from serious injury or worse.

Norman