Body Armour in the Canadian Froces....first use?

[brettm]

My first post and a previous topic has me interested in when the Canadian Military first issued body armour.

Having served in the Middle East in the late 70's with the United Nations there was no armour and the equipment in general was a lot to be desired. However the conditions in which we operated were certainly not 'combat' zones as they are today.

 

[Michael Dorosh]

My first post and a previous topic has me interested in when the Canadian Military first issued body armour.

Having served in the Middle East in the late 70's with the United Nations there was no armour and the equipment in general was a lot to be desired. However the conditions in which we operated were certainly not 'combat' zones as they are today.

Medical Research Council body armour was issued in 1942 to the British Army and sometime before June 1944 to the Canadians.  Blackburn mentions it in his trilogy of auto-biographical books WHERE THE HELL ARE THE GUNS, THE GUNS OF NORMANDY, and THE GUNS OF VICTORY - he was an artilleryman in NW Europe.

See the following page at my site for details of issue: http://www.canadiansoldiers.com/equipment/mrc.htm

 

[Art Johnson]

Although not issued by the army private purchase body armour was used by some soldiers in WW I. We have an example on display in our museum.

Aye Dileas

 

[pbi]

I believe that, as Art states, armoured "cuirasses" and face shields were issued to some snipers in WWI. As well, although not strictly "body" armour, I believe we also experimented briefly with an entrenching tool that could double as a small armoured screen for a soldier firing over the trench parapet. No doubt it didn't do either job very well.

Cheers

 

[Michael Dorosh]

I believe that, as Art states, armoured "cuirasses" and face shields were issued to some snipers in WWI. As well, although not strictly "body" armour, I believe we also experimented briefly with an entrenching tool that could double as a small armoured screen for a soldier firing over the trench parapet. No doubt it didn't do either job very well.

Cheers

What about the MacAdam shovel?

 

[TangoTwoBravo]

In more recent times, I believe that the CF had the US pattern (Vietnam vintage) frag vest through till the early 90s.  They were seen on course from time to time, but I am unsure of when and where they were worn on operations. 

In 1991 a newer style of fragmentation vest was procured and it soon saw use in Bosnia/Croatia (and possibly elsewhere).  I would hazard a guess that Bosnia/Croatia were the first deployments with widespread use of body armour, but I could be wrong.  In the mid-90s the load bearing vest was introduced with sleeves for ceramic plate inserts (front and back).  You wore this vest over the frag vest to give additional protection to the torso.  I have heard this combo called the "Gen II", but that may be a colloquialism.  By 2002 the newer "Gen III" vest was used on operations (but not necessarily on all operations).  This is a new fragmentation vest that incorporates two "pockets" for the insertion of plates.

Cheers,

2B

 

[Journeyman]

...we also experimented briefly with an entrenching tool that could double as a small armoured screen....

....No doubt it didn't do either job very well.

Ah yes, the McAdam Entrenching Tool. A small shovel with a hole in the middle. Patented by Militia Minister Sam Hughes' private secretary, Edna McAdam, herself. (Gee, a potential government conflict-of-interest issue. Imagine.  :  )

Actually it sucked horribly as both a shovel and a shield. But if you were issued that e-tool and a Ross rifle, you could always beat yourself to death with the shovel before the Germans killed you. 

 

[Matt_Fisher]

As 2Bravo points out, I too remember seeing pictures of Canadian troops with Canadian designed/produced body armor issued during the 1991 period, but I specifically remember seeing pics of troops stationed in Qatar as part of Canada's Gulf War contingent with the frag. vests.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

We were issued various types of body armour to trial when I went to Germany in 84, the Israeli stuff was the best to wear, but we knew they would not pick it. One vest was a pull over, that likely gave you good protection, but caused you to waddle from it’s weight.

 

[3rd Herd]

Ah yes, the McAdam Entrenching Tool. A small shovel with a hole in the middle. Patented by Militia Minister Sam Hughes' private secretary, Edna McAdam, herself. (Gee, a potential government conflict-of-interest issue. Imagine.  :  )

Actually it sucked horribly as both a shovel and a shield. But if you were issued that e-tool and a Ross rifle, you could always beat yourself to death with the shovel before the Germans killed you.   

Add to the list boots made of cardboard which melted off the feet of CEF soldiers arriving in England due to the rain, "some lasting only ten days" resulting in an unusual order " each unit commander was required to render a certificate 'that every man is in possession of a service pair of Imperial pattern Army boots'."

  There were other problems – many of them. Overseas, though Hughes continually boasted of the superiority of Canadian equipment over British issue, Alderson had had to replace the 1st Division’s boots (developed for use in the South African War), webbing, and other equipment before the troops left for the front. In their first battle in the Ypres salient, their Ross rifles failed. “It is nothing short of murder to send our men against the enemy with such a weapon,” one officer reported.
Source: www.mdn.ca/dhh/downloads/Official_Histories/CEF_e.PDF

"Canadian troops were already anxiously confiscating Lee Enfield rifles from  British soldiers that had been killed during battle." and almost forty year later in Korea a US army officer complains" where are the weapons of my causalties" to an officer of the PPCLI.

  "The first troops to land in Korea were from the 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. Never in Canadian military history had a unit been so ill-equipped for battle. This seemed to be the norm for the rest of the conflict. Once in-theatre, due to the poor equipment available to them, Canadian troops would trade with their American counterparts for weapons and clothing."

Source:  Gomm W. C.,  R. K.  Moran, Corporals "The Corporals' Report"   
             Army Doctrine and Technical Bulletin (ADTB)

Welcome to Canada eh!