The Washington times., 1920-07-03
BO OK S

MODERN WARFARE. BY Bashford
Dean. New Haven: Yale University
Press.
The late war wrought many
changes in military tactics and
weapons. but probably the most
interesting developments were along
the lines of a return 10 prac-
tices long considered obsolete. Ar
NOR as a means OF protection for
the soldier was commonly consid-
cred to have been rendered useless
by the perfection of firearms and
even before this period historians
have spoken of English archers who
had attained such proficiency with
yew bow and cloth yard shaft as to
bring the heavy armored knight
crashing from his horse.
In an interesting and handsomely
printed volume, Bashford Dean,
curator of armor Of the Metropoli-
tan Museum of Art. relates the story
OF the revival of armor in the late
war. Every one is familiar with
the helmets, the Tin hats" worn
by the soldiers of all armies in the
great struggle, but less is known
of Developments along the lines Of
affording protection to the vulner-
able portions of the body. While
many devices for the protection of
the torso, arms and legs were
given trials. they were uniformly
rejected because they hampered the
movements OF the soldiers to such
an extent as to outweigh the value
of protection rendered. Only in the
case Of machine gunners, operators
.of tanks. and men on sentinel duty,
where there was no necessity
for entire freedom of action. did
body armor prove Of practical serv-
ice.
1t was different in the case of the
helmet. Early in the war it was
discovered that very light steel
helmet was proof against the aver
age projectile Of low and middle
velocity, and often detected high
velocity bullets. The French appear
to have been first 10 adopt the he'll
met in actual service. notably
through the efforts of General
Adrian. Talking to a soldier who
attributed his escape from death TO
a metal mess bowl which he carried
in his hat, the general was deeply
impressed. and at once attacked the
problem of head defense. He had
steel Innings for caps made, and
had them tried out at the front.
Good reports coming in from their
use he developed regular helmet,
which was manufactured in great
numbers. and became a part of the
equipment OF each soldier.
At first their use was the cause of
considerable grumblng. and some
IA
of casualties with head wounds in
creased considerably in the hospi-
tails. but the advocates of the he'll
NETS countered with the statement
that the vast percentage Of those
who were formerly wounded in the
head did not live to get to the hos
pital
- plates in the book show that
nSrly all successful modern armor
is based on some ancient piece.
When America entered the war she
needed millions of helmets at once.
so the British type was adopted
until such time when type dis
tinctively American could be devel-
oped. To this end the Government
called DR.. Dean to its assistance
as the foremost authority in this
country on the subject. He was
given the rank of major and put in
command of the Helmets and Body
Armor Unit. Engineering Division.
Ordnance, United States Army and
whatever progress WAS made by
America in the perfection OF armor
was due largely TO him.
His training as an expert in an
cient armor was OF great assistance
to him in developing armor for
models aplenty at hand in the
Metropolitan Museum. which has a
notable collection of fifteenth cen
tury armor. period when the
craftsmanship OF the armorer
reached the peak of perfection.
So far. the Germsns seemed to
have developed the best helmet.
though 1t was heavier than either
the French or the British. Major
Dean was confronted with the prob
lem of devising a helmet as good or
better than the German, with less
weight, and which would not re-
scnible too closely that OF the
enemy. After much experimental
ton Major Dean produced hcl-
met providing as much protection
as the German. and which could not
be confused with II.
Brcastplates and helmets were
also provided for use OF sem
tineIs. snipers, machine gunnors in
exposed positions, and men on
duty in listening posts, all of which
were patterned after some ancient
piece in the museum. Aviators and
men on tank service wcro looked
after, too. The aviation helmet
gave considerable trouble, as II had
TO be tight fitting to resist the rush
OF air encountered in dying. once
again the museum was drawn on
for model. and a successful he'll
met was provided for our aviatorl.