Description
Physical description
armoured vest (front & back sections)
two-piece (front and back) armoured vest made of metal plates secured in individual panels and covered in heavy mid-brown duck material. Both sections fit together at the shoulder and can be released by lift the dot fixings and there is an additional belt fitted to the upper abdomen.
History note
Second World War period USAAF-issue protective body-armour. Due to the effectiveness of German defensive fire, crews of USAAF bombers sustained high casualty rates. Seventy per cent of those killed or wounded were as a result of being hit by low velocity fragments; therefore the ability to provide protection was encouraged. 8th Air Force surgeon, Colonel Malcolm Grow developed, alongside the British Wilkinson Sword Company, a solution in the form of an armoured vest. Made of two pieces, the vest comprised a front and back and featured several 2inch-square manganese steel plates encased in pockets and covered in heavy duck material. Trialled in 1942, the first sets were delivered for operational use in March 1943. The first 600 sets were produced in England and samples were sent to the USA so that production could as a priority begin there. (US manufactured pieces were covered with dark green material).
Issued to gunners, navigators, bombardiers and radio operators (ball turret gunners and those working in upper turrets had no such protection) the Flyer's Vest, M1 was undeniably heavy and cumbersome, however it successfully saved lives. The casualty rates of men not wearing flak protection were 36% killed and 69% wounded. With armoured vest protection casualties were dramatically reduced: only 18% were killed, 13% wounded. An impressive 69% vests that were struck resulted in their wearers being unscathed. Men soon overcame their reluctance to wear the heavy (7kg) vests and quickly learned to don them only when under fire to avoid unnecessary exhaustion knowing they could jettison the entire system by a quick release action in case of an emergency.
In addition to the vest, an abdomen plate was produced of similar construction, the first being the Flyer's Apron M3. Other models for both vest and abdomen protection were put into production, but 338,780 M1 vests were made with a further 142,814 M3 aprons.