The Spectator at war: Armour and shields

From ‘Armour and Shields’, The Spectator, 17 July 1915:

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Alexander Larman

Beware the middle of Lidl

A bone, a book, a cigarette-case, even a five-franc piece in the pocket, will often save a man from death by a bullet. Still oftener will these flimsy substitutes for armour save life in the case of scraps of shrapnel or pieces of shell which have no very great penetrating power. The French Army has already adopted the steel cap for the trenches, with excellent results. Not only are a great many men wounded in the head, but head wounds, owing to the germs preserved in hat and hair, are exceedingly likely to prove septic, and so dangerous, or even fatal. Experiments have also been tried with steel breastplates, apparently with good results; and Dr. Hewitt, a, naval surgeon, advocates a coat of light chain-armour, or even of leather, for naval service.