CLAD IN ARMOUR

Grey River Argus, 28 August 1946, Page 8

CLAD IN ARMOUR

SYDNEY ENGINEER SYDNEY, August 20. Mr Reginald Welch, a Sydney engineer, wears a suit of armour under his l clothes when he walks around the city streets as a safeguard agains. underworld gunmen. The suit is a modern version, without the headpiece, of the armour worn by Ned Kellv. . ~ , Mr. Welch tried to sell his idea to the Police Department, claiming that, if worn, the suit would have saved the life of Detective V. Ahearn, who was shot dead while escorting two prisoners the previous week. He- says l that he had made armour vests for city bank messengers and payroll clerks. The vests consist of a' number of specially-toughened light steel plates sawn inside a fabric cover. One, weighing 511 b, covers the front of the body, the side, shoulders and kidneys, and the lower part of the back. A heavier type, weighing 111 b, covers the front of the body, the" shoulders, sides, and all the back down to the hips. i Mr. Welch says it is impossible for bullets from revolvers, pistols, or tommy-guns to penetrate the steel, no matter how short the range at. which they are fired. He gave a demonstration. Bullets ...from a .4a pistol of the type used by Sydney thugs were squashed flat by the impact with the steel. Sub-machine-, gun bullets were flattened. Mr. Welch said other tests had been made with a German Luger .38, a Thompson .45, the Owen 9-millimetre, with Mills bombs and tank-buster bombs', without effect. Only high-velocity bullets ouch as those from a .303 rif.= or a Vickers or Bren machine-gun, would penetrate.