TRAP FOR TANKS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 28 October 1941, Page 8

TRAP FOR TANKS

NEW BARBED WIRE AUSTRALIAN S INVENTION Already in mass production both for Australian home defence and for use overseas, a new type of barbed wire said to have enormous tensile strength and to be capable of stopping tanks, is the invention of Mr H. A. Abbott, of Bendigo, Australia, a brother of Dr. W. N. Abbott, of Auckj land, reports the “Herald.” Mr Abbott, who served with the Australian forces in the last war and was wounded three times, also has other inventions to his credit. The new product is called Barblok. It is said to have a tensile strength of 110 tons, and is expected to have an ] ! important bearing on future develop- j ! merits of defence against attacks by mechanised forces. According to the “Bendigo Advertiser,” Mr Abbott spent two and ahalf years perfecting his latest invention before submitting it to the Australian War Department. The product is claimed to be the strongest barbed wire in the world. Each barb is individually locked to the wire, the locking apparatus ensuring the effectiveness of the entanglements, no matter how much the wire may be stretched or moved. “Because of the fixed barbs, attacking armoured vehicles become enmeshed in the wire, which is stretched longitudinally in tunnelshaped formations,” the newspaper says. It adds that the invention is highly commended by experts as being one of the foremost of the war, for defence purposes. Mr Abbot, who was educated at the Bendigo School of Mines, has received a letter from the Commonwealth Government expressing appreciation of his action in returning to the nation a considerable proportion of the royalties he has received from the State for his new invention. Three of Mr Abbott’s brothers have achieved success in various forms of research. The late Captain R. EL S. Abbott had 64 inventions to his credit, several being applied successfully in the last war, and in this. Another brother, Mr G. J. Abbott, of England, also has a distinguished record as an inventor, while Dr. Abbott, of Auckland, has been prominent in various branches of medical research, particularly in relation to the sequelae of chemical injury in ex-soldiers. j