Armour-plated protection through the ages: five innovations from The Engineer archive

The development of armour is no different in this respect and The Engineer has taken a keen interest in the materials and processes used to afford protection to the weapons of war, be they horses, boats, tanks or trains.

Here, we look back at five developments designed to give armoured protection to combatants on land and at sea.

Horses no longer take soldiers directly into battle but in 1856 a certain Mr Cruickshank had penned an article describing how armour could both protect horses and be used offensively. ‘Cruickshank’s Improvements in Cavalry Equipments’ was published in the very first issue of The Engineer and describes an armoured suit for horses that consisted of a rigid adjustable armoured frame to protect the horse and the lower extremities of the rider. Attached to this frame was a series of retractable lever-operated cutting implements and weapons with which the rider could scythe his way through enemy troops. This, the article said, would ‘render the attack of cavalry more formidable by providing horses with a means of destroying troops against which the attack is directed’.