Bulletproof vests for infantry in WW2?

A lot of the killing was done by LMG. A 40s era vest would just make you a slower target for a MG42 team to pick off.
And I'll bet the soviets would have had a lot more casualties if they'd not bee wearing the armour.

It's fairly ludercris to have bulletproof vests around then. Even modern ones aren't much good against anything by pistol fire at range, and rifle fire can still permiate them at closer ranges.
I saw the Future Weapons test of Dragon Skin, and I have to say, I was impressed, multiple AK-47 rounds (including steel cored) failed to penetrate, even when fired from well inside of 50m (and rounds were fired at both the front and back of the vest). In fact the most damage was done by a grenade that was placed under the vest (ie, the grenade was placed on the ground, and an armoured mannequin was placed on top of it), and even that failed to penetrate fully. Just a pity it tends to come apart at high temperatures.
 
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I find myself wondering what you're trying to achieve with it. Invulnerability is impossible. Reducing wound severity or increasing the average chances for surviving a given situation mean you take quite different approaches to vest design & construction. Same logic applies to the reinforced boots I've seen pix of: they won't prevent mine blast from severely wounding a leg, but might keep it from getting blown off--& give medics, & doctors/*MASHes, a chance to save it they wouldn't get otherwise.
 
Cover for torso against light shrapnels is the best these things can do - even in a modern battlefield and with best composite materials the only thing the opposing force facing armored targets has to do is to use heavy MGs or anti-material rifles.

With WW2 technology it's just not feasible to try anything like this, and the costs involved make it impractical on a wider scale aside from smaller special forces.

It's the same problem armor has had through the ages - if everyone has them, the most commonc weapons used will be quickly adopted to deal with this new situation, and you end up with troops that are simply getting tired more quickly from the extra dead weight they're now carrying.
 

Delta Force

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Thick coats were able to stop 9mm rounds during World War II, so something like that is easily doable. They could be worn during close quarters fighting, as before the invention of the assault rifle pistols and submachine guns were the only choices for such combat. The challenge will be making something that can stop such rounds at near point blank range while still being light enough to be useful.
 
Thick coats were able to stop 9mm rounds during World War II, so something like that is easily doable. They could be worn during close quarters fighting, as before the invention of the assault rifle pistols and submachine guns were the only choices for such combat. The challenge will be making something that can stop such rounds at near point blank range while still being light enough to be useful.


This can only be true for really tick coats at really long ranges. I can imagine the joy of 8th Army soldiers at wearing tick leather coats over tick overcoats in the desert on the chance that some Italian might hit them with is Beretta M38 SMG from 250m away :eek:
 
Thick coats were able to stop 9mm rounds during World War II, so something like that is easily doable. They could be worn during close quarters fighting, as before the invention of the assault rifle pistols and submachine guns were the only choices for such combat. The challenge will be making something that can stop such rounds at near point blank range while still being light enough to be useful.

9mm rounds, perhaps. I disagree that means it is "easily doable". That's a long way from the HMG or GPMG rounds the OP wants it to stop, and which even now we do not have a reliable defence against for infantry. You correctly point out that the challenge will be making something that can stop such rounds at near point-blank range while still being light enough to be useful. Restating a problem is a long way from solving it, unfortunately.
 
Err body armour WAS issued in the British army during ww2, ok so not that effective but better than nowt. Just search British body armour ww2 on google and jobs a good one. Mate of mine has a set. Several thou made, not very popular as it was very heavy and had its limitations. Glider pilots were supposed to wear it, although it was certainly intended for infantry use also.
 
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