The MacAdam Shield-Shovel, also known as the Hughes Shovel, was an item of Canadian infantry equipment during the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. It was designed and patented by
Sam Hughes
Sir Samuel Hughes, (January 8, 1853 – August 23, 1921) was the Canadian Minister of Militia and Defence during World War I. He was notable for being the last Liberal-Conservative cabinet minister, until he was dismissed from his cabinet post ...
, the Canadian
minister for the Department of Militia and Defence in 1913, combining function as a spade/shovel and as a shield. Ena MacAdam, Hughes' personal secretary, had first suggested the idea of a shield shovel to Hughes after she witnessed Swiss soldiers making field entrenchments during field exercises.
Description
The MacAdam shield-shovel resembled the standard portable infantry
spade
A spade is a tool primarily for digging consisting of a long handle and blade, typically with the blade narrower and flatter than the common shovel. Early spades were made of riven wood or of animal bones (often shoulder blades). After the a ...
of its day in both size and shape. In order to stop or deflect enemy fire, thicker steel was used in the construction of the blade; it measured at three-sixteenths of an inch thick.
[Bill Rawling, Surviving Trench War-fare: Technology and the Canadian Corps, 1914-1918 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1992), 18.] Heavy steel was also used to make the shovel's detachable handle which measured four feet in length. Unique to the shield-shovel was the inclusion of a 3.5 by 2 inch sight-hole in the blade.
The shovel was intended to be used as a shield by folding the handle to ~90° toward the concave side of the blade, exposing the spike that ran along the handle opposite the blade. The spike would then be driven into the ground, resulting in the blade standing vertically and the handle resting on the ground behind it as a brace.
In total, the MacAdam shield-shovel weighed 5 pounds 4 ounces.
It was patented as CA157592 in name of Ena MacAdam, who listed occupation as 'Stenographer', dated 25 August 1914. She also patented it in the US as 1148180, filed on 24 August 1914 and published on 27 July 1915.
Performance
In 1914, 25,000 shield-shovels were ordered and shipped to
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
for use by the
1st Canadian Division
The 1st Canadian Division (French: ''1re Division du Canada'' ) is a joint operational command and control formation based at CFB Kingston, and falls under Canadian Joint Operations Command. It is a high-readiness unit, able to move on very short ...
. Preliminary tests, however, revealed that the shovel’s blade was incapable of stopping even small caliber bullets. Its value as a digging tool was also questioned as soldiers commented against the shovel’s weight, its inability to be easily carried, and the fact that the blade was poor for shoveling loose soil as it contained a large sight-hole. With such a reputation, several high-ranking Canadian and British military officials refused to press the instrument into service. With these developments, an executive order was eventually issued for the shovels to be reduced to scrap. A total sum of $1,400 was recovered in the salvage; a figure far less than the original contract price, which tagged each MacAdam shield-shovel at $1.35. Despite being condemned by the military, a small following of Canadian snipers continued to use the shovel. Aware of the tool’s limitations, they preferred to use them in a collective series for added protection.
Assessment
The MacAdam Shield-Shovel currently stands in Canadian First World War historiography as an invention which was poorly conceived given that its intended purpose was never fully realized. Directorate Bill Rawling of the Canadian Department of Defence defends the MacAdam Shield-Shovel as being an attempt to improve the well-being of Canadian troops.
Others feel the device is simply indicative of Sir Sam Hughes' greed and arrogance who often put his own well-being ahead that of his troops.
[Berton, Pierre. Vimy, 17.]
References
{{reflist, 2
Sources
* Haycock, Ronald G., Sam Hughes: The Public Career of a Controversial Canadian, 1885-1916. Toronto: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1986.
* Morton, Desmond. Marching to Armageddon: Canadians and the Great War 1914-1919. Toronto: Lester & Orpen Dennys Publications, 1989.
* Morton, Desmond. When Your Numbers Up: The Canadian Soldier in the First World War. Toronto: Random House of Canada, 1993.
* Radley, Kenneth. We Lead Others Follow: First Canadian Division 1914-1918. Toronto: Vanwell Publishing Limited, 2006.
* Rawling, Bill. Surviving Trench War-fare: Technology and the Canadian Corps, 1914-1918. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1992.
Military personal equipment
World War I military equipment of Canada