MacAdam Shield Shovel

It was designed and patented by Sam Hughes, the Canadian minister for the Department of Militia and Defence in 1913, combining function as a shovel and as a shield.

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.

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.

[7] 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.

[3] 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.