page_title: MacAdam Shield Shovel
hierarchical_section_title: MacAdam Shield Shovel
caption_attribution_description: English: Sir Sam Hughes patented -- in his personal secretary’s name -- a shovel with a hole that a shooter could theoretically use as a shield. Caution kept it from being used on the Front, but thousands of these tools were purchased by the Department of Militia and Defence
context_page_description: The MacAdam Shield-Shovel, also known as the Hughes Shovel, was an item of Canadian infantry equipment during the First World War. It was designed and patented by Sam Hughes, 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.
context_section_description: The MacAdam Shield-Shovel, also known as the Hughes Shovel, was an item of Canadian infantry equipment during the First World War. It was designed and patented by Sam Hughes, 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.
caption: Sir Samuel Hughes holding a McAdam Shield Shovel.
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