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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Gas masks of the first world war


TheCorrectedEnglishModel

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Okay, I made this topic for people to share knowledge about gas masks and show off collections, good condition pictures and pieces are best examples.

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There are multiple pictures of the Corrected English model design as there are so many of them...

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The last picture is complete crap.

Oh and don’t mind me TOUCHING IT with my bare hands too...

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So this is a late war piece made probably in late 1918 a few months before the war ended. You can tell by the flutter valve protector being a screw on and the eylenses having a thick round eyepiece.

It has the type H filter and has more chemicals in it, making it last longer compared to type J filters. It was also harder to breathe through.

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These were made from 1917-1919, and then they started experimentation with the m2a1 mask from the early-mid 20’s.

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There is a few estimation that these made it to the 30’s, but American gas mask design were full rubber based designs by then and were not using tan canvas bags and hose covering.

But those are just estimations that could be largely off.

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Pardon the m2a1, as I meant to say M1A1 from the 20’s.

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I’m not sure about the exact 1919 date, but that is what I can make up for now...

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Hi,

a few WW1 gas masks

933053963_ArmsfairAug063.thumb.JPG.c0d5862d26aa6f59812b0e36b803a283.JPG

350140237_ArmsfairAug066.thumb.JPG.12a6a4a2b64873913faa1d4e05b80e2b.JPG

 

Edited by Chasemuseum
repetition
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1 hour ago, Chasemuseum said:

Hi,

a few WW1 gas masks

 

350140237_ArmsfairAug066.thumb.JPG.12a6a4a2b64873913faa1d4e05b80e2b.JPG

 

That Russian one is something out of a horror film.

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Oh wow, that mask from the first picture to the left is a tampton mask that the French issued when they first saw gas! Rare piece there!

Love the GummiscutzeMaske a lot!

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The Zelonsky Kummant, that Russian one, is also a rare piece to see in such condition, as the rubber was very thin and deteriorated over time in certain weather and conditions.

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Some very nice and rare masks.

 

Here are some early gas masks and carriers - mostly German but with one early French TN mask - that I had displayed at a Toronto area show a while back. The masks date from the Summer of 1915 - mid/late 1916 with the earliest shown being the Atemschutzer (top left with the anti-gas goggles) which was issued from around June to October 1915.

Hans

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Edited by Hans k.
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Beautiful display, and I love the Training GM15 piece!

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Thanks, I'm glad you like the display. I'm not sure which mask you are referring to as being a training mask, but none of the examples in that display are training masks. 

 

This is one example of a training mask, identified as such by the red painted eyepiece frames, red striped filter and the word Übungsmaske (training mask) stenciled on the mask's filter attachment plate.

 

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Uebungsmasken-1.jpg.3e1db82a9e9b4a7bdb82215d49cfeb56.jpg

 

 

Edited by Hans k.
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Hmm, that’s odd. I have seen footage of German trainees with gm15 masks with cloth over the canister seal. Very weird.

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The cloth over the filter was used in the field. The exact purpose is unknown to me but based on how rarely these turn up in photos as well as collections clearly shows it wasn't universally adopted or even a widely used. 

2030411374_WW1GermantrenchgroupphotoWOW_zpsl8ry6jfs.jpg.d6f1acd67bb0298a9f912536229d03fd.jpg

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Edited by Hans k.
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Wow, that’s really odd, too. Didn’t know that, though. That is very confusing.

I don’t know what it would be properly used for, either.

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Maybe it was to protect the gas mask seal itself, and keep debris and dirt clogging it up...

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Some think these cloths may have been an early attempt to keep agents such as diphenylchloroarsine dust (blue cross) away from the filter, but the photos I've seen with these in use seem to generally predate the use of Blue Cross*. Existing masks with the cloths in place, including the one above, show that the cloths do nothing to improve the seal of the filter inside the mask's filter plate as they just drape over the filter and hang there. The explanation could be as simple as that these cloths protected the mask from abrasion when carried inside the metal canister or that they muffled the sound of the filter rattling around inside the canister or banging against equipment when the mask was worn around the neck. It could be a combination of some or all of the above. I don't know of any primary sources that mention these. 

 

* The Germans introduced Blue Cross in the Summer of 1917 and issued a dust filtering attachment for the gas mask filter - the Schnappdeckel (shown here on the right, next to a regular filter). 

post-3701-1252445812.jpg.6f865d0ea248beb9626be6449ef2258d.jpg

Edited by Hans k.
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Still very odd. I don’t know anymore, it is just completely off the history books.

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If this is supposed to be a proved picture that they didn’t use that cloth in training, look at the first picture again, not to be rude.

Also, I see a Gm17 in the first picture other than the GM15.

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