Ww1 gas mask eye pieces12/28/2023 ![]() ![]() 02: As the war progressed, so too did the gas training. The lack of knowledge and training in regard to gas bred both ignorance and superstition among the poorly educated and unsophisticated recruits and veterans that made up the majority of the AEF. As a result, the majority of American Doughboys found themselves in a gas soaked environment with very little, or no defensive gas training and very little understanding of what that training actually meant. In fact the first six divisions to arrive in France received no chemical warfare training at all while in America. Army’s woefully inadequate gas training program early in the war. The War Department’s lack of any kind of gas warfare doctrine was responsible for the U.S. When America entered the Great War, gas was such an unknown weapon on the battlefield that senior military commanders were unwilling to allocate any training time to gas defense, especially if it meant reducing the number of hours devoted to more traditional military skills, such as close order drill and marksmanship, which were deemed essential. Posters much like this one were prominently displayed in every training camp to ensure that America’s new soldiers were aware of the very grave danger that gas warfare posed. As such, the Army strived to make every recruit understand the value of looking after and keeping his gasmask in good order. 01: In the AEF, the importance of the gasmask was eventually considered to be second to that of only the soldier’s weapon. *Link to the other USMF, WW I related gasmask threads put together by Rusty Canteen: PS, feel free to comment, corroborate, correct, contest, and continue this thread by posting pertinent information and by adding additional or better photographs. Any praise for this post should be directed towards them … World War I Nerd Trenchrat, Jagjetta, Rusty Canteen, and Retro, all of whom did not hesitate to supply me with advice, accurate information, high resolution period photos, and crisp clear photographs of many of the actual gasmasks and their carriers shown in this post. Regardless of its worth, this post would have been far less informative, and much less visually pleasing, if it were not for the assistance I received from forum members. Around one and a half million were produced in 1916–1917.Despite the fact that there are already some very informative threads* on the subject of gasmasks as used by the AEF during World War I (WW I) I decided to go ahead and add my two cents on that subject … okay, maybe it’s more like three cents. The PHG Helmet appeared in January 1916 and was similar to the PH Helmet but had a facepiece made of rubber sponge to add protection against tear gas. Around 14 million were made and it remained in service until the end of the war by which time it was relegated to second line use. The PH Helmet (Phenate Hexamine) replaced it in October 1915, and added hexamethylene tetramine, which greatly improved protection against phosgene and added protection against hydrocyanic acid. It had flannel layers of cloth-dipped in sodium phenolate and glycerin and protected against chlorine and phosgene, but not against tear gas. The exhale valve was needed because a double layer of flannel – one treated and one not – was needed because the solution attacked the fabric. It featured two mica eyepieces instead of the single visor of its predecessor, and added an exhale valve fed from a metal tube which the wearer held in his mouth. ![]() appeared in July 1915, replacing the simpler Hypo Helmet. The P (or Phenate) Helmet, officially called the Tube Helmet, Rather than having a separate filter for removing the toxic chemicals, they consisted of a gas-permeable hood worn over the head which was treated with chemicals. ![]() The P helmet, PH helmet and PHG helmet were early types of gas mask issued by the British Army in the First World War, to protect troops against chlorine, phosgene and tear gases. British Vickers machine gun crew wearing PH-type anti-gas helmets near Ovillers during the Battle of the Somme, July 1916 A World War I British P Helmet c.1915 PH-type helmet in Royal Canadian Regiment Museum. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |