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Collector’s Guide

The main reason for writing this guide was to provide the novice collector with a handy reference book on the subject of British respirators and anti-gas equipment. A lot of the knowledge in this guide has been learnt through years of collecting such items and also gleaned from other experienced collectors. As well as outlining our own ‘lessons learnt’, we have included a lot of information taken from the original training/maintenance manuals published for use by the forces at the time. These contain a wealth of information provided by the original manufacturers and can help to combat age-related deterioration of respirators and other items. We know from our own experience that respirators can be tricky items to collect, store and display. There is also quite a lot of contradictory information from online resources that can speed up rather than prevent the deterioration of the items in one’s collection.

Collecting respirators (or gas masks to give them their civilian name) is an interesting branch of militaria that has a large following and collectors’ market. As a hobby, respirators offer the collector the chance to indulge in the more technical/scientific side of militaria in addition to the history. The science behind each successive respirator development is fascinating and also reflects the key issues that the military were concerned with at that time. It is amazing to see how quickly anti-gas equipment was developed within such a short period, reflecting how seriously gas was regarded as a threat. Chemical warfare in general is a very nasty subject indeed, so there is (to an extent) an unusually dark fascination with collecting such items. Nevertheless, respirators are an important part of our military history and encouraging their collection and preservation is very important.

Collecting anti-gas equipment is a very interesting and unique hobby that caters for a variety of budgets. Most respirators are still fairly cheap to collect due to the numbers produced during the wars. Shown here are three variations of Mk IV General Service Respirators (from left to right): Special T-Mic (1941); Mk IV fitted with additional Type EA filter (1939); and a pre-war Mk IV (1938).

Deciding What to Collect

Deciding what to collect is always a matter of personal preference and depends upon where your interests lie. This book is primarily focused on British military equipment, although there is also a huge collectors’ scene for the civilian assortments of respirators issued. As well as the British varieties, there are also avid collectors of military and civilian respirators used by other countries, whether they are from the two world wars or the modern day. Many of the points covered in this guide can also be applied to collecting these respirator types. The main personal interest of the authors has always been the kit and equipment used by the British, who, during these two major conflicts, helped to lead the war in developing anti-gas measures.

Where to Buy From

The most popular and indeed the most obvious places to buy from are militaria fairs. Militaria or collectors’ fairs offer you the chance to inspect potential purchases up close before deciding to buy. Militaria fairs are the best places to find pristine or particularly rare examples. However, while some bargains may be found, it should be remembered that stallholders have to cover the cost of their pitch, so prices may not be negotiable or may be higher as a result. As well as collectors’ fairs, many re-enactment/living history shows will also have traders in attendance who sell militaria. Traders sometimes know the history of particular items, such as who used to own it, or where it was bought from. This can add some interest to particular items, especially if they can be traced back to a particular regiment, theatre or conflict. At some militaria shows, the living history groups that put on displays may also have items for sale, so it is well worth asking if they know of anyone within their group with a particular item for sale. There are also many online forums and websites dedicated purely to collecting respirators. More often than not, these sites will have ‘Wanted’ or ‘For Sale’ sections where members can buy or swap items.

Online auctions have also become great places to find items. Those being sold online by a militaria dealer or collector tend to fetch the higher prices that the market commands. However, online auctions do also attract listings from non-collectors who are perhaps clearing out a relative’s house or just want to declutter. These listings can yield the best bargains and normally can be found by searching for plain descriptions like ‘gas mask’. It should also be noted that respirators are not only collected by those interested in militaria. It is not uncommon to find rubber masks listed under more obscure pseudonyms!

Car boot sales (as most experienced collectors will know) can also provide surprising finds from time to time and for relatively little money. They can also be good places to find some of the more unusual items or consumables that normally get thrown away as having been assumed to be of no value. This is not always the case, though, and results can be very ‘hit and miss’, but after all it is the hunting that makes collecting interesting. If all items could easily be bought off the shelf, then the hobby would not be half as much fun!

Safety Note

It is so tempting when collecting respirators to wear them. However, most people do not stop to consider that the chemicals inside respirator filters can become nasty as they break down over time. Most people are also unaware that filters used on the British Mk III, Mk IV and Mk V General Service Respirators in World War II will contain asbestos. It is easy to criticize the choice of material today; however, asbestos was a wonder material of its time and its properties for filtration made it an ideal choice for respirators. If filters remain sealed and undented, the risk to the collector is virtually non-existent because the asbestos sheets will remain intact, preventing the dangerous fibres from escaping. If left sealed, filters are safe for the purposes of display. Archive material suggests that the officials were aware that asbestos was not good for the health, so most filters that use this material were designed such that the fibres were prevented from being inhaled when the mask was in use.

Respirators from World War I and those after the introduction of the Lightweight Respirator in World War II do not contain asbestos, although their filter chemicals can be equally nasty. It should be clearly understood that over time most materials will break down and can become dangerous if inhaled. In the re-enactment community, respirators can be worn if the filter has been cleaned out or removed. All respirators used in the photographs in this book have been so treated. It is usually possible for a specialist to clean filters so as to remove all traces of chemicals; however, this does inevitably involve damaging them in order to do so. Cleaning is a common practice among many museums. Note that the disposal of asbestos and other chemicals is highly dangerous and owners of old respirators should never attempt to do this themselves. Disposal of asbestos in general waste is illegal and handling it safely requires special training. Never attempt to remove chemicals on your own.

A general degree of caution should be taken when purchasing old anti-gas equipment due to the fact it may have been exposed to other chemicals during training exercises. Anti-gas ointments used by the British in World War II were also contained in lead tubes. Always exercise caution when handling new items.

Things to Watch Out For

With any collectables, condition is everything. Pristine or unused articles will always fetch the higher prices. Most militaria, if it has been used in service, is hard to find without some degree of wear and tear. Equally, unused examples may also have suffered damage from simply having been stored incorrectly. Respirators are unique compared to most types of militaria because they use a wide variety of materials in their construction, making them very complex. The following is a brief list of items to watch out for and common problems you may encounter.

Cracking Rubber Perished rubber is a common problem when collecting respirators. Facepieces tend to crack around highly stressed areas such as the eyepieces, or where the mask flexes regularly. Cracks are also caused by storage in a high-temperature or damp environment. A cool, dry place is the ideal storage environment.

Paint Paint can become faded, cracked or start peeling with age. This is common with respirator filters.

Corrosion Steel items can rust and aluminium parts can go furry if stored damp. Rust can also stain canvas items. Corrosion of Anti-Gas Ointment tins is commonly caused by the tubes leaking. Early filters can rust from the inside out. Watch out for telltale signs such as dark rust patches that look like they might break through.

Stretched Elastics This occurs particularly with head harnesses where people have hung the respirators up to display them. These are fairly easy to replace and new head harnesses can be obtained from time to time.

Twisted or Collapsed Breather Tubes This normally occurs because they have been crushed during storage; unfortunately, they are difficult to repair or replace.

Bubbles or Cracks in Lenses Laminated, splinterless glass in the lenses can bubble if exposed to heat. Original manuals suggest that this was common and respirators would not be withdrawn from service unless the bubbles dramatically hindered the wearer’s sight. Cracked lenses can be replaced more easily on World War II examples that use screw-in lenses.

Storage, Preservation and Displaying

The best way to help to preserve your respirators is to store them correctly. Avoid stacking items on top of one another as this will lead to them being crushed inadvertently. Keep them in a room with plenty of air circulation and try to avoid hot areas, such as radiators. Heat speeds up drying of the rubber, which will cause cracking. If, when you have purchased your respirator, you find there is quite a lot of dust inside the facepiece, clean it with a damp cloth, then dry it with a lint-free cloth by dabbing rather than rubbing the area. The same applies to the tube and filter canister and will help to preserve the respirator.

Where rubber is cracked, some collectors have resorted to rubber restoration compounds that can be found in specialist shops. They are usually silicone-based and can be used to give a protective coating or to remove minor cracks, although they would not be recommended for use on canvas-covered facepieces. Only use these compounds if absolutely necessary and try on a test sample or inconspicuous area before applying to the whole mask.

Cracked lenses are a common problem with respirators that have not been stored correctly. Post-1918 saw the introduction of splinterless glass in respirator manufacturing. Most World War II military respirators will have removable eyepieces that can be replaced if necessary.

Rust can sometimes stain canvas haversacks or stockinet-covered facepieces. Unfortunately, there is little that can be done to remove it without damaging the stained material. This problem can, however, be prevented by ensuring that metalwork stays clean by storing it in a dry environment.

This respirator is showing signs of rubber perishing, more than likely caused by the rubber drying out due to having been stored in a hot environment for a long time. It is a common problem with many respirator facepieces.

Anti-Gas Ointment tins with the original tubes in place can still be found. Because the tubes are soft, they can easily become damaged or crushed, causing the ointment to leak. Storing the items in damp conditions can then lead to them becoming furry and eventually corroding. This photograph shows two extremes. The tin on the left has been stored damp, whereas the tin on the right is still in pristine condition, proving that the correct storage of your collection will be vital to its survival.

It is very nice to have your collection on display in a room or on mannequin heads; however, this can lead to overstressing of the head-harness elastics and can encourage degradation if exposed to sunlight. The weight of filter containers will cause the elastics to stretch, so proper support should be in place to avoid this. Be aware that displaying in glass cabinets can intensify direct sunlight and heated rubber can give off a very unpleasant smell. Sunlight will also cause the facepiece to become discoloured or bleached, which cannot be easily restored. If respirators are not being displayed, storing them in their correct haversack in a sealable plastic box is recommended for long-term storage.

Desirable Items

Certain examples can be rarer because of their age and the number of surviving examples. Prototype models are very desirable and it became more common after World War I for manufacturers to produce trial patterns for intensive testing with the Army before entering into mass production. Very few prototypes ever make it on to the collectors’ market and can usually only be identified by virtue of the fact they contain abnormal features. Many failed prototypes would be disassembled by the manufacturer to use the components for other trials, with only a few designers keeping them for future reference.

Many World War II military respirators were also adapted post-war by civilian workers operating in poisonous or noxious gas environments. In some cases, the manufacturers of specialist equipment would use the same moulding formers as the ones used for military respirators. Many post-war civilian models often get mistaken for trial patterns or prototypes. However, one easy way of telling one from the other is that everything produced for the British War Department would bear the Government ‘broad arrow’ and a date as the stamp of approval, while respirators produced for industry would only bear the maker’s name, if anything at all. Respirators and anti-gas equipment manufactured by Canadian industries will have the broad arrow encircled by a capital C and Australian equipment usually has the broad arrow with D/I\D for Defence Department.

Knowing at least something about the standard features of general-issue respirators makes spotting rarer ones easier. This is one of the reasons why this book was put together, to give the novice collector a fighting chance against those claiming they are selling a rare piece.

Collector’s Checklist

The following are some quick-fire points to remember when looking to purchase, that is, the ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ of collecting. It is purely up to the individual collector to decide what amount of wear and tear they want to accept. However, with rarer examples and to the true collector, the condition will not matter much if it means saving a piece of history from being binned.

Pictured are the typical manufacturing stamps of a military respirator. Here, the Government ‘broad arrow’ (sometimes known as the ‘crow’s foot’ among collectors) can be clearly seen, in this case on the back of the respirator head harness.

Common Manufacturer Stamps

The complexity of military respirators means that components were often made by a variety of manufacturers, making it very hard to date a respirator accurately. For example, a facepiece may be from a batch produced in one year, with the filter being made in another year. It is not uncommon for respirators to have multiple year dates due to the scale of production. Here are some of the main makers’ stamps that can be found on most British military respirators. There are countless more (especially when all those produced by the Commonwealth countries or Lend-Lease versions are taken into account), but those listed here provided the majority for the British forces across the two world wars:

Avon Avon has been making respirators since 1920 and is a well-respected make. During World War II, the Melksham works is estimated to have made over 20 million respirators for both the military and civilian population, as well as producing tyres and other items for the military. Respirators are still made by them today.

BFG B.F. Goodrich was a well-known American rubber manufacturer that produced many respirators during World War II for Britain under the Lend-Lease Act.

BTR The British Tyre and Rubber Co. was originally called the British Goodrich Rubber Co. The firm was a British subsidiary of B.F. Goodrich and eventually became BTR in 1934.

BW&M Barringer, Wallis and Manners Ltd was a biscuit and chocolate tin manufacturer. The company’s skill at producing such tins meant that it quickly turned its hand to making filter containers for respirators. Many small box respirators from World War I have filter containers made by the company, which continued producing filter containers in World War II for the General Service Respirator models. Some early filter containers have the company name stamped in full, with later examples being simply stamped with the initials ‘BW&M’.

DM&S David Moseley & Sons, Ardwick, Manchester. The company eventually merged with Avon rubber in 1964.

Dunlop Dunlop is a well-known British rubber manufacturer. As well as producing aircraft and vehicle tyres during World War II, Dunlop had in fact been making respirator masks since the 1920s. Many early Mk IV service respirators were made by Dunlop. Later in their history they would be bought by BTR.

HENLEY Henley Tyre and Rubber Co., London. The company eventually merged with Avon rubber.

JB John Bull Rubber Co., Leicester. It merged with another company in 1955, before eventually becoming part of Dunlop.

JLH James Lyne Hancock, London. The firm was taken over by BTR in 1939.

L&BR (later shortened to L&B) Leyland & Birmingham Rubber Co. can trace its heritage back to 1873, when the company was founded as James Quinn & Co. During the war years, L&BR produced many of the facepieces for the General Service Respirators, as well as the later lightweight anti-gas respirators. The company continued producing respirators after the war, until the late 1960s.

NBR North British Rubber, Edinburgh.

PBC P.B. Cow and Co., London.

Siebe-Gorman Siebe-Gorman was formed in 1814 by Augustus Siebe and specialized in the manufacture of breathing apparatus. During World War II, Siebe-Gorman did a lot of work in developing respirators for both military and civilians. The company manufactured a lot of breathing apparatus for the Royal Navy (mainly diving equipment) and also the RAF (oxygen masks for pilots). It would later merge with BTR to become BTR Siebe plc.