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By the end of World War I, Britain had spent a large amount of its defence funding on researching chemical warfare. By 1918, the facility at Porton Down had expanded rapidly, growing from converted farm buildings into a fully functioning Army camp. The site now also had a permanent garrison, consisting of approximately 55 officers and up to 1,200 soldiers at any one time. Although the initial work during the early years of the war had been primarily focused on how to deploy gas, during 1917 the site started to focus more on developing better anti-gas equipment for the forces.
With the Armistice having been signed in November 1918, the site started to wind down its operations and reduced its personnel numbers to just a few select officers and technical staff. It was uncertain whether or not work at Porton should continue now that the war was over and pressure from certain politicians called for its disbandment. On 7 July 1919, the War Office set up the Holland Committee (chaired by Lieutenant-General A.E.A. Holland) in order to decide the future of Britain’s chemical warfare and defence research. One of the committee members was the previously mentioned Charles Foulkes, who had set up the original Special Gas Companies in 1915. The committee reached its conclusion and in 1920 presented its findings to the Government. The committee recommended that work needed to be allowed to continue at the Porton Down facility, so plans were drawn up to revamp the buildings and to recruit civilian staff. As well as working for the military, six years later Porton was also given the task of developing respirators and anti-gas equipment for the civilian population, in conjunction with the newly formed Air Raid Precautions group (ARP).
Given the horrific effects of gas warfare witnessed during World War I, it is hardly surprising that most countries wanted its use banned outright to prevent it from being used in anger again. The Treaty of Versailles took the initial steps by banning Germany from producing any forms of poisonous gas that could be used in warfare. On 17 June 1925, a treaty known as the ‘Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare’ was signed. The treaty, commonly referred to as the ‘Geneva Protocol’, prohibited nations from using asphyxiant and blistering gas in warfare and was initially signed by thirty-eight countries. The treaty came into force on 8 February 1928 and is still present today and now includes over 138 countries (the last amendments being made in 2013). In 1930, Britain revised its position and stated that it would permit the use of chemical warfare agents only in retaliation to an attack made by another nation.
The Mk III General Service Respirator
The SBR, which had revolutionized respirator design, continued in service with the military until the mid-1920s. One topic not considered in the SBR’s design was how it would be used by the Royal Navy, where equipment such as telescopes and binoculars would be in constant use. The eyepieces of the SBR were in some cases too small to be used to see through a telescope. The baggy facepiece also meant that binoculars had the tendency to get caught up in the eyepieces. The moving of the eyepieces in the facepiece also made it very difficult to scan the horizon for enemy ships during normal use.
As a result, the Admiralty put forward a request in 1919 for researchers to develop a new respirator that would be similar to a respirator called the Akron-Tissot, which was in use in America. After the Armistice, the US Army had further developed the SBR and the creation of the Akron-Tissot mask had resulted in a better and more comfortable design of facepiece, which was made from moulded rubber. The beauty of this design was that it did away with the uncomfortable nose clip and breathing tube, as the rubber would form a fully gas-tight seal around the wearer’s face.
Having learned of the success of this design, the research facility at Porton Down started to come up with its own design. Trials of a new respirator facepiece began at J.E. Baxter & Co. at its Leyland works, where experiments were done with different types of moulding. To begin with, a ‘former’ was made from cast iron representing the head of a soldier, on to which rubber could be built up in layers. The former was later changed to glazed porcelain, as it produced a much better finish. To prevent the rubber mask from being too flimsy, a number of experiments also took place involving interspersing unvulcanized rubber with vulcanized rubber. The result was a very pliable product that could easily be moulded and mass-manufactured. The trial respirators were called the Mk I and Mk II General Service Respirators (GSR) and retained the three main features of the SBR – mouthpiece, nose clip and facepiece. The Admiralty liked what it had seen from the initial trial reports, so trialling was continued until a final production model was decided upon.
This postcard photograph was taken c.1920 and shows the sailors of Anti-Gas Course No.57 having completed their anti-gas training at Devonport. All are wearing SBRs along with the Mk I haversack. These courses were held weekly at the training establishment and a souvenir photograph would be taken of the students after passing their training.
Barely a year later, we now see the students of a later Anti-Gas Course (No.230) wearing the latest Mk III General Service Respirator. This photograph is extremely interesting, as the third sailor from the left on the second to last row appears to be wearing a Mk II trial respirator, looking darker than the others as it does not have a stockinet cover like the other Mk IIIs. Also note how the haversacks are not being worn on the chests, as in the early photograph. A belt was developed for the Navy that could be attached to the standard haversack so that the respirator could be worn on the hip, which was believed to allow for better manoeuvrability on-board ship. For this reason, the breather hoses of the Navy issue masks are also longer. A similar system was also used for vehicle crews and artillerymen.
This photograph, published in 1933, is of nurses of the VAD (Volunteer Aid Detachment) undertaking training wearing the Mk III GSR, showing us in some detail what the Mk III looked like. The Mk III was short-lived in the forces, so with the introduction of the Mk IV GSR, many old Mk IIIs were given to nursing units or used as training aids. Note that the nurse on the far left is still wearing an SBR.
Close-up showing the Mk III facepiece. The respirator is similar in style to the later Mk IV GSR, but retains the outlet flutter valve of the old SBR.
The facepieces of the Mk I and Mk II were plain black rubber to begin with, but were later covered with stockinet to protect the rubber components. Over a few years, the respirator had evolved in shape into what would be officially known as the Mk III. The Mk III was the first of its kind in the world to use a rubber facepiece that created a single chamber, eliminating the nose clip and offering far better comfort to the wearer. The mask still retained the labiodental mouthpiece for emergency use, in case the mask leaked. The outlet valve at the front was still the same rubber flutter valve as used on the SBR, although the old brass angle tube had been replaced with a better diaphragm arrangement, allowing for some audible speech from the wearer.
Further development continued with the Army, which was looking for a facepiece that offered further comfort and stability, as the previous Mks were prone to slipping off and hindering soldiers carrying out their normal duties. Further testing with the Navy proved that the final respirator did not interfere with the normal duties of the wearer, so the design was adopted as the Mk III General Service Respirator.
Information on these respirators is scarce and it would appear that the Royal Navy was the main user. Photographs do exist of the Army wearing them under training and it would also appear that the Mk III GSR was heavily used by nursing units when the military started to be issued with the later Mk IV GSR. After being made obsolete by the Mk IV, some Mk IIIs made their way into civilian hands. Although the Mk III never really saw any front-line action, some were retained as training aids for the later Mk IV GSR introduced in 1926, which would see service throughout World War II. These masks are extremely rare and highly prized by the few people who are lucky enough to own a surviving example.