12/3/2023 0 Comments English ww2 gas mask bagAlthough heavier than the other civilian types being issued at the time, the Mk IV GSR would offer Police and Civil Defence wearers greater protection when their duties would require them to undertake strenuous or exhausting work in areas containing a higher concentration of gas for extended periods of time. Having originally been designed only for military use, the Mk IV GSR was quickly issued to specialist Civil Defence and Police units, with the threat of a gas attack looking ever more likely at the outbreak of World War II. In 1926, it was replaced by the brand new Mk IV GSR, which would first see action in battle as the standard issue respirator of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in 1939. The Mk III GSR had helped to improve vastly the process of manufacturing moulded rubber facepieces. The Mk IV General Service Respirator (GSR) Fortunately, neither side used chemical weapons on the battlefield during the following war years. In case of an attack, Britain had also developed its own chemical weapons, which included ‘nitrogen Mustard Gas’, as well as perfecting the deployment of biological weapons such as anthrax. However, unknown to Britain, Germany had happened across a far more deadly weapon – organophosphorus agents, also known as nerve gases. It was predicted that Germany would use weapons similar to those used in the last war. This particular example is dated 1938 and the filter container is painted in a brown/beige colour, quite typical of pre-war models. The Mk IV GSR was the standard-issue respirator carried by the BEF when war was declared in 1939. By 1937, Australia was able to produce all but two of the components, with only the laminated splinterless glass and the activated charcoal being supplied by Britain. To begin with, Britain supplied Australia with components that would be assembled into finished respirators. The Mk III GSR had by now been replaced by the Mk IV GSR and by the early 1930s Australia and Canada were both manufacturing identical copies of the British Mk IV GSR. A lot of time was spent learning the same manufacturing and inspection methods, so that all new equipment would be identical and, if needs be, interchangeable. The idea was for the Commonwealth countries to start manufacturing their own equipment, but to the same specs as the British. In 1927, both Australia and Canada sent teams to Porton Down to learn more about respirator manufacture and anti-gas equipment. In the previous years, Britain had shared its anti-gas technology with the Commonwealth countries in an attempt to unify their standards. The same started to happen with the other countries of the British Empire. As such, the development work at Porton Down was stepped up and the production of respirators was increased. The Munich crisis had clearly demonstrated Germany’s disregard for the Treaty, so the threat of gas being used once again on the battlefield became a very real possibility. Although chemical warfare had been banned by the Treaty of Versailles, by 1938 the British Government had started to prepare for the worst. The interwar years had provided Britain with a chance to improve further its respirator designs and to train its forces in the disciplines of anti-gas drills.
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