Original Item: Only One Available. This is something that we have only had once before! This is a lovely personalized example of a German WWII Luftwaffe issue Type 10-30 B-2 Schwimmweste (Life Preserver Vest), made by the very well-known Drägerwerk company, a known manufacturer of these vests, as well as gas masks and other rubber products during the war. These vests were used by Luftwaffe fighter pilots and bomber crew in case they needed to ditch / bail out over water. The vest is a carbon dioxide inflated rubberized canvas design, and was a great improvement over the previous full back style model. The front facing design with a large cushion behind the head ensured that the wearer's head was kept facing up and above water.

The Type B-1 (FL 30154-1) had been developed in 1940 due to lessons learned during the Battle of Britain, which resulted in many pilots ending up in the English channel. The type B-2 (FL 30154-2) was released in 1941, having had some of the metal components on the inflation apparatus replaced with plastic. The design features a CO2 canister on the lower left front, and a manual inflation valve above that. We were not able to inflate the vest at all using compressed air, and the connector between the CO2 canister and the vest is also broken off and missing.

The vest still has the original Luftwaffe required maker stamp on the interior rear, which is still fully legible:

Schwimmweste
Bauart:     Dräger
Gerät-Nr:     10-30 B-2
Anforderz.:     Fl30154-1 2
Gewicht:     1,5 kg  
Werknummer:     51507
Tag der Herstellung:  13. 6. 42.
Hersteller:   Drägerwerk Lübeck

This gives the information regarding the item, the supplier, contract number, and so forth. It appears this was made during the transition from one Luftwaffe order to another, so the "1" after the Fl number was crossed out and a 2 marked next to it. It also gives the date of manufacter as 13 June 1942, putting this right in period for being used during much of the war.

The "neck rest" portion of this vest looks to have had some great personalization added at some point, most likely during the war, showing a drawing of a grave to the right, with the following inscription to the left:

Unser höchstes Büt
„Ein Frischer Seemannsmut“

This translates to:

Our highest tribute
“A fresh sailor’s courage”

Definitely a somewhat dark message, but those were dark days, especially as the war continued on towards Germany's defeat. This also means that possibly the life preserver was given to the Kriegsmarine, once there were barely enough pilots and planes for the Luftwaffe to function.

Condition is really very good, with the rubberized canvas still quite supple, and the valves looking to be functional, though as mentioned previously the CO2 canister is not attached to the fitting anymore. There is some wear to the attachment straps, but nothing major.

Comes more than ready for display.

More on the Drägerwerk Company
This company was founded in Lübeck in 1889 as Dräger & Gerling by J. Heinrich Dräger [de] and Carl Adolf Gerling. The first patent was taken out for a reduction device for using carbon dioxide to dispense beer. In 1902 Heinrich Dräger's son Bernhard entered the management; from then on, the company was named Drägerwerk Heinr. und Bernh. Dräger. Since 1970, Drägerwerk has been a public limited company, or Aktiengesellschaft (AG) in German.

In 1912 Drägerwerk developed standard diving dress which did not need surface supplied breathing gas via a diver's umbilical, as it used a self contained gas supply came from a rebreather. Two versions were available, one for oxygen to 20 meters, and the other for nitrox to 40 meters. The semi-closed circuit used the injected gas to circulate the gas in the helmet through a scrubber, providing a very low work of breathing in comparison with most other rebreathers which used the lungs of the diver to circulate gas in the loop. The bubikopf helmet was designed for use with this system. The rebreather loop hoses connected to the back of the helmet below the overhanging part, and led from there to the back-mounted scrubber.

Since 1941 Hans Hass used bag-on-back rebreathers for scuba diving, originally built by Dräger for self-rescue of submarine crews (Tauchretter; like the Davis Escape Set). The first Dräger-Tauchretter had been built in 1907. In 1926 the Bade-Tauchretter was brought into service for rescuing drowning swimmers. Draeger also held various contracts for civilian gas masks.