Item:
ONSV3607

Original U.S. WWI M1917 SBR Gas Mask with Carry Bag, Instructions, and Filter

Item Description

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a nice service used example of an M1917 SBR Gas Mask complete with mask, filter, instructions, and carry satchel. It still has the original internal pocket to hold the filter, as well as the spring spacer so that the filter intact is not impeded. The original instructions and repair tape packet is still attached to the filter by the string.

Unlike almost all of the masks that we have seen, this example still has rubber that is relatively intact, and has not crumbled and cracked. Even the bladder that inflates in the front is still mostly intact, though quite hard due to age. The internal rubber components in the mask are still present, and the eyepieces are also still very nice. The filter, filter hose, and satchel are in good shape, and there are stamped markings on the interior and exterior of the bag.

This will make a great part of any WWI collection, a vital piece of equipment for the one world war where gas was routinely deployed.

Of the 5,250,000 gas masks of all types produced by the U.S. during the war, 1.6 million of them were the improved version of the British SBR. This mask was officially known as the U.S. Corrected English Small Box Respirator or the U.S. Corrected English Model (CEM). Produced in six sizes (1 through 6) from January to March 1918, the CEM was one of the two most commonly worn American made gas masks used by the AEF.

Despite complaints from France regarding the British SBRs uncomfortable mouthpiece and its despised hated nose-clip, American gas experts determined that this type of respirator provided the best protection. Ever since the failure of the ASBR, American gasmask designers toiled to modify, improve, and ultimately make the American version of the SBR more comfortable, more reliable and stronger than the English mask that it mirrored. After numerous revisions, by October of 1917, the design had been perfected. Upon passing a comprehensive battery of field tests, the CEM respirator went into full scale production in January of 1918. It would be the very first U.S. made gasmask to see service in the gas soaked trenches of the Western Front.

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