Original Items: Very Few Available. We have acquired a small quantity of these lovely, genuine World War Two American E7 Rubberized “Assault” carriers as used by U.S. troops during the amphibious D-Day invasion. This is only the carry bag with straps, a Gas mask is not included.

The condition of the bags is wonderful and they do show signs of use. They have the standard but faint U.S. / UL / ARMY COMBAT / SERVICE GAS MASK in OD green painted on the front. The straps may or may not have arsenal stamps present or dates. They appears to be serviceable, but expect the button snaps not to function properly as they have slightly corroded while being stored the past few decades.

From the warehouse to your displays! Comes ready to be paired with a lovely M5 gas mask and added to your D-Day / Paratrooper collections!

M5-11-7 Combat Service Mask
Since the late 1920s, one of the ultimate goals of the American Chemical Warfare Service was the procurement of a specialized mask which reduced the overall weight and size to a convenient package without sacrificing protective quality. Most of these concepts varied from novel at best to bizarre and impractical at worst, because, at the time, it seemed inconceivable for the American Chemical Warfare Service to develop a mask whose canister was mounted directly to the side of the facepiece without causing leaks. The U.S. had dabbled with masks that had canisters mounted in the chin position, but did not hold them to high regard given the inconveniences noticed wearing the mask while lying prone or crawling. In 1941, the British had finalized what would become the Light Anti-Gas Respirator Mk. I, which took the profile of the Civilian Duty Respirator, but successfully mounted a small 60mm-threaded replaceable drum canister on the side of the facepiece. Later, the General Service Respirator Mk. V mold was used to create a much more serviceable Mk. II design.

Taking note of this, the CWS established a research division at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1942 to develop a mask based off this pattern while utilizing the then-standard M2, M3, and M4 Service Mask Faceblanks. Many unique concepts came of MIT's experiments in effort to develop an American side-canister mask, but ultimately one would go on to be developed and adopted as the E6-3-7 Army Assault Gas Mask in 1943, filling the gap for a compact, lightweight mask to be used by amphibious landing teams and paratroopers alike during the upcoming Operation Overlord.

The E6-3-7 initially issued E6R1 Masks utilizing Class 'B' Gray Natural Rubber M3 Faceblanks, however existing stocks of these Gray Rubber M3 Faceblanks were diminishing due to Japanese control over the Pacific cutting the U.S. off from natural rubber, and the procurement of M3-10A1-6 Lightweight Service Masks made of black government rubber neoprene (artificial rubber) after May of 1943 allowed the E6 Mask to be produced of said neoprene M3 Faceblanks. The neoprene E6R1 Facepiece (still referred to as E6 during issue) would fill the bulk of the E6-3-7 Assault Masks issued during the Normandy beach landings and used well into Holland while the E6R1-E3-E7R1 was waiting to be finalized as the M5-11-7 Combat Service Mask.

The E6-3-7 was also issued with an E3 Canister (British Light-type Containers were also authorized in case of short supply), which is identified by the manufacturer marking 'CROWN' or 'C' embossed into the steel body in addition to the 'E3' designation stamp, an E4R2 Mud Guard that prevented debris from clogging the canister inlet, and of course the waterproof E7 Assault Mask Carrier, which would be marked in yellow with the typical US and CWS Logo Markings, followed by U (Universal Size) or UL (Universal Size, Left Canister Stem) and 'Army Assault Gas Mask'. Although there were plans to produce a variation of the E6R1 Mask with a canister stem on the right side of the mask for left-handed shooters (hence the 'UL' Marking on some E7 Carriers), these plans were scrapped as it was realized how difficult it was to produce the E6R1 Mask, and high rejection rates owing to the production priority on the left canister stem model.

E7/M7 Assault Carrier
Worthy of specific note all on its own is the special rubberized carrier utilized with the E6/M5 Masks. Due to the hermetically watertight construction of the rolled closure flap, the carriers have been reported to double as an impromptu flotation device, credited with saving lives of men dropped into deep water during Operation Overlord. There were many ways the carrier could be worn on the body, including, but not limited to:

- Top Strap Around Shoulder, Bottom Strap Around Waist, Roll Facing Out and Forwards, Carrier at Left Side
- Top Strap Around Waist, Bottom Strap Around Thigh, Roll Facing Out and Forwards, Carrier at Left Thigh
- Top Strap Around Left Shoulder, Bottom Strap Around Right Shoulder, Roll Facing Out and Upwards, Carrier on Upper Chest
- Straps Crossed over Upper Chest, Roll Facing Out and Upwards, Carrier on Upper Back

Many variations, reproductions, and fakes of these carriers also exist and there are ways of determining each one.

Reproductions will generally be made of a lower-quality, more plastic-looking rubberized material with garishly bright hunter green or neon yellow stamps. Additionally, these poorer-quality reproductions will typically have paper-thin nylon webbing as the straps and incorrect buckle hardware/sewing patterns. Better quality reproductions will use more convincing rubberized fabric material, but can still be told apart from most originals from the heavy braid pattern of the fabric visible under the rubber coating, looking much like tarp fabric to a degree. Additionally, the markings will still be blatantly bright yellow with inaccuracies in the style of the CWS Logo Stencil. Most of the newer good-quality reproductions will also have OG-103 "Khaki" webbing straps, which was a feature on some early E7 Carriers, but a majority do not and finding originals like this is a rarity.