Box respirators

Uujsterrf gas (YcUotv Cross), in July, 1917. Mustard gas is 36 limes as )H>t.sonous stu chlorine. The Small Box Respirator sufficiently protectfxf (he ej es and nose agaiast mustard gas. The mustard gas... 

The British had forsecn this possibility and had provided a partial protection in the shape of an extension to the Small Box Respirator. Subsequently other changes were introduced. Really adequate protection never was demised. Fortunately the German shells were not effective. (Penetration of the mask is effective only when the particles arc approximately of a eertain sise.)... 

The original Hulian mask was somevrhat similar to the French M2 type. This was soon discarded for (he British Small Box Respirator which the ItuliuitH adopted for their troops during (he war... 

Fig. 1.8 The large box respirator (left) and the small box respirator (right), both reproduced with permission from Porton Down.

The US A benefited from the earlier experience of the British and French, and developed a series of respirators based mostly on the British Small Box Respirator and called the American Small Box Respirator , the Corrected English Mask and the RFK mask (the initials of three personnel in the Chemical Service), together with the French M-2 and Tissot respirators. 

The Americans suffered 85 casualties with 8 deaths, approximately 33% of their battalion. The problem was a lack of discipline. Because a good American mask was not yet available, the soldiers were issued two gas masks a French M2, which was comfortable but not extremely effective and a British small-box respirator (SBR), which was effective but uncomfortable with its scuba-type mouthpiece and nose clip. At the first sign of gas, some of the men could not find their gas masks in time. Others were able to get their SBRs on, but then either removed their masks too quickly or decided to switch to the more comfortable French mask and were gassed in the process.27... 

Fig. 2-19. A schematic diagram showing the Ml Service Gas Mask. The Ml eliminated the nose clip and mouthpiece of the box respirators of World War I vintage. By directing the incoming air over the eyepieces, it also helped eliminate lens fogging. Photograph Chemical and Biological Defense Command Historical Research and Response Team, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.

Gas was first used extensively in early 1915 by the Germans against both the French and the British. In the accounts of that war, over and over poor discipline is recorded as a significant source of gas casualties.2 The American Expeditionary Forces used primarily the British small-box respirator, with the French M2 mask as a reserve. Both masks were very uncomfortable, and soldiers took them off at the first opportunity, often while gas still lingered in the area. Many casualties were sustained.3 "In the recent gas attack practically all casualties had been caused by ignorance of the officers concerning the persistency of mustard, premature removal of masks, and failure to evacuate the camp promptly. 4(pll)... 

Colonel Fries took up his new duties on 22 August 1917 and left Paris on the same day to make his own appraisal of the British gas service in the field and to determine American requirements for gas organization, protection, and weapons. He learned from the British that the American masks recently received had failed to afford adequate protection in British tests, and on 23 August 1917 he accordingly recommended the adoption of the British small box respirator as the standard American mask. American troops were also to carry the... 

The most serious problem which faced Fries when he became chief of the Gas Service, aside from the task of obtaining personnel, was that of providing for a supply of gas masks and other protective equipment for American troops. Just prior to Fries s appointment the British, upon request of Captain Boothby, had tested twenty thousand gas masks received from the United States and had found them entirely unsuitable for use on the battlefield. " Fries knew that he would have to look for other sources of supply and took immediate steps to purchase British masks, or box respirators, as they were called, and French Ma masks. Second in importance to supplying the Army with masks was the task of equipping special gas troops with such weapons as cylinders, mortars, and projectors for the dispersion... 

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