Eyeshields, Dust Respirators, and Individual Protective Covers

Eyeshields, Dust Respirators, and Individual Protective Covers 

When this list of British equipment was submitted to the U.S. arms and services in an effort to establish their requirements, representatives of the Navy, Armored Force, Quartermaster, Field Artillery, and Engineers expressed an interest in almost every item, the Infantry and Medical Corps indicated interest in several items only, and the Signal and Ordnance wanted almost none.  

CWS suggested that other arms would need it, the AGE insisted that either goggles, the protective cover, or the soldier s helmet brim offered adequate eye protection against spray attack. Finally, after General Eisenhower asked for eyeshields for his North African theater forces, regardless of any objection to them, the CWS procured and issued them.  

Near the end of the war, technicians designed a simple, expendable respirator that the Cavalry Board found to be more durable and more comfortable and to give greater protection than earlier models.  

The Army first issued individual protective covers to theater troops late in 1942. Developed at the request of the Air Forces for the protection of air base personnel against vesicant spray from aircraft, the cover became a Quartermaster item of general issue. It consisted of a specially treated, large, cellophane bag folded into a small 4 by 7 -inch packet. A tear-tape device enabled a soldier with rifle or carbine to open the cover and don it sack-fashion in ten to twelve seconds. This cover, though it protected the soldier, enveloped and virtually immobilized him it was an emergency measure and no substitute for protective clothing. 

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