Czech-Made Luftschutz Gas Mask

[AlecH]

Picked up a couple of things yesterday evening at the military collectors club. One being this Czech-made Luftschutz Gas Mask in bag. I've searched through this forum & WAF for another one, without any success, it does have Third Reich stampings and is dated 1940. Do forum gas mask collectors have or know of this type of Luftschutz Gasmask ?

[douglas2496]

I have this one which came with a tin. It is similarly marked with an eagle and swastika on the filter. Yours is in nice condition. I presume these were captured pre-war Czech stock re-issued to the Luftshutz, though I would like to know if they were originally army or civil defence..

[JPhilip]

Hello,
Many of these prewar czech gasmask can be found in France. They were used by the "Défense Passive".
I guess many of them are of civilian type. I guess also that they're not only prewar but were still produced in czech territories occupied by the germans...
Thanks

[AlecH]

Yes Douglas, yours is the same model, albeit a different colour, the canister is new to me, German ones usually have the strengthening ribs running along the length of the canister, yours go round the circumference. My dated mask filter 1940 and the fact in my bag is a German sheet for user instruction, which they had bothered to have printed would indicate to me that production continued in Czechoslovakia as before, rather than just captured stock being shipped to Germany the whole of the production went to Germany. Looking at the sheet, it appears there were two models, our one and one with a ribbed hose between the mask and the filter kept in the bag.
Concerning the bag its a really well made item, two side pockets, two extra straps on the back, an inside pocket and a dividing wall for the filter and gasmask, which when compared to the rubber VM 40 Volksgasmaske the civilian population got, packed in a cardboard carton, very basic, makes me think, they weren't given to the civilians, perhaps these didn't go to the Wehrmacht proper (due to non-uniform conformity) but would have been used by para- military groups like Luftschutz organization. Here's more pictures.