Home Front Unicorn!

[BrodieBartfast]

Hello folks.

This is a very rare find indeed, thus the title of this thread. I cannot stress how uncommon this particular piece is. Prior to finding this one, I have only ever seen them in period photographs and illustrations in instruction manuals. I was beginning to doubt any of these still existed, but here we are! At first glance, this is just another Civilian Duty Respirator, a common enough sight on the likes of eBay. Any show stall selling Home Front militaria is likely to have at least one or two of these. They were produced in their millions, along with the various other models of British civilian gas masks. The sight of a Civilian Duty respirator is never going to make anyone exclaim 'wow!'

In fact, this is something quite different, and quite special. It is (for lack of a better term) a 'first pattern' Civilian Duty mask. Production of the Civilian Duty mask respirator began in 1936, in the light of increasing tensions in Europe, and the rapid buildup of the ARP (Air Raid Precautions) services. The Civilian General Respirator was adequate for use by the general public, but for people expected to maintain their duties during air raids -- most notably air raid wardens, police officers and firefighters -- a more robust mask was needed. The Civilian Duty respirator was subsequently introduced, and manufactured steadily from 1936 into the postwar years.

For the sake of comparison here, I will be using my great grandmother's Civilian Duty mask, issued to her during her time in the ATS. It is the 'second pattern' mask, as commonly encountered the world over. (This particular one assembled in 1946).

Here, we see the two respirators side by side. Early pattern on the right, later one on the left. The only obvious difference is the shape of the filter.



In fact, the filter is radically different in terms of design. The inside end of the filter is a grid, very similar to that seen on the late-war 'Light Anti-Gas' respirator, rather than a single hole guarded by a circular rubber disc. The rubber disc is mounted on the front of the filter instead, just behind the inlet hole. The filter was manufactured by 'BW & M Ltd' (Barringer, Wallis and Manners Ltd of Mansfield). The filter is dated 1936, with a second, later date marking around the inlet. Presumably the latter is when the filter was filled and sealed.



And here's the 'second pattern' filter, commonly used in Civilian Duty and Civilian General respirators.



The second major difference is the head harness. Later masks used a combination of elasticated straps and a rubber head spacer. In the case of these early masks, a simpler harness was used, consisting entirely of an arrangement of straps, stitched together to provide head support. It is not difficult to work out why these earlier harnesses were soon replaced!

Early harness (left) and later harness (right).



As for the rest of the mask, the majority of the other components are identical. All are dated 1936, including the metal fitting for the flutter valve, which is something I haven't seen before. The mask was assembled by 'SG & Co Ltd' (Siebe Gorman & Co Ltd, London), in December 1937, as indicated by the white ink stamp on the mask's left 'cheek'.



A period photograph showing the early Civilian Duty in use, as well as an artist's depiction on a cigarette card.



And a British Pathe video featuring the early mask. Skip ahead to the 29 second mark.



Regards, B.B.

[Rakkasan187]

Very interesting and informative post BB..

Thank you for showing us and further educating me..

The knowledge tank here gets deeper and deeper..

Smitty

[AZPhil]

Nice addition BB.
Both of these look to be in great shape.
Congrats on finding that new one.

Semper Fi
Phil

[BrodieBartfast]

Thanks, guys! These early masks are very scarce. I don't know if there's even another example posted on this forum. I had fun typing this up, anyway!

B.B.

[Composite]

Beautifully presented...and interesting...thank you.

SG always crop up on the peripheral and it’s nice to see them in the spotlight.