Historical information

This gas mask was the standard issue gas mask for the Australian Army prior to and going into the Second World War.
The mask featured two eye pieces made out of splinter-less glass which were removable to allow for decontamination of the mask without damaging the splinter-less glass eye pieces.

The filter box was manufactured by Willow in Melbourne.

The mask features a tissot system, which uses air provided by the intake assembly to defog the eyepieces.

Air breathed out passes directly through the outlet valve which was designed work as voice membrane in order to enhance the speech of the user

Unknown to most is that the GSR series of masks were manufactured in Australia rather than being imported from the United Kingdom. This was mainly due to the long travel distance between the UK and Australia, as well as the fact that the UK could not afford to give out masks during the war.

The majority of the masks were manufactured at the Commonwealth Ordnance Facility Maribyrnong in Melbourne.

Significance

This mask is representative of Australian manufacture during WWII. It is part of the story of Australian military history.

Physical description

Gas mas with dark coloured rubber mask. The back of the mask has elastic harness with 6 straps. They can be tightened or loosened to fit. The front of the mask has two large glass eye pieces with metal rims and a metal outlet valve. A concertina fabric and rubber tube leads from the outlet valve to a reddish brown box which is the filter. One side of the mask has the word 'Normal' stamped into it.

Inscriptions & markings

Mask:
NORMAL (on left side) / DPR 12/40 (right side)
Back of harness: No. 4 III / 5-11-49
Filter canister: No 4A / 1940 / E VI