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British Gas Helmets

21K views 13 replies 8 participants last post by  JPS 
#1 · (Edited)
For Gustaf B here are some of my collection of British Gas Helmets.

From May of 1915 to the summer of 1916 the primary Gas defence of the British Army was the Gas Helmet. In fact the Helmets were retained as secondary Gas defence into 1918.
There were 4 Types in use, the Hypo, P, PH and PHG

Here are some examples of Hypo, P and PH helmets.



The "Hypo" was single layer of flannel with the eye piece of the same material that Film stock is made out of. (the very first helmets had mica windows but these were not too good). These were in service from May 1915 till Sept. 1915 as primary defences and then secondary for some time afterwards. This Helmet and first pattern satchel (June 1915) were issued to Sjt B. Coates.



The last batch of Hypo helmets used the screw-on glass eye pieces that would be standard on P and Ph helmets. The Flannel was still single layer. This Helmet was also issued to Sjt B Coates. He managed to save most of the Gas Defences issued toi him including two rare variants of the Hypo Helmet.



The Phenate or "P" helmet was made of two layers of flannelette (Cotton) with an added mouth piece. The inner layer of flannelette is usually, not always, striped pajama flannelette. "P" stands for Phenate and not practice--Practice Helmets were stamped DRILL. These stayed in service until Jan 1916 as Primary defence.



The Phenate-Hexamine or "PH" helmet is almost identical to the P helmet. The real diffference was in the dipping solution. This example has an elongated portion of flannellette commonly found on PH helmets. This example has inner flannelette in pajama material and also the back panel. PH Helmets are usualy stamped PH with a number (Lot number). The black stains are the back side of the stamo PH65 (see attached photo)

The Phenate-Hexamine-Goggles or PHG helmet was only made in small numbers for RFA and Machinegunners. It had the eye pieces replaced by a set of Rubber sponge goggles. I don't have an original of that one. These cameout in early 1916 and were officially withdrawn when the issue of SBRs started in Aug 1916. When SBRs started issue all PHGs were to be turned in and a PH Helmet retained as secondary defence.

Some of the photos posted below show:

The Satchell and inner bag as introduced in Aug 1915 for the P and Hypo Helmets. This satchel first cameout with only a single pocket but later in 1916 a two pocket variation came-out to hold the Gas Goggles.



The two primary types of British Gas goggles were the Spicer Goggles also known as the French Model and Rubber sponge Goggles. Both were introduced in the summer of 1915 and would be official withdrawn in July of 1917 (However, many continued to be worn well into 1918).





The last picture shows a comparison of the P to PH Helmets and the marking differences.


Hope this is of interest.

Joe Sweeney
 
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#2 ·
Hey Joe,
I am not sure if I should dislike you or worship you, but I think I will go with the second one. That is an amazing collection of gas hoods. British SBRs are rare. but they are plentiful compaired to the gas hoods. Thank you very much for the great post.
 
#5 ·
Hey Joe,
I had forgotten about this post, I still can not tell if I should hate you or worship you, but at least I managed to acquire a nice PH hood.

As you can see, I was lucky enought to find one that still had the exhale valve. When it arrived, the rubber was very sticky and soft, with it exposed to the air, it became less sticky, but remained soft, I worry about it getting too dry and becoming brittle, so I have wrapped it with polyvinyl to protect it from drying out. So far, this seems to have worked, as it has not changed any more since covering it. What is your opinion?
Best
Gus
 
#8 ·
Hey Joe,
Mine is currently on display in my collections room, it has no light except when I am in the room (no windows) This is a difficult dicision, to display such an artifact, or store it away for safe keeping. My thought is to store it is such a manner that it can be displaied at a moments notice with outhaving to handle it,
Best
Gus
 
#11 ·
Hello Gents,

I was obviously rather busy when this thread first appeared as I have never seen this before. WOW!!! An amazing collection Joe and Gsu. While I've never specifically looked for British issue gas hoods, in 30+ years of collecting I've never come across one for sale. Absolutely fantastic reference info Gents!

Thank you for posting this and for reviving it! "Stickied" it is!

Thanks again for sharing these wonderful artifacts with us Gents.

Warmest regards,

JPS
 
#12 ·
I thought I would add a few more detailed pictures of the PHG helmet along with photo's of it being worn.

These were meant for specialists such as artillery and issued 24 to a battery.

The inside rubber sponge goggle pads have been trimmed a bit.

Hope this is of interest

Joe Sweeney
 

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#14 ·
Thanks for the info staffy.

This old and fascinating thread serves as a reminder for those of us who knew and corresponded with Joe. He was amazingly well versed in just about everything related to WWI.

You are sorely missed Joe! Sleep well my Friend.

Warmest regards,

John
 
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