German GM30 Gasmask & Cannister

danpatjoe

Hello All....

I have been setting up a small display, and wanted to get an original wartime gas mask and cannister as, to the average Joe, they are one of the most instantly recognisable pieces of German equipment after helmets and either a Luger or MP40.

Anyway, I wasn't worried about getting a completely matching piece of kit, but just a good enough visual example.





The mask itself is in relatively good repair - still soft and pliable with no tears or cuts. The are some small areas around the edges where the rubber seal is beginning to wear away. The unusual (I think) thing about it is the markings - The most obvious stamps are a '2' just under the right lens, (I assume this is the size?), and the numbers '6241' near the expiration valve.

Under the suade? lining it is stamped '1' and '1937 and elsewhere has the Imperial eagle stamp and 'W&A 320' aswell as '41' and the TR eagle. Elsewhere again, it has the numbers '40759 F'. Then, further along there is a small '675' close to a very large '7'. There are further number stamps which are very difficult to access, let alone photograph!







The filter has it's screw cap in place, and is marked 'FE 41 clf Fe' It also has ink stamps of the TR eagle with what looks like 'Wa.A. 476' and on the opposite side the numbers 41 over 0791.
On its side it has an inked date stamp of 15 Jan. 1945.





Finally, the cannister -
Rather salty with no obvious stamps apart from the 'D' on the base (I have read that this indicates a post 1941 cannister - is this correct??)
It does not have the rubber hermetic seal nor the cleaning cloth or spring in the base. The compartment for spare lenses (empty) has a small typewritten label with 'Ogfr. Hempeler willi' - this, I presume was the original owner (of the cannister, at least).





There's not much more I can say about it - unless anyone has a question about something I may have missed.

Any comments or information about these items would be very gratefully received.

Thanks for looking!
Regards - Dan

Nordwind

Greetings,

This forum may be <snip>...<snip> of <snip>...<snip> help - http://forum.axishistory.com/index.php

Dr Strange

Edit: Nordwind: Actually, I just crop your post to remove the unhelpful comment. Thanks for the link.

Nordwind

I can't even remember what I said...surely couldn't have been that bad?

Dr Strange

Nordwind wrote: »

I can't even remember what I said...surely couldn't have been that bad?

Don't worry, it was just a small thing. The main part of your post (the suggested link) was ok.

danpatjoe

Thanks for the link Nordwind!