World War 1 Gas Mask Horse
The horse bit into a canvas mouthpiece and the mask was held to the horse s face by an elastic.
World war 1 gas mask horse. To protect sergeant stubby his owner john robert conroy of the 102nd infantry regiment bought a french canine gas mask. As the majority of transport in every army during ww1 was horse or mule transport then these animals became as much affected by the gas as their human masters. The horse gas mask of world war i consisted of a large bag that fit over the horse s nose and mouth. Other gas masks were developed during world war i and the time following for horses in the various mounted units that operated near the front lines.
This image shows a british soldier wearing a small box respirator introduced in 1916 checking the gas masks of two horses pulling a service wagon. It was the changing nature of warfare that rendered traditional cavalry useless on the western front. Gas warfare was a bad enough experience for humans. Just as gas masks were developed for the troops masks were equally introduced for horses.
In 1917 tanks which could crush barbed wire and deflect machine gun fire were introduced. The respirator used by the horses as seen in the photo included a flannelette bag with a corresponding canvas mouthpiece which would be inserted into the horse s mouth. One of the first british gas masks was the british hypo helmet seen below. This crude mask.
The horse gas mask reflects some of the technological changes that occurred during the first world war. One can only wonder at the. An elastic band ensured the respirator would remain close to the horse s face when in use. Early gas masks were crude as would be expected as no one had thought that poison gas would ever be used in warfare as the mere thought seemed too shocking.
Army would not begin work on its own mask until 1926 but the. Soldiers would train with their horses using the gas masks in order to familiarize the animal with the apparatus and off set potential problems once they stepped onto the fields. Also in world war i since dogs were frequently used on the front lines a special type of gas mask was developed that dogs were trained to wear. Cavalry was deployed alongside tanks at first but tanks.