About this objectThree WWII Civilian Respirators. One of these was issued to the police for use of prisoners in their custody. This was one of the most iconic pieces of equipment of the Home Front during the Second World War. They were issued to every civilian by the government in the late 1930s and early 1940s and were designed to protect the population from gas attacks. Civilians were legally required to have their respirators within reach at all times. The mask was very basic – the air was breathed in through the filter and exhaled from the sides of the mask. Shockingly we now know, that the filters from this time contained ‘blue asbestos’ and also some a highly toxic arsenic pre-filter. Although the likely-planned Nazi chemical and biological attacks never took place on mainland Britain, many people would have practised using the masks correctly.
