Breathing apparatus on the battlefield
The use of oxygen breathing apparatus for protection against gas by the German Army dates back to 1915, when Dräger-Tübben Modell 1914 30-minute oxygen sets were issued in small numbers to certain font line troops. [1] The British had issued Siebe Gorman Salvus oxygen sets to their machine gunners and artillerymen, but realised that such equipment was too clumsy and required special training. [2]
While planning their first gas attack for Loos in 1915, the British took the German oxygen apparatus into consideration:
"It was also ascertained that German officers and machine-gunners were equipped with oxygen mine-rescue sets which were effective for half an hour at most; so that in planning our first gas attack it was hoped that unless an improved pattern of German mask was introduced in the meantime, a gas discharge of forty minutes might find some of the enemy without a mask at all;...while the oxygen sets would be useless, at any rate for the last ten minutes of the attack.." [3]
The attempt to negate the German oxygen apparatus seems to have been successful; upon entering the German fontline after the gas attack, troops of the British 20th Brigade reported "whole machine gun crews lying gassed to death." [4]
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The Dräger-Tübben apparatus was later supplemented by the issue of Dräger's one-hour Heeres Sauerstoff Schutzgerät (HSS-Gerät) or 'Army Oxygen Equipment' of 1916. More than 100,000 Dräger-Tübben and 16,000 HSS sets were eventually issued during the war, [5] but the sets had proved insufficient for prolonged use in gas attacks, and were probably thereafter mainly used for general engineering/rescue work and in the underground tunnels that both British and German sappers were digging ("clay-kicking") under each other's front line in order to set huge explosive mines. [6]
The HSS remained in service after the introduction of the more complex and heavier Heeresatmer, and was still seemingly in use at the end of World War Two, despite no longer being manufactured. [7]
The Heeresatmer
The Heeresatmer (HA) (Army Breathing Apparatus) was a self-contained oxygen breathing apparatus seemingly developed from a series of sets manufactured by Dräger. Visually and mechanically quite similar to the Dräger Modell 1923 [8] and the Modell 160 apparatuses, the HA entered German Army service early in 1937. [9]
During the same period, the Auer Gesellschaft was producing an apparatus known as the Degea-Audos Typ MR 1 Modell 1931, followed by a slimmer model, the MR 2 the following year. Referred to in early civil defence literature as the "Preß-Sauerstoff-Atmungsgerät mit Regeneration" (Pressurized Oxygen Regenerating Breathing Apparatus) these particular sets appear almost identical as the HA, but there were slight differences in the circuit layout and arrangement. [10]
Despite its military name, the Heeresatmer was also used by various civilian organisations, but could find their sets being requisitioned by the army should the need arise:
"All German fire brigades and A.R.P. [civil defence] organizations, private and municipal, are forbidden by law to purchase any other than the Heeresatmer and must in fact lay in a certain number, according to their strength, so that the army has a reserve to fall back on. It was reliably estimated in 1939 that the number supplied to the army was about 20,000." [11]
The HA was issued for use in atmospheres where an ordinary filter respirator was insufficient, namely in confined spaces with a deficiency of oxygen, in very high concentrations of toxic air or in the presence of poison gas that filters could not protect against. The danger of such atmospheres was such that German regulations specified that the Heeresatmer was to be "always used with two, preferably three men, each similarly equipped" [12] in case one of the team was injured or his apparatus failed for whatever reason.
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Description
Weighing in at 11.8kg, the Heeresatmer consisted of a lightweight metal two-piece casing carried on the back using two leather shoulder staps and a waist belt. Ribs were raised on the outer surface of the back panel of the casing, allowing the apparatus to be pushed along ahead of the wearer should he need to remove the set from his back (whilst still wearing the mask) to negociate a low or narrow obstacle.
The back panel could be removed by the use of a spring-loaded catch at the bottom of the casing. Inside, mounted on the main part of the casing were the main components: the oxygen control group, oxygen bottle and breathing bag, with the necessary connecting tubes and hoses. On a shelf near the top of the casing sat the CO2 regeneration filter.
Running through holes in the casing were a pressure gauge for the oxygen supply and a twin hose assembly that led to the wearer's facepiece.
Those using the Heeresatmer wore their normal respirator facepiece with it; this was so that the facepiece would be guarenteed to provide a proper fit for the individual. Facepieces fitted with outlet valves required a slight adjustment before they could be used; the screw-cap used to seal the twin hose manifold whilst it was stored in the transit chest was fitted over the valve from inside the mask, in order to keep the circuit sealed off from the outside atmosphere when the apparatus was in use.
Any mask fitted with an inlet valve needed it to be removed, as air had to be both inhaled and exhaled through the filter attachment housing. Tools were provided so that the older GM-17, GM-18 and GM-24 facepieces could be adapted and used as well as the newer GM-30 and GM-38 types. [13]
The Russians found a Heeresatmer set in Hitler's bunker when they searched it in May 1945. There is no direct evidence that it was actually for the Führer's personal use, but it is quite possible: "A door led to Hitler's bedroom...here was a bed with a night table...a safe in which he kept secret papers...and oxygen apparatus." [14] Cabinets in a nearby corridor contained ordinary gas masks and other air-raid equipment.
After the war, Czechoslovakian manufacturer Chirana (formerly Eckhardt, who had been producing equipment for the Germans during the occupation) manufactured a copy of the Heeresatmer, known as the E-146. Dräger continued to develop their range of breathing apparatus in the post-war period.
Footnote References
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