Invisible man

OK Gus I guess you have nailed it...a French trench. I had no clue that there were variants on the typical big stopper and spiggot canteen used by the French armee.
 
Hey Brian.
The water bottles threw me, but in the enlargment, I could see the name tag on the one, and realized that it was not what it looked like. I still can not see the tunic with pips that Brett sees, I thought that I did, but it turned out to be a ground cloth.
These photos are great, there is so much to see in them, and so often, they are not what the seem at first glance.
Best
Gus
 
I'm a convert too Gus. I concede my 'tunic' is most likely something else, thought I was onto something there.

Well done mate :D . I'll update my Flickr narrative accordingly.

- Brett
 
gas mask 1915?
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R52907,_Mannschaft_mit_Gasmasken_am_Fla-MG.jpg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GermanLightAAGunAndCrewWWI.jpg

Various models:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Various_gas_masks_WWI.jpg
 
OK, I have a few observations. First, the cloth on the cartridge box in the first photo (of the Saxon reservist) is the canvas carrying pouch for this early mask. Normally, it also contained a bottle of the "Salz" solution for wetting the mask.

I believe the German officer in the French trench is trying on a French mask.

Finally, in the photo of the wounded man in the trench with the two soldiers wearing the Draegers, you can see a fiberboard (riveted) carrying box for the goggles in the very right front corner of the photo.

I have a couple of these and the goggles.

Chip
 
I also have a postcard in my collection where the soldiers present gas masks. Three of them are equipped with Draeger Tubben Model 14.

DSC_0201.JPG
 
Wouldn't you just love to see a photo of the actual location where this was taken, the scene behind the fancy backdrop.

Great photo!
 
Hey Joe,
That is a cool photo, It looks like he has an Austrian version of the M15 mask, at least the carrying cannister is of Austrian design.
Best
gus
 
joerookery said:
Now that is interesting. I wonder why?
Click to expand...

Joe,

I have never seen this before either, that is, a German with a possible Austrian mask and an Austrian carrying can. I suppose there could be several explanations. First, it might be that he is wearing a prop in a photo shop on the Eastern Front. Perhaps he is serving with some Austrian troops or maybe it was picked up by German salvage troops and recycled. The German filters will fit on the Austrian mask, so there is no problem with using German replacement filters.

Chip
 
The googles are interesting, I have not seen any like that before, and if I was offered a pair, I would have turned them down as they do nt look period. the mask is one of the early cloth masks that was soaked in a solution to neutralize the gas. Few survived, as saving one would be like saving a used bandage. In the book "Der Weg Zurück", Remarque writes of an American soldier taking a used bandage as a souvenier from one of the German soldiers, and having him write his name on it.
Best
Gus
 
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