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Relative's gas mask


gman5004
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Recently a great great uncle of mine has been put in hospice care. He is an Army Air Corps veteran of WW2, and was a collector of all things gun related and military related. My family has been going through his things to find anything of value to the family or things of his that people would like to keep. One of the items given to me was a WW1 gas mask, named to my great great great uncle George Gord, who's helmet I also have. I haven't been able to find much information on him other than that he was in the Marine Corps with the 5th or 6th MG battalion. The mask itself is dry and stiff, and as you can see in the picture the one eyepiece is caked with an odd substance, anti dimming cream maybe? The tube is deteriorating as well, not surprisingly, but the bag itself seems to be in nice shape, and everything is there, that I can tell at least. I'll post more pictures of the mask and other pieces as well. Posted ImagePosted ImagePosted ImagePosted Image

 

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Pictures of the markings on the mask itself and of the tube of anti dimming creamPosted ImagePosted ImagePosted ImagePosted Image

 

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George B Gord was in Company B 5th MGB and had service number 2788890. He originally went overseas with Company B 143rd MGB of the 40th Division, which was a Depot Division (provided replacement soldiers) formed in your part of the country.

 

Great family artifact! Would love to see the helmet too.

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George B Gord was in Company B 5th MGB and had service number 2788890. He originally went overseas with Company B 143rd MGB of the 40th Division, which was a Depot Division (provided replacement soldiers) formed in your part of the country.

 

Great family artifact! Would love to see the helmet too.

Thank you for the info! Was he Army then? And just got transferred to the 5th as a replacement?

 

I've posted the helmet on here before but I may as well throw it on here too. The star is interesting, because there's a red border around it, and then the purple behind that.Posted ImagePosted ImagePosted Image

 

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Interesting helmet!

 

I have a 4th MG helmet and uniform that came straight from a family, and the insignia is a red shield behind the indian head. ...not an obvious purple.

 

It's very close color to yours.

 

And yes...the 4th and 5th MG battalions were army units...the 6th was a marine unit.

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Interesting helmet!

 

I have a 4th MG helmet and uniform that came straight from a family, and the insignia is a red shield behind the indian head.  ...not an obvious purple.

 

It's very close color to yours.

 

And yes...the 4th and 5th MG battalions were army units...the 6th was a marine unit.

Ah ok, thank you for clarifying that. Originally when I was given the helmet I was told he was in the Marine Corps, and had been killed in France. Obviously having the helmet meant that he probably wasn't killed. A lot of misinformation overall.

 

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Interesting helmet!

 

I have a 4th MG helmet and uniform that came straight from a family, and the insignia is a red shield behind the indian head. ...not an obvious purple.

 

It's very close color to yours.

 

And yes...the 4th and 5th MG battalions were army units...the 6th was a marine unit.

Funny, I have a 4th MGB also similar in color (a deep maroon), the Indian Head also looks similar to this one.

 

Gman you are correct, he would have transfered over to the 5th from the 143rd in probably mid-1918. Quite likely he saw combat with the 5th I the last few months of the war.

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