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The GM-38 was used by the German Army in the Second World War and was created as an upgrade for the GM-30. 

Overview

GM-38

The face piece was made entirely from rubber. The metal parts on this mask has a variety of colours, which represent why they were used. Masks with tan painted parts were used in the tropics of Africa in World War II as it is painted in 'sand colours'. The mask has a 5-pointed strap harness which is tightened with two straps in the mid-section and another two near the bottom. The mask was issued in a canister which was carried around the neck but the mask also has its own carrying strap with which it could be carried.

GM-38 Luftwaffe

The Luftwaffe had an additional, lateral round thread connection, depending on the aircraft type, right or left, with corrugated hose or filter. Depending on requirements, the unneeded connection was sealed with a round threaded plug. These masks were not crew equipment but remained in the aircraft.

GM-38 Funker/Mikrophon

Very rare variant. It had a removable metal cap on the side into which the microphone was screwed. It was issued for radio operators.

Filter

The mask was issued with many different filters varying on the users. The Civil Defence used it with S-Filter. The armed forces used warious filters, mainily FE 37, FE 41 and FE 42. In general all filters were round canicter filters painted in green colors. Markings:

  • FE: combat filter
  • Fe: ferrum (iron)
  • AL: aluminum
  • NM: not magnetic
  • R: Drinked Improved Ring-shaped Nebula Filter (In older filter-tops the R was stamped, in the newer ones) soaked = hexamethylenetetramine Refilled
  • HN: hexamethylenetetramine Refilled
  • Tp, Tr or Tropics: tropical filter

Carrying canister

The mask came in a round steel canister called Gasmaskenbüchse (gas mask "rifle"). On the inside of the lid there is a separated section for the anti-fog inserts. It has many sub variants under the army, navy and civilian variants (even the ones made by Auer are not the same as made by Dräger). The army variant is 25cm in height and 12,5cm in diameter, mainly the locking mechanism changed. The navy ones are fully sealed, not just the lid and are marked with a "D" on the bottom. It is a bit taller then the military variant (27,5cm).

External information

The GM-38 was created as a successor to the GM-30 and was issued to the Wehrmacht and to other branches  during Nazi Germany. Early variants of the mask were used with rebreathing devices like the Dräger KG rebreather serie.

The mask was used for protecting the user's face form the back blast of the rocket leaving the tube of the RPzB 54 Ofenrohr ("stove pipe" - early Panzerschreck without protecting shield).

In concentration camps like Auswitz the mask was used by the guards when dealing with Zyklon B, it requiered a special "J" filter.

 Gallery

German_GM-38_Gas_Mask

German GM-38 Gas Mask

References

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