Danish M/49 gas mask

The mask with associated equipment: 1. Filter M/47, 2. Gas mask M/49, 3. anti dimming cloth, 4. Carrier 164.115-4, 5. two pair of protective goggles, 6. Manual, 7. Cleaning cloth.  

Remember! you can enlarge the picture by clicking on it! 

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The Danish M/49 gas mask is one of these items that everyone knows exist, but no one owns.

I was lucky enough to find one, with all the different items that normally are missing + the altered British carrier used together with the mask. (see the first picture) 

The mask is a re-design of the Danish M/38 gas mask that the army used from 1938 and until 1943. The M/38 (as did the M/31) saw some post war usage, but it was quickly replaced by this mask.

The stopped covering the mask in cloth, and the eyepieces can no longer be unscrewed to put in anti fogging discs. Instead they introduced an anti-dimming cloth. 

The mask is made of a one pice rubber part, an intake / exhale valve assembly, two eyepieces and a rather comprehensive strap system. The strap system exactly the same type of strap system used on the M/38 mask. All metal parts are made of aluminium, and the exhale / inhale valve assembly is down to the smallest detail the same as the M/38 mask.

The carrier is an interesting item, since it has been altered to meet Danish requirements. 

The C-hooks were cut off together with the shoulder strap rings. The C-hooks were then placed vertically together with two green webbing straps and two new buckles. This made it possible to carry the carrier in a vertical position, instead of the horizontal position as the British intended.      

 

Danish M48 helmet / Hjelm M48 ( US M1 helmet and Austrian clone)

Danish M48 clone helmet - made in 1965 by USCH

Medic helmet cover from 1963

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In the first years after WWII, the Danish army used three main types of helmets. The British "turtle" helmet + the Mk II and the Swedish M/37. We tried to produce our own helmet, the M/46, however the Danish army decided to introduce the American M1 helmet instead. It was cheap and well made. It remained the standard combat headgear in the Danish army until 1992 when the first kevlar helmet, produced by Schubert in Germany, and the first flak jacket was introduced.

The M1's were in the beginning surplus WWII helmets. A small Danish production run was begun in 1957. These helmets were made of magnetic steel, and came with a Bakelite liner. All of them went to the civil defence, since they were deemed unusable by the army. In 1965 the Danish army received the first German and Austrian produced M1 clones. These helmets are known as the M/48-65.

The Danish M1 clones were produced by:

Austria: Heinrich Ulbricht's Witwe, Schwanenstadt (stamp: U.SCH)

Germany: Linnemann Schnatzer, Ahlen (stamp: LS)

Germany: Busch Vereinigten Deutsche Nickelwerke AG Schwerte (stamp: VDN)

In the beginning the helmet liner were the old "resin" ones, but later, the old WWII helmets and clones were given a hard plastic liner produced from 1963 in Denmark by Dansk Kunststof Industri - DKI. They were of a higher quality that did not dissolve in the humid Danish weather like the resin ones. They liners were made of fibreglass impregnated with coloured polystyrene, and were made in three different colours: Green (army), grey (civil defence) and blue (navy). Later DKI produced a high visibility orange liner for the Civil defence. The liners were able cope with temperatures ranging from -30 to +40 degrees Celsius. DKI also sold the same helmet liner to the Norwegians, when they introduced the M1 helmet, as the M/58.

The helmets were usually used together with a cotton helmet net. The net was very similar to the US M/44 net.  All webbing parts were in a olive green shade, and all metal work on buckles etc were kept in brass. The helmets were made of a non-magnetic metal, the so called Mangalloy because of its high impact strength and resistance to abrasion. - WIKI: Mangalloy

If you want additional information on the M1 helmets, visit Mannie's blog.

http://www.combathelmets.blogspot.com/

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First helmet is a M1 -Front seam helmet made by McCord Radiators late in the war - late 1940s.
Heat stamp: 926A
Liner is of the 1963 DKI type, and the chinstraps are made of cotton webbing.
Colour: "apple green"
Buckles: Brass.

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Austrian clone shell made by USCH in 1965
Same type of liner, made by DKI.
Webbing straps on the liner is a cotton / nylon mix.
The chinstrap on the shell is the US M/73, with chin cup. It is made out of nylon and cotton webbing.