Gas Warfare

[Hans K.]

Thanks Hans,

I will post some mask pictures as soon as I got back home..
Regarding your wish to start collecting AU stuff, mhh.., I would suggest you to start as soon as you can, because there was an 400% increase on the prices during the last 10 years (Im talking about AU stuff)..
Nowadays it's very hard to find out genuine AU stuff, harder than SS stuff belive me...cloth AU stuff is almost impossible, they are very very rare.
Very interesting the story of your grandfather: have you got pictures of him as Sturmtrupp? If yes please contact me via PM.

Cheers
Tom

I have one picture of him and 2 comrades as Sturmtruppen (light assault order). I sent you a PM with more information as you requested. I once owned a nice late war K.u.K. field grey field cap with a black ersatz leather visor and Karl badge which I evenually sold on the Collector's Guild at at time when I decided to concentrate on WW1 German items and sell off other things. Its one of the very few things I truly regret selling.

[Hans K.]

I have seen examples of the M15 Tasche in the original configuration, that is, without the "D" rings on the back and having three sections. I have also seen an M15 Tasche that was converted to an M16 by adding the rings and taking one of the cloth dividers out.

Chip

Chip,

Regarding the M16 Taschen - in your opinion, were the D rings an integral design feature of the M16 bag? Some sources that I've found suggest they were part of the design only later in the war, with many earlier M16 examples having the D rings attached "in the field" for breadbag sling/assault pack attachment purposes. I have yet to take decent pictures of my Tasche, on which it looks like the D rings were attached at a later date and not during manufacturing.

[Hans K.]

I managed to take some pictures today of the D ring straps to show what I meant in my previous post.

[Hans K.]

Close-up of the other side.

[Hans K.]

Carrier bag maker stamp.

[Chip M]

Hans,

Your "D" rings sure do look like add-ons. I checked my two bags and the cloth matches the rest of the bag and has an "X" stitched to reinforce its attachment to the bag. Too bad your piece is not dated, so that we might learn something from it. Can you decipher the maker marks?

My reference only says that the rings were added after the March 1916 Bereitschaftsbüchse came out. If yours is an M16 bag, then this could be some new information regarding the timing of its alterations.

Chip

[Hans K.]

Chip,
I believe the maker is D. B. Loewenberg & Soehne, Berlin. Unfortunately the bag isn't dated. It's named to what looks like "Beerbaum" and is unit marked to 2. / 212.

Your last post made me question the model of my Tasche, and not for the first time. I've never had the opportunity to examine in detail any other M15 or M16 Segeltuchtschen aside from this one,and am not familiar with the differences other than the M15 had 3 compartments vs. the M16's 2.


I've taken 2 pictures of the interior showing some details which suggest to me that this bag may have once had a third compartment removed. In your opinion, could this be a M15 Tasche reworked into a M16?

[Hans K.]

Front interior of the bag. Notice that the button closure flap looks like it was hand stitched on (like the D ring straps) and not added during manufacturing.

[Chip M]

Hans,

I'm not home right now, but I think one of mine is a Loewenberg too. The most probable reason your closure strap has been resewn is that it has been moved from the missing compartment divider. The spare filter section started out on the other end of the bag.

Chip

[Hans K.]

Thanks for your reply Chip. I should add that the only picture I've seen of a M15 Tasche showed that neither side had a buttoned closure strap or buttons.

While we're on the subject of conversions, here's a carrier can that has an interesting feature. The can is dated 27 July 1918, the filter 14 September 1918.
The lid of the can is a recycled M16 lid with the wire cage removed.

[Hans K.]

Interior of lid compared to a M16 Gummimaske lid. Note traces of where the wire cage once was.

[Hans K.]

An updated fastener has been applied over the old lip, which was trimmed.

[Hans K.]

Top of the converted lid.

[Chip M]

Hans,

That is a really unique conversion. I have not seen that before. Thanks for showing it.

I think you may be right about the 1915 Tasche not having a closure strap for any compartment. The button that is sewn on yours is a commercial, rather than a military example.

Chip

[Hans K.]

The button is a non regulation replacement button which I've seen on a number of German WW1 items, and I think they were widely used for repair in the field. It's not sewn on, but rather stuck through the cloth with a smaller buttoned end holding it in place. I have a 1915 dated breadbag with a set of identical buttons.