Gas mask

Gas Mask, model 32 was the basic model of a gas mask used in the Polish army of the interwar period. It was a modern in innovative piece of equipment, the second type of mask produced in independent Poland after R.S.C. mask and the first design of a gas mask developed in its entirety by Polish designers. Its key feature was a very comfortable face part. The gas masks were made in Wojskowa Wytwórnia Sprzętu Przeciwgazowego (Military Anti-Gas Equipment Factory) in Radom since 1935, possibly from 1936. The first masks were issued as standard piece of equipment to the Polish Army in 1936. On that year, the instructions for their use and maintenance were also written. In the beginning, they were manufactured with sackcloth face parts, but later the design was upgraded with rubberised material. Starting in 1938, these masks were also made in the Stradom factory in Częstochowa. Model 32 gradually replaced the R.S.C. masks in the Polish Army, although even in 1939 both types were used as standard pieces of equipment. The masks were made in three sizes – M, S, and D. Joanna Kluz