Name/Title
Mark VI Gas mask 1951 - 1976Entry/Object ID
57Description
Black rubber gas mask in cardboard box, with side fitted grey painted filter, the mask marked "L&B 10-51", the filter marked "ATS 253 PR158 41(Arrow symbol)60" and the strap marked "PR559 CD 4/64". Also include are three grey coloured gaberdine sleeve protectors. The box is marked "Insp Lind (?) 3/4/76"Use
For use as a respirator during a gas, nuclear or biological attackContext
The Mark 6 respirator came into UK military service in 1951. They were subsequently issued to the emergency services, including the police, during the Cold War as part of Civil Defence preparations in case of a nuclear attack. The markings indicate that the mask itself was made in 1951 and that it was refurbished in 1960 and 1964. It may not have been in police use for all of that time but may have been in 1976 given the markings on the box, which suggests police use. Its source was a Sussex Officer who had previously served in Brighton Borough Police. It was made by the Leyland and Birmingham Rubber Company.
Respirators such as this would have been used in the pre amalgamation forces in the units known as "Mobile Columns", teams of officers designed to act as independent units in case of a nuclear strike. As late as the 1970s some Sussex Police officers received periodic training to deal with a nuclear strike, including the use of protective equipment, such as respirators. In more recent years some officers have specialist training to deal with chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CRBN) incidents, though the risk is more geared to terrorist and accidental exposure.