Corrected English Model Respirator

From the Collection: A First World War gas mask from the US

The entry of the United States into the First World War brought to light several inadequacies in the equipment of the “doughboys” as they prepared to enter the trenches. One such issue was the lack of proper protective equipment to protect the men from the poison gas that was so commonly used on the battlefields of Europe.

In order to correct this mistake the most readily available option was to adopt the design of gas mask used by their allies, and they settled on the British Small Box Respirator. Initial prototypes resulted in poor performance, and improvements led to adoption as the Corrected English Model Respirator in late 1917. Approximately two million masks would be produced by the Armistice.

This was the first American military gas mask, and would serve throughout the American involvement in the Great War in 1917 and 1918, but would be quickly replaced with the improved M1 mask in 1919.

American Expeditionary Force soldiers wearing CEM gas masks