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Breathing tube holders
German soldiers were issued with individual gas masks in cylindrical canisters. But the crew of tanks could not wear the masks because they would be unable to press their faces against the vision ports and optical devices of their vehicle.
The solution was to issue each crew member a standard mask in its canister, and a separate 'breathing tube' (Atemschlauch) which allowed them to use the mask without wearing it.
The breathing tubes were stored in cylindrical containers fixed to the inside of the tank. The Tiger 1 had three such containers in the turret. In the Bovington vehicle, the containers are on the turret roof. This diagram shows their positions.
This shows the approximate size of the containers.
As the photograph shows, the containers had a lid at one end and were always marked as 'Atemschlauch'.
The containers in the Saumur vehicle appear to be slightly longer, I think 390mm. The loader's container has been moved, probably when the loader's vision port was added to the turret design. You can see these containers in the Saumur vehicle elsewhere on this site.
Sources
[1] Survey of vehicle 250122, Bovington, by David Byrden
[2] Survey of vehicle 251114, at Saumur, by Jean-Charles Breucque
[3] Survey of vehicle at Saumur, by Hilary Louis Doyle
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Copyright © David Byrden 1998-2007 except where indicated.
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