Judith Hewitt, manager of The Devil’s Porridge Museum, looks at the need for gas masks during World War Two.

Last month marked the 75th anniversary of VE Day and this seems like a perfect time to share a few objects from The Devil’s Porridge Museum’s World War Two collection (the first floor is dedicated to an exploration of The Solway Military Coast from 1939 onwards).

There was a lot of activity in our region in World War Two: it was used as a base for refugees from inner cities, there were RAF training bases and munitions factories, bombing raids, work was done by female members of the Land Army and everyone was affected by changes to Life on The Home Front (such as rationing, blackouts and Civil Defence).

The museum has displays of objects and information on all these different aspects of local life during the Second World War but I’d like to focus on a set of objects in particular.

These objects are gas masks. Poisoned gas was widely used in World War One and, although its use was banned under the terms of a 1925 Geneva Protocol, both sides in World War Two anticipated its use by their enemies and prepared accordingly.

Changes to aerial warfare meant that civilians could have been targeted and poison gas could have had a devastating impact had it been used on a large urban area.

Fortunately, neither Britain or Germany used poison gas on one another during the war (although its possible use was discussed by both sides).

It is estimated that nearly 40 million gas masks were issued during World War Two. I recently spoke with a lady from Carlisle, who is now in her 90s. She remembered getting in trouble for dragging her gas mask along the ground on the way to school. Her treatment of this piece of (potentially) lifesaving equipment was so careless that she had to have it replaced several times.

The museum has on display several gas masks and two of them were specifically aimed at children: the ‘Mickey Mouse’ gas mask and the baby gas mask. Thankfully they were not used but serve as a grim reminder of the horrors of war and how thankful we should all be for the peace which followed.

  • The Devil’s Porridge Museum is currently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, but some of the Kids’ Clubs are being run online offering a variety of activities and workshops for children. See www.devilsporridge.org.uk for more details.