Comments on: Do not procrastinate http://airminded.org/2009/10/28/do-not-procrastinate/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=do-not-procrastinate Airpower and British society, 1908-1941 Fri, 25 May 2012 16:07:37 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Brett Holman http://airminded.org/2009/10/28/do-not-procrastinate/comment-page-1/#comment-117416 Brett Holman Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:04:26 +0000 http://airminded.org/?p=2760#comment-117416 That's the one I was thinking of, thanks. Let that be a lesson, kids: sloppy note-taking can lead to serendipitous discoveries! That's the one I was thinking of, thanks. Let that be a lesson, kids: sloppy note-taking can lead to serendipitous discoveries!

]]> By: PD Smith http://airminded.org/2009/10/28/do-not-procrastinate/comment-page-1/#comment-117305 PD Smith Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:25:21 +0000 http://airminded.org/?p=2760#comment-117305 That's a fascinating advertisement! Thanks for posting it. I think the one you recall from my book (p. 102) is the Harrods "Respirators for the Troops" advert in the Times (29 Apr 1915). It was a response to a Daily Mail campaign to get the women of Britain to make home-made face masks for their men at the front. Harrods offered products ‘as per official requirements’, such as ‘absorbent cotton wool covered gauze, with wide elastic band, 3/9 per doz’. Millions of masks were made but as a defence against poison gas they were worse than useless. That's a fascinating advertisement! Thanks for posting it. I think the one you recall from my book (p. 102) is the Harrods "Respirators for the Troops" advert in the Times (29 Apr 1915). It was a response to a Daily Mail campaign to get the women of Britain to make home-made face masks for their men at the front. Harrods offered products ‘as per official requirements’, such as ‘absorbent cotton wool covered gauze, with wide elastic band, 3/9 per doz’.

Millions of masks were made but as a defence against poison gas they were worse than useless.

]]> By: Brett Holman http://airminded.org/2009/10/28/do-not-procrastinate/comment-page-1/#comment-117255 Brett Holman Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:51:54 +0000 http://airminded.org/?p=2760#comment-117255 Certainly the pads were far easier to make. At this point in time British troops were being issued with the same impregnated cotton pads the police were recommending for civilian use -- civilians made them at home and they were posted off to the troops. I don't think it was clear how useless they were. Luckily they didn't last long but the next few models weren't much more sophisticated; it wasn't until 1916 that respirators began to become available. So it was a combination of necessity and ignorance. But I would also doubt that the government would have considered stockpiling gas masks for civilian use -- civil defence was largely seen as a responsibility for individuals and families, not government. So I'd say, but then WWI civil defence is even less studied than WWII civil defence ... Certainly the pads were far easier to make. At this point in time British troops were being issued with the same impregnated cotton pads the police were recommending for civilian use -- civilians made them at home and they were posted off to the troops. I don't think it was clear how useless they were. Luckily they didn't last long but the next few models weren't much more sophisticated; it wasn't until 1916 that respirators began to become available. So it was a combination of necessity and ignorance.

But I would also doubt that the government would have considered stockpiling gas masks for civilian use -- civil defence was largely seen as a responsibility for individuals and families, not government. So I'd say, but then WWI civil defence is even less studied than WWII civil defence ...

]]> By: Chris Williams http://airminded.org/2009/10/28/do-not-procrastinate/comment-page-1/#comment-117196 Chris Williams Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:17:40 +0000 http://airminded.org/?p=2760#comment-117196 I suspect that the advice not to bother with gas masks was motivated as much by desire to avert panic as by scientific evidence. The sensible time to say "gas masks are needed" is when you've already got 6 million of them stockpiled ready for distribution. For example, it's pretty clear from the papers of the committee tasked with developing gas defence in the 1930s and 1940s for babies and children that the masks they did come up with were not effective - but they were very keen to say that they were. Source - some paper I heard at Social History this year. I suspect that the advice not to bother with gas masks was motivated as much by desire to avert panic as by scientific evidence. The sensible time to say "gas masks are needed" is when you've already got 6 million of them stockpiled ready for distribution. For example, it's pretty clear from the papers of the committee tasked with developing gas defence in the 1930s and 1940s for babies and children that the masks they did come up with were not effective - but they were very keen to say that they were. Source - some paper I heard at Social History this year.

]]>