Image Bank
Swansea
Baby's Gas Mask
Special gas masks or respirators were made for babies. The baby was actually put inside, with a strap fastened between its legs. Midwives and district nurses trained young mothers how to use them, and there are photographs of these ladies picking up babies by holding the top of the respirator. These gas masks must have been very frightening things, and there are lots of examples of mothers who didn’t even take them out of the box.
Air was pumped in through a filter at the side, and a draw string at the bottom was pulled tight around the baby’s body to keep out poison gas. It is a good thing that the gas bombs never came, because the poison would surely have seeped in quite quickly.
Barbara Walker was born in July 1941 in a house in the middle of Swansea. She was issued with what was called a ‘Protective helmet’ when she was 6 weeks old.
Activity: Connections
Look at the picture and read, listen to, or print the story.
Now think about how any of the pictures might connect, save the Connections Write Sheet and use your imagination to explain how you think they could connect.