Some Cool WWI Militaria

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Jessesky

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62A2558C-C168-494E-9F98-1A02FD4A1E9F.jpeg 5A82BEFC-1E7D-4771-BB38-2C7EF6D12D00.jpeg Hey Guys,

I thought this may be interesting to share with you all. It’s a “gas rattle” from WWI used as an alarm when poison gas was incoming. This was used instead of the whistle because one would be using a gas mask at the time and could not shout or blow a whistle.

I’m having trouble determining if it either is a constables Police rattle from the Victorian era (Before 1883 when whistled were first issued), or a WWI gas rattle. It was advertised as a gas rattle and I was skeptical until I learned the former owner of the estate was a British officer in WWI and his children were selling the estate. Either way I bought it.

It is manufactured by HJ Gray & Sons. Moderators I wasn’t sure where to put this post so I apologize if I’m the wrong place.
 
Very interesting..... Never heard of one of those and I've done some research on WWI stuff... As my paternal grandfather spent 17 months in France with the Canadian Machine Gun Corps during that conflict. His unit was gassed more than once but were pretty much saved by a shifting breeze from what has been passed down to me. Although his time in France was something he never talked much about except on a few rare occasions and never in front of his grandchildren.
 
I would say it was a gas rattle given its provenance. If it was issued as official regimental trench supplies it would have a broad arrow mark on it . It also could have been purchased privately,as there were many stores like Selfridges etc who sold Officers kit for the trenches. Rattles such as this were once common in Britain,still being made in the 50s and 60s. We used to take them to football (soccer) matches to make supporters noise.
 
I have something similar. My grandfather was an air raid warden in Philadelphia during WWII, and it was part of his kit. That and one of the WWI type doughboy helmets painted white with insignia and "air raid warden" painted on it.

We played with both as kids. Dont know whatever happened to the helmet. I still have the noise maker.

Seems like most things "later", its not near as nice or as fancy as yours. Still, its loud and annoying, and the dogs attack me when I give it a spin. They hate the damn thing. :D

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Wonder how many lives that thing may have saved? Trench warfare must have been the worst of all. Those boys couldn't even raise their heads out of the trench to look around to see what was coming. Just listen for the various warnings.
 
Wonder how many lives that thing may have saved? Trench warfare must have been the worst of all. Those boys couldn't even raise their heads out of the trench to look around to see what was coming. Just listen for the various warnings.
Waiting for death to come find you while you are already in a 6ft deep hole in the ground does seem pretty ominous, and would have been downright maddening. I often wondered how they ever talked those boys into leaving the trenches to run headfirst into machinegun fire, thinking about it now it seems much more pleasant than staying in the long grave waiting for unseen and unfathomable death to come chase you down. Runing headlong into machine gun fire you at least could see what was killing you and you could even shoot back.

And people wonder why vets often don't talk about their time in the thick of war... this is one of those thoughts I wish I could unthink. I'm glad you posted the photo, it is enlightening.
 
Waiting for death to come find you while you are already in a 6ft deep hole in the ground does seem pretty ominous, and would have been downright maddening. I often wondered how they ever talked those boys into leaving the trenches to run headfirst into machinegun fire, thinking about it now it seems much more pleasant than staying in the long grave waiting for unseen and unfathomable death to come chase you down. Runing headlong into machine gun fire you at least could see what was killing you and you could even shoot back.

And people wonder why vets often don't talk about their time in the thick of war... this is one of those thoughts I wish I could unthink. I'm glad you posted the photo, it is enlightening.
Also remember, at the time, they didn’t care much to check age. Though the age to enlist was supposed to be 19. There were many boys as young as 15 on that front. Really interesting to think about.

If you guys have not seen it yet, I highly suggest you see “They Shall Not Grow Old” by Peter Jackson. It came out this year
 
My uncle 1st Lt George Redmond Lynch served in Go G; 306th Infantry Regiment 77th Infantry Division in France in 1918 Campaigns (St Miheil, Meuse-Argonne) and from November 1918 - April 1919 on occupation duty in Neu Wied Germany. H was also a member of the "Argonne Players" in 1918-19. He was gassed and shell-shocked during his service in France. I guess he was familiar with such a device!
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That is really neat. I seem to recall seeing a movie about WWI and saw one in it, but I can't remember what film it was.
 
Wonder how many lives that thing may have saved? Trench warfare must have been the worst of all. Those boys couldn't even raise their heads out of the trench to look around to see what was coming. Just listen for the various warnings.
Go and see Peter Lynch's brand-new WWI documentary "They Shall Not Grow Old". Distribution is extremely limited. You view the film wearing 3D eyeglasses. You'll gain a new appreciation of the horrors of a WWI battlefield.
 
Go and see Peter Lynch's brand-new WWI documentary "They Shall Not Grow Old". Distribution is extremely limited. You view the film wearing 3D eyeglasses. You'll gain a new appreciation of the horrors of a WWI battlefield.
Peter Jackson*
 
I have heard that there are showings of "They Shall Not Grow Old" in 3D , I am glad that I saw it without that distracting enhancement.
 
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