Horses and the Gas Mask
Horses in the first World War were subjected to mustard gas. It inflicted terrible damage to the lungs and was a horrible death. The British and the Germans both used mustard gas and sometimes the wind changed direction and blew the mustard gas over the very soldiers who hope to disable the other side. for the horses caught in the middle it was not pleasant. Soon gas masks were designed for horses and this one was used in the Bosnian conflict. The horses were trained to accept them and they were used in London in the Second World War during the blitz. Today the mounted units of the Briish army still have a supply of gas masks for horses.
GAS MASK: This mask is a modern one and would have been used in Bosnia. There is a large stock of them in Army stores as they have to have them if the occasion arose. They were used in the First World War and were fairly primative. This one is cira 1980. A video on YouTube shows them being put onto horses. https://youtu.be/Wam3Nv-lk3k
Provenance: Gifted to the museum.
Older ones can be seen in the Museum for Military Medicine, Aldershot.