Original Item: Only One Available. This is an original French WWI Appareil Respiratoire Spécial, or ARS gas mask, complete with its removable filter and original metal carrying canister. This example is the early wartime configuration with the cloth elastic head harness, rather than the later metal spring-type suspension found on postwar ARS masks. The facepiece is now quite stiff and fragile, with cracking to the eyepiece components and several detached straps, but the set remains unusually complete with its filter, canister carrying strap, and original instruction sheet beneath the lid.

Development of the ARS began during 1916 as the French Army sought a more practical respirator than the absorbent M2 mask. The experimental design was initially known as the MCG and drew heavily upon contemporary German face-mask respirators with directly attached replaceable filters. The early MCG facepiece used rubberized cloth but suffered from fogging of the eyepieces and inadequate resistance to certain tear gases.

On January 17, 1917, the improved MCG design was formally adopted and renamed the Appareil Respiratoire Spécial, or ARS. Although manufacture was authorized at that time, production and supply difficulties delayed widespread distribution. The ARS consequently became most closely associated with the later stages of WWI, particularly during 1918.

The ARS appears to be complete, but the mask itself is now stiff and will not move much. This is the 1st type of this model with the cloth elastic harness system. The eyepieces are still attached but the pieces are cracked. The canister still retains the original carry strap and the instruction sheet under the lid. The interior and exterior does have surface oxidation and rust present, but no significant damage.

Some of the straps have broken off of the mask itself, but thankfully the mask still looks forward and will display sitting on the filter without issue.

This example is particularly noteworthy for its early cloth elastic harness, original filter, surviving cracked eyepieces, complete metal canister with carrying strap, and original instruction sheet beneath the lid. Together, these features make it a strong representative example of the French Army’s transition from impregnated fabric masks to a more modern replaceable-filter respirator during the final phase of WWI.