Owen "Glen" Tudor letter to his mother - January 27, 1918
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same adress. [January 27, 1918]. Dearest mother, I recieved your letter and Rachels' a few days ago and of course I was very glad to get it of course. Now, of course your letter was very late - yes very late indeed & I was just about to write & scold you about it but you have put up so many nice excuses (some of which seem fairly plausible) that I have decided to turn the tables & write to you about every day. What do you think of that? Don't worry
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[page 2] about our letters crossing. Answer mine the best you can & I will answer all your letters, and all the questions in them. I believe that you will want to know first how that detail is coming on, We have not gone yet as you have guessed by the post mark and now the latest is that we will not go for about two weeks. This is unofficial of course & we are kept in a very uncertain position. Yesterday evening an order was read at retreat which told us not to wear any of the clothes or equiptment issued for "overseas duty" & for the "over seas " detail to be prepared for inspection at any time. So it may be any time. You know I have my cartridge belt-pack-first aid kit-red cross sweater - imergency ration kit - extra clothes - hob nail shoes & about everything, but a gas mask and automatic revolver. Only the "overseas detail" was issued these. Speaking of gas masks (do you remember "speaking of operations") we had our first gas test yesterday. At about three o'clock yesterday afternoon we all
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[page 3] were marched over to the gas house on the infantry side of the camp and there were issued gas masks & put thru gas. Of course we have been having gas mask practice for some time here near our own battery. It is all very interesting. A gas mask is made in the following manner: There is a hood of rubber cloth which covers the face fitting tightly along the forehead, against the cheeks and under the chin. The eye pieces are large glass discs. Of course the breathing
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[page 4] apparatus is the most complicated. There is a satchel slung from the neck on a strap & also secured against the body by a cord which runs about the waist. This satchel has two compartments - one contains a chemically filled cannister from which runs a tube which in turn joins to the mouth piece of the mask itself. The mask is folded & kept in the left compartment. All the air you breath comes from the left compartment - which is empty when you have the mask on - passes into the right compartment thru vents & into the bottom of the
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[page 5] cannister through a vent in the bottom. The cannister is held up from the bottom of the holster by a flat spring. So the air passes up thro the cannister, tho the tube & into the mask. The mouth piece fits inside the lips against the gums & has grips which go between the teeth. There are little pinchers which fit over the nostrils & hold them shut. All breathing is through the mouth. when your breath is exhaled a "flutter" valve opens and lets it out & then instantly closes. There is only one unpleasant thing about the mask besides becoming accustomed to breathing through the mouth & that is that you can not swallow the saliva & it runs out the flutter valve & down your shirt. The main thing is not to try to breath except perfectly naturally. Of course if you get excited you breath faster & deeper & you are liable to choke. Coming back we were in a characteristic dust storm. Well, this morning about half the nom coms. in the battery were [ms illegible: 1 wd] to
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a scare. The high wind brought cold weather & sleet. The wind was blowing away from camp & this made it almost impossible to hear the bugle call for reveille. So we were late on the line. As a result we had to do flunky work all day & the captain said he was going to oust us. We were pretty nervous, but of course affected not to care. We made a good bit of fun out of the work we had to do. This evening the captain said he would rescind the order to “buck” us. Well, goodbye. Your loving son Glen.
Details
| Title | Owen "Glen" Tudor letter to his mother - January 27, 1918 |
| Creator | Tudor, Owen Glen |
| Source | Tudor, Owen Glen. Letter to his mother Mrs. Raymond Tudor - January 27, 1918. Westover, John G., Collection, 1910-1946. The State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia, MO. |
| Description | This letter was sent by Owen "Glen" Tudor to his mother while he was training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, on January 27, 1918. In this letter Tudor described using a gas mask in detail. Tudor, a Maplewood, Missouri, native, served in the 128th Field Artillery in the 35th Division during World War I. |
| Subject LCSH | Fort Sill (Okla.); World War, 1914-1918--Chemical warfare; Gas masks; United States. Army. Division, 35th |
| Subject Local | WWI; World War I |
| Site Accession Number | C3733 |
| Contributing Institution | The State Historical Society of Missouri |
| Copy Request | Transmission or reproduction of items on these pages beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the State Historical Society of Missouri: 1020 Lowry Street, Columbia, Missouri, 65201-7298. (573) 882-7083. |
| Rights | The text and images contained in this collection are intended for research and educational use only. Duplication of any of these images for commercial use without express written consent is expressly prohibited. |
| Date Original | January 27, 1918 |
| Language | English |