Fall 2026 Militaria and Aviation Auction
Lot 405:
Description
WWII U.S. Army Air Forces Type A-8B Constant-Flow Oxygen Mask, complete with its rubber rebreather bladder in remarkable NOS-like condition and a restored leather-and-elastic head harness. This lot offers a fine example of the Type A-8B constant-flow oxygen mask, the standard breathing apparatus adopted by the U.S. Army Air Forces in 1941 and produced in quantity through the war and into the immediate postwar years, primarily by Ohio Chemical & Manufacturing Company. The mask retains its olive-drab rubber facepiece with molded nose bridge, twin inlet/exhalation valve turrets, and black Bakelite nose cap, together with its rubber rebreather bag, a component that perished or was discarded on the great majority of surviving examples and is only rarely encountered intact today. Faint stamped lettering is visible on the rebreather bag itself, though worn and only partially legible in the photographs; it appears consistent with a wartime specification and inspection marking of the type typically found on this pattern of equipment, though it cannot be read with full confidence. The A-8B represented the culmination of a design lineage stretching back to the earlier A-8 and A-8A masks, refined to improve fit and gas delivery for bomber and fighter crews operating above 20,000 feet, where oxygen fed continuously through the supply hose while the reservoir bag stored a portion of the flow between breaths. Although largely superseded in frontline heavy bomber operations by 1943 in favor of demand-flow types such as the A-10 and A-14, the constant-flow A-8B remained in active service throughout the war and after in transport aircraft, liaison squadrons, and high-altitude chamber training programs, where its simplicity and reliability continued to be valued long after it had left combat use. The mask body presents with the olive-drab facepiece exceptionally supple, its molded nose section, twin green valve housings with pale inserts, and black upper nose fitting all free of cracking or dry rot. A black connector joins the mask to the green branch tube, feeding into the long black rubber supply hose. The rebreather bag is shown separately in close-up, its formed neck and stem intact, the surface smooth and glossy with only light creasing and scattered fine surface marks consistent with age and gentle handling rather than deterioration. Black elastic webbing, a black plastic buckle, and leather straps make up the replacement head harness, stitched and buckled to bring the assembly to secure, display-ready order. Condition throughout is very good. The facepiece rubber remains soft and pliable with no perishing evident in the photographs; the valve inserts show light brown staining around their rims consistent with age; the leather harness straps show some edge wear and exposed suede backing at the tips, typical of replacement components fitted for stable display; the supply hoses remain flexible with no cracking noted. A well-preserved USAAF A-8B mask distinguished above all by its genuinely supple facepiece and its rare surviving rebreather bladder, together forming an unusually complete example of this constant-flow oxygen equipment.
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