Mustard gas testing kit

Rectangular metal box painted khaki with an attached hinged lid. The box contains a khaki metal free-standing insert designed to hold a range of items upright. The kit includes two glass jars with bakelite lids numbered in gold '1' and '2', three wooden testing panels with curved ends painted khaki, two cardboard cone filters, eight glass droppers with red tips, a ball of cotton wadding, eight glass tube reagents titled Benzidine acetate, Acetic Acid, S.D., Caustic Soda, L., Copper Acetate, P., and a brass L shape hand suction pump. The lid opens forward and acts as a platform for testing to take place on. The paper instruction card originally sat on the reverse side of the lid within a metal frame so that when opened, the instructions faced the user on the platform. A faded manufacturer's label 'AUSTRALIAN CONSOLIDATED INDUSTRIES, MELBOURNE' is printed on the front of the box. Two brackets are attached to the outside of the lid, to hold the suction pump. The lid is held closed by two hook clips attached to the sides of the box. On the back side of the box, two vertical metal straps for mounting are included.

A rare surviving type example of the mustard gas testing kits produced in Melbourne, Australia. In response to national concerns that Japan would employ gas warfare, measures were taken and a range of defensive anti-gas equipment were produced for the Australian forces and civilians domestically. As there are no painted military markings or arrows on the kit, it is likely to have been used in an Australian Civil Defence or an Air Raid Precaution depot during the Second World War.

• Mustard gas testing kit instructions
• Mustard gas testing kit testing reagent papers