Breathing Collection

WW2 - Home Front - Woman in her Gas Mask. Date: circa 1941

Diagram of the lungs and bronchial tubes
A diagram of the lungs and bronchial tubes, with a section of the windpipe

Hillary and Tensing on Mount Everest
Hillary and Tensing nearing the summit of Mount Everest. Date: 1953

LFCDA-LFB Fire Rescue tenders
The 1990s saw a new breed of fire rescue tenders, large and small, introduced into the London Fire Brigade. The heavy rescue unit carried a comprehensive range of cutting and spreading equipment

LCC-LFB enclosed pump at Lambeth fire station
Pictured at Brigade Headquarters, Lambeth SE1, an example of an 1930 enclosed London pump with carried breathing apparatus

GLC-LFB Fire in Lambeth Road, SE11
A Merryweather turntable ladder stands ready whilst fire crews wearing Proto oxygen breathing apparatus tackle a blaze in Victoria House & Victoria Mansions, South Lambeth Road, South Lambeth

LCC-LFB changeover from brass to cork fire helmets
Two firemen in the foreground wearing new style cork helmets and Proto Mark IV breathing apparatus sets. The man on the right is from Station 34, Shadwell

Diagram of the heart, lungs and windpipe

Deep sea diver at work
A deep sea diver at work, assisted by a colleague. 1965

Two women police officers in gas masks, London, WW2
Two women police officers in gas masks in London during the Second World War. One of them is Florence Bragg (joined November 1936). Date: 1940s

LFCDA-LFB Heavy fire Rescue tenders
The 1990s saw a new breed of fire rescue tenders, large and small, introduced into the London Fire Brigade. The heavy rescue unit carried a comprehensive range of cutting and spreading equipment

LFCDA-LFB Fire Rescue tenders
The 1990s saw a new breed of fire rescue tenders, large and small, introduced into the London Fire Brigade. The heavy rescue unit carried a comprehensive range of cutting and spreading equipment

LCC-LFB Breathing apparatus communications set
A Sub Officer from Lambeths (D61) emergency tender crew demonstrating the Southampton communications equipment that was worn with a full face mask on the Proto (oxygen) breathing apparatus set

A fire-breathing dragon - Florence Mary Anderson
" Where are you, my Gaston, " she called. A princess and a fire breathing dragon - illustration by Florence Mary Anderson. 1915

Methods of escape from submarine by G. H. Davis
The latest methods of escape from a sunken submarine: the rescue bell, the one-man escape chamber, and escape without the use of breathing apparatus. 1954

London Fire Brigades organisation and equipment
A selection of small drawings of the events that take place in 1937, when a call by a pedestrian seeing flames and smoke to the very end when the fire has been put out

Station 28, Whitechapel BA pumps crew
Firefighters from Whitechapel fire station posing with their Proto Mark IV oxygen breathing apparatus sets with their open Dennis dual purpose appliance which could carry either an extension ladder

Major fire, Smithfield Poultry Market, London
Firemen entering the basement of the major fire in the Smithfield Poultry Market on 23 January 1958 that had already cost the lives of two firemen

Yoga Girl Apprentices
A group of Indian girls, yoga apprentices. While squatting in this position, they must control their breathing and concentrate upon a perfect balance of mind and body. Date: 1930s

Combined Civil Defence exercise, WW2
Civil defence rescue workers administering first aid to a released casualty from the exercise site. The R on the helmet signifies Rescue team workers

Comic postcard, Man uses lung testing machine at the seaside Date: 20th century

Comic postcard, breathing in short pants Date: 20th century

New firefighters breathing equipment 1907
Firefighters wearing new breathing apparatus to protect them from inhaling fumes, lasting twenty minutes

New protection for firemen 1903
The latest German novelty for protecting firemens faces from smoke inhalation. With nippers over their noses, special smoke glasses over their mouth connected to a oxygen bag hanging in front of

Breathing Apparatus for Diving 1913
Photographs showing the front and back of a man wearing the latest breathing equipment to dive underwater, reaching a submarine of depths of about 200 feet, for about an hour

The Respirator for colds, cough, sore throat, etc
The Respirator for all affections attended with irritation in the air passages, as colds, cough, sore throat, asthma, consumption, etc. 1858

Barnsley Detachment Tankersley Brigade Rescue Party
Mine Fire at the Hamstead Colliery, Great Barr, Birmingham on 4th March, 1908. The Barnsley Detachment Tankersley Brigade Rescue Party

Advertisement for Geraudels Pastilles. 1893

Submarine divers 1869
Divers wearing diving armour with flexible arms and helmet with eye-plates of strong glass, with a fresh supply of oxygen been pumped in through a long hose to allow the operator to say under

A fire-breathing dragon by Florence Mary Anderson. Date: 1915

Female diver returning to dry land
A female diver returning to dry land, warming up with a hot drink from a vacuum flask top. 1970s

Bottlenose dolphins - blowing air bubbles underwater (Tursiops truncatus). Distribution: Worldwide except polar regions. Complex play / creative behaviour

Bottlenose dolphin - blowing air bubble (Tursiops truncatus). Distribution: Worldwide except polar regions. Complex play / creative behaviour

Bottlenose DOLPHIN - blows bubbles from blow hole, facing camera (Tursiops truncatus). air bubbles rising. Complex play / creative behaviour

Gas respirator equipment instruction, WW2
Auxiliary Fire Service members undergoing Gas Respirator equipment instruction during the Second World War

LFDCA-LFB Breathing apparatus control board
All front line fire engines which carry breathing apparatus also carry a BA control board. This ensures that when firefighters enter an incident in BA their details are recorded

Diagram of the Proto breathing apparatus set, WW2
Exploded diagram of the Mark IV Proto (oxygen) breathing apparatus set, showing its working parts

Divers repairing the bottom of a ship at anchor wearing John Bethells patent diving dresses. Day & Haghe Lithographers to the Queen. S. Bendixen Lith. Date: 1838

Bottlenose dolphin - blowing air bubbles underwater (Tursiops truncatus). Distribution: Worldwide except polar regions. Complex play / creative behaviour

Firefighters in breathing apparatus, Everett Street, SW8
Firefighters in breathing apparatus at a fire at The Steam Packet public house in Everett Street, Battersea, London SW8, on 26 April 1959

Firefighters in training with resuscitation stretcher
Firefighters in training, rocking a resuscitation stretcher

Schnorkel breathing system for U-boat by G. H. Davis
The new lungs of the U-boat: the Schnorkel breathing system. The exhaust and fresh air periscope which enables U-boats to remain under water for long periods during the Second World War. Date: 1944

HMS Poseidon submarine escape apparatus
HMS Poseidon and the submarine escape apparatus. Poseidon was sunk on 9th June 1931 after colliding with the Chinese merchant steamer SS Yuta

LFCDA-LFB Recruits undergoing basic training
Located at Southwark Bridge Road, SE1, the London Fire Brigade Training School is responsible for providing basic training to all its recruit firefighters

LCC-LFB Ship fire on SS Leopard, Port of London
A fire crew, rigged in Proto one-hour oxygen breathing apparatus sets, descend into the smoking hold of the SS Leopard. The fire had broken out deep inside the vessels hold

LCC-LFB first emergency tender crew, Clerkenwell
It was more a dedicated breathing apparatus fire engine but is deemed to be the forerunner of the emergency tenders. This fire engine also had a petrol engine generator to supply the electric

Firefighters in training with breathing apparatus equipment

GLC-LFB Damaged compressed air BA sets
The compressed air set of a firefighter caught in a flashover during a fire, showing the heat and smoke damage caused to the set and the obscuring of the face mask by the heat damage

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