The Snapshots in Time Collection

Soldiers in Gas Mask Drill at a Foreign Legation Compound, China, Interwar Period

Soldiers in Gas Mask Drill at a Foreign Legation Compound, China, Interwar Period

Soldiers stationed at a foreign legation compound in China don gas masks during a chemical-defense drill, likely during the interwar period. Garrison troops protecting foreign concessions and legations in cities such as Peking and Tientsin routinely trained against the threat of gas attack, a legacy of World War I and a precaution that grew more urgent as conflict escalated in China through the 1930s. Project: 218387