New gear for American parachute jumpers, 1945

Description: 

Photograph. U.S. serviceman wearing new oxygen delivery system developed for high altitude parachuting. Official Caption: "Rome. 6/8/45--Jump bottles--A new stream-lined oxygen bottle assembly which recently has been approved by the U.S. Air Forces allows parachute jumpers to bail out from altitudes as high as 40,000 ft. (12,000 Meters) with the assurance that their oxygen supply will stick by them until they touch ground. Tests made with the new 'H-2 Bail Out Assembly' show that it is better than any former 'Jump Bottles'. It plugs right into the standard oxygen mask which affords protection against frostbite and hailstones after jumping. The most important improvement is that the capacity of the H-2 has been increased from 20 to 22 cubic inches (330 to 360 cubic centimeters), an extra margin that can mean everything when an airman steps out into thin air.--PWW Photo--Serviced by Rome OWI. Approved by appropriate military authority. 6533-3 (A List Out)." Location unknown. 08 June 1945

Image Information

Donor: 
Dylan Utley
Accession Number: 
2012.019.521
Date: 
06/08/1945
Location: 
Hometown: 
Branch: 
Theater of Service: 
Unit: 
Campaign / Event: 
POW / KIA: 
Topical Subjects: 
Equipment & supplies
Collection Level: 
Items from the service of Isaac "Ike" Bethel Utley, who was born in Smith Mills, Kentucky on 3 March 1920. Ike enlisted in the Army Air Corps on 19 January 1942. He was shipped overseas to the European Theatre and worked with a supply division based out of the city of Naples with an office set up in a residential villa. Utley worked with the Office of War Information and used their photographs in news articles to inform soldiers of the progress of the war. At war's end, Utley returned stateside. A trunk full of over 800 photographs from the O.W.I. arrived on his doorstep from his office in Italy, sender unknown. This collection consists of those photographs.
Thesaurus for Graphic Materials: 
Equipment & supplies