bile.(All) Yes, there were gas masks in the cupboard under the stairs along with some large metal gauze covers about 15" diameter. Can't remember what they were for - maybe nothing to do with the war. Well, I was only 3.
of(Darren) Indeed so. Nothing short of a miracle that I may have been conceived by persons wearing gas masks at the time. Maybe they did so because there was no such thing as soap in 1942. Didn't do Mum any harm - she's still alive and well, aged 92. :-)