Lang,
To be fair, the AWM were not the originator of the furphy about the shape being for gas decontamination, but made the error of quoting an otherwise reputable source without checking or thinking about it. The origin, as far as I can make out, was as indicated by this post in another MLU thread:
"Reference to the design shape is contained in a Mechanisation Board minute featured in Ventham and Fletcher’s Moving the Guns : the Mechanisation of the Royal Artillery, 1854-1939, p81...."
And I agree with you: just because an individual is in the employ of the AWM (or any other military oriented museum) does not mean he or she has a sound knowledge of military matters or history.
Mike
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