Australian WW2 compass and periscope

[AIF]

NooooooooooooooooooObvious reproductions! Better count the stitches on the pouches! Pity!

Lololololol! Nice stuff Luke, cheers for sharing!

Hahahaha!!! Good one mate, I knew you would get me back eventually Maybe you should post your new additions up too

[Trance_Eyes]

Hi Guys,

Ok here we have my Aussie Compass for reference. Not as nicer nick as Lucas but still worthy of the collection

Best wishes

JustinC

[AIF]

Nice one Justin! It looks great with the new pouch
Yours is newer than mine too by over 5000 units going by the serial number... Although I find it really hard to believe that there was 20,000 of these made, Id really be suprised if there was even 2000 made. There must be a manufacturing code in the serial number.

Thanks for sharing dude

[4md]

gday i was just ogling your prismatic compass, i have a british(g.e.c.) one i was given as a kid which has a bit of paint wear and tear but is other wise in good condition. yours is a beauty, the black paint, glass, lettering and numbering is all in excellent condition great pick up

i must admit i thought mine was australian til i read this thread and googled g.e.c. ( general electric company), now i need to get an aussie made one as well....
some cool items here fellas thanks for posting

regards Paul

[AIF]

Hey Paul, What date is yours? As the British ones were issued to us and knocked off by light fingered Aussie in North Africa, If its an early pre 1942 date It could very well have been used by an Aussie. Over the years I have seen several British made ones with Aussie service numbers scratched into them. I saw a really nice 1939 dated one on ebay a few years back and it also had the British made patt37 compass pouch dated 1940 (Although I have no idea how it would have fit in the pouch) both were named to an Aussie Infantry officer, unfortunately I was broke that week and couldnt buy it

Feel free to post a picture of it up, Id like to see it!!

[4md]

gday, im not sure on the date of mine as i cannot find a date on it anywhere, i got it in the 80s from a lady whos husband served in the militia during the war or just after. She also gave me some wool leggings of his

heres a few photos.... mine has has a little clouding on the glass and im not sure of the origins of the pouch it came in, it could be home made

regards paul

[AIF]

G'day Paul nice compass mate Is it the inside that is cloudy or the actual glass itslef? There is a place in England that restores these It may be worth finding out how much it would cost to have it cleaned up and fixed as the MKIII's are a beautiful compass and still one of the best compasses ever made.

Heres some info you may or may not know... The letter 'B' at the start of the serial number means this compass was actually made by Francis Barker and Sons. Notice that It doesnt have MKIII or the year stamped on it either which means that it is likely from a run of compasses made by Barker in 1943 where a lot of the batch didnt get date stamps.

Thanks for sharing mate!!

Cheers Luke.

[4md]

its the inside thats cloudy im afraid, it would be great to restore it, i will have to look into it.
thanks for the info on the manufacturer and date i didnt know about the B prefix being a different contractor......

a couple more photos i took shows the cloudy inside

Paul

[AIF]

Id say its just the fluid thats gone bad inside it, It most probably has gotten moisture in it or it may have sat in the glovebox of a car for 20 years through extremes of hot and cold. You should be able to fix this yourself, you would just have to find out exactly what sort of fluid to use (its some sort of alcohol) just carefully pull it apart drain it out and refill it, I have a bit of spare time in the next few days I will look into it for you as Im interested to see how its done also.

[AIF]

Ok so after a quick read its no advisable to try and repair/restore your compass yourself

But heres the guy in England who repairs them, Ive seen a few of his restos and they are top notch, just scroll to the bottom of the page for a before and after example... Id suggest emailing him a few pics and asking for a quote for repairs, I dont think It would be too expensive.

Compass Repairs