ww1 trench periscope

[kradman]

Picked this up today on the fea market a nice early trench periscope , i cant see any thing marked on it

[Glenn66]

Curious, what designates this as an 'early' trench periscope?

[kradman]

From what i have found on google

[Jerry B]

It looks homemade to me and it must be hard to date such an item. A cool find whatever the date.

[Wagriff]

Agreed-it is almost certainly hand-made and not an M-17 Issued piece. The M-17's were held together with bands of wires rather than the screws and nails. Be warned, though, that these hand-made ones are now being widely copied and are being sold pre-aged as originals. Unfortunately, I have to say that I think that this particular one may well be one of the replicas, as it shows very little signs of surviving a hard trench life in the field 100 years ago. I would expect to see some discoloration from the oils from legions of fingerprints and handling as well as moisture from the wet trench environment. The rails to pull it in and out show very little wear and tear-despite their needing to be slid in and out quite frequently. The handle also does not look appropriate. The issued pieces, for example, had a wooden swing-out style of grip to hold it while viewing through it. This one would require both hands to aim, hold and steady to use, which would naturally be impractical in a war-trench scenario.

[DrPMC]

I have an idea that these used to quite popular to take along to football matches and the like.

I'd also agree with William that this doesn't show the patina of age - the wood looks to be brushed with wood stain, which has worn away on the edges to show wood which is still light. After around 100 years this couldn't be so.

Regards, Philip

[kradman]

I see what you guys mean from the photos shown , but in hand it shows alot of age , there is years of dust inside it and a faint maker stamp i have found after cleaning it ,its hard to read but looks to be a london maker i will try to add some better photos

[HARRY THE MOLE]

A nice periscope, but certainly not of military origin.

[CampX]

Here are my 2 WW1 Pariscopes, the leather case is marked with a C Broad Arrow

I am still looking for other types I do not have

Dean O
Canada

[ynot]

A nice periscope, but certainly not of military origin.

That's interesting, is there an easy way of telling the difference between military and non military?

I have a few myself, they're the standard issue types, private purchase, one homemade(?) version and a 1937 coronation cardboard periscope.

Tony