WW2 Binoculars

Jim S

I have a fondness for WW2 binoculars and civilian sets made by that great old company Barr and Stroud which disappeared in the early 1970's.


A set of early war leitz - no coated lens , no three letter code ( Pre- 1941).
The eye cups are replacement , the original ones having been broken by the previous owner, cleaned and serviced this is a pretty good set to use , the coverings are a little delicate ( a common feature with old leitz sets so they have to be handled carefully and are more for display than regular use.


The eagle and swastika unique to Kriegsmarine binoculars is still there , a litle faint as the paint has worn away .










A nice mint set of Carl Zeiss which date from 1941 - the "CZ eagle" and Kriegsmarine acceptance mark are perfect and untouched.
The rainguard is perfect and a type not often found in this condition.
A perfect set of Smooth ocular 7x50's









Above a set of 8x60 "Kommandantglas" made by Zeiss issued only to U Boat Commanders , a huge binocular "The King of its kind", the last photo was taken in the small churchyard at St. John's Point , on the headstone of Sub.lt Robbins from SS Nerissa , sunk by Erich Topp in April 1941.
Topp was awarded the Knights Cross when he returned to St. Nazaire from that particular patrol.


A mint set of naval "gas mask" 7x50's by Zeiss, the bakalite rainguauard is unique to naval issue binoculars.




A mid war set of U Bootglas by Zeiss 7x50 , cast aluminium body sealed tops, unique to submarine crews.
Coated lens, focused by a screw fitting which is under the rubber prism caps.

Jim S

Some British Barr and Strouds CF41, CF42 and CF25 . Cleaned and serviced these are excellent and are in themselves a real piece of history.
The transit case - not often seen , for the CF42 which was usually mounted on a bearing device.

The GK7 gunnery binocular in the background is something not often seen an excellent binocular which is extremely heavy.
these all have a fine internal filter system which gave them a distinct advantage over the German sets, however the quality of glass available to the Carl Zeiss was far superior to that which Barr and Stroud or Ross could lay hands on.
The "gas mask set" in the previous post out preforms any British binocular and is easily the equal of any modern binocular.





Again poor Robbins at St. John's Point, a set of CF41's , something he would have had in his hands every day or night he was on watch, below Nerissa , his ship sunk by Erich Topp one of the great U Boat aces.


Topp on the bridge of his U-552 "The Red Devil Boat".



Whenever I am down that way I call in to say "hello" to him and to clean up his grave, poor lad a long way from home.

arnhem44

Lovely collection Jim,thanks for sharing.

Jim S

No worries. I was surprised to find this section and have seen some lovely stuff on show nice to see, I find it enjoyable learning from others.



10x80 Flakglas a good general purpose binocular the tripod is so sold and the cradle allows form an effortless manipulation of the device.

HerrScheisse

Some nice items Jim, nice to have some variety of equipment posted up!

Jim S

Few more, a mid -late war leitz 7x50 optically very average, Barr and Stroud are usually better and it falls below the performance of CZ sets of the same era.
The image is often soft and in lower light conditions it does not really impress.
Collectors seem to like them , this one is not often used.







Two army issue Dienstglas both Zeiss a 10x50 and a 7x50.
Lens are not coated and these sets would not have been issued to the Navy - increasingly sets like this are being altered to look "more sexy" , eagles and swastikas being added, you will find that most dealers and vendors at collectors fairs have little understanding of the common markings and unknowingly present these "odd" sets for sale.
The rather worn looking 7x50 came from "ebay" for a mere 30 Euros , cleaning and servicing 50 Euros more and as a result a dirty looking binocular was "brought back from the dead" , whilst 10x50 Zeiss D-glas are pretty common the 7x50 is harder to find.





A d-glas 7x50 from "Bmk" (Srb&Stys, Prague) the "flip up eye cups not often seen.



The more "traditional example from this maker.
Again lens are uncoated.
The triangles, + and O seem are lubricant codes.

Jim S

Post war Ross 7x40 "Tropical" (Waterproofed) which was used by the Danish Navy.
Optically a very good set although better eye relief would have made them more comfortable to use. ( The distance between the rim of the eye cup and the lens.)





Whilst in stores the set was repainted, wish it had been left alone.

Jim S

The optical sights for the type 36 range finding device and a jpeg showing the range finder itself. The transit case came from a sale of Ex Norwegian Army stores.
Unfortunately finding decent examples of these sights is proving very difficult , most have been "played with" to some extent , base plates and quick sight hoods having been removed and the rubber eye cups often missing or badly degraded.
The illumination fittings and cables expensive to say the least and hard to get hold off, three decent ones in eight years, seen lots of lesser examples, frustrating to say the least.












A 12x60 binocular sight for the 4 metre range finder, an exceptional piece of engineering,quite a narrow field of view but one of the best binoculars to emerge from WW2.
Some views of the range finder , as can be seen the standard 10x80 could be mounted on it





Two views of the 10x80 and its transit case, the case came from the Channel Islands , the binocular from Germany , the tripod from Belgium , the cradle , mount and lens shades from the US.

chiefwiggum

wow very very interesting.thanks for sharing

Dr Strange

Welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing. Some lovely items there!

Jim S

Rather than open another thread I will add these here.
Two post Royal Navy items one (the larger of the two) is a general observation sight , I have seen footage of a similar model on RN ships in "The Gulf" in the 1990's , the small is for tracking missiles.














The binocular is ( I believe) 7x50 , the power cabling is still attached and if connected to a suitable power source an internal heating system and a filter system can be activated.

I have seen one or two of these and whilst in the hysterical "ebay" claims I am not saying it "Must be rare" ( Nor is it "Afrika Korp or "SS"-"UBoat" "Special Issue" ) , they are not seen very often.

The binocular is of good quality but needs to be mounted on a tripod for use, it is complete in its transit case, with quick sights and adjustment keys, from the service label this item was in Devonport stores in 1993 and was serviced for use in April of that year.

the binocular below for tracking misslies, beyond this I know nothing about it.
Sadly no transit case , and the cabling has been butchered, probably prior to disposal - forward quick sight is missing.
A little haze internally but still in good order at a guess it dates from 1960's.













This item again from "ebay" and sold for something like £20 odd.

Jim S

A small quick sight again disposed off via naval stores , I can only assume that it was mounted on a AA weapon of some sort , and again assume that it dates from 1940's or 50's , it came in its transit case and was last serviced in 1995.

I have another similar one made by Ross.
The price - less than £20 on eBay.

Jim S

A few battery boxes and lighting cables, and the German obsession with marking everything!



The box on the left has been repainted post war in French stores, makers code "bmj" (Hensoldt) , the sand coloured box coded ddv - (will have to find Michael Heidler's guide to look this up- at the moment it is AWOL from where it should be), the leather box is harder to find,this one is not marked.
Thousands of these metal boxes went into French stores at the end of the war and they painted them all ..... price 20-25 Euros , untouched , about 30 Euros , the leather box - 70-100 Euros depending on condition.

The boxes and cables are a standard one size fits all and interface with all weapons and optical systems eg the MG34 /42 system.

The cables hard to get an when marked with a makers code, the CZ logo or a Kgm stamp , or a multiple headed lead and things get a little mad.








The head of one of the leads.



The dinner switch , commonly found in the transit cases of range finders, hand held or larger examples.


Made by Zeiss , nice heavy bakalite body.

arnhem44

Hi Jim,I was wondering if you could advise me on this binoculars I was shown today,these one's are from a WW2 U-boat I believe made by Carl Zeiss.I found background info on the same ones only complete which says those ones are very rare.This one has had all the paint removed,has no sites and no tubes.How rare if at all would a pair like this be and what would be an accurate price?

arnhem44

And another three images

Jim S

Still a rare binocular and a real piece of history, these are not seen so often.
Have sent you a pm.
Jim S

Jim S

Found this set on eBay ,one that slipped under the radar screen, a CXN 10x50 a make no often encountered, what was particularly nice was the officer who owned the set left his Feldpost number and name on the lanyard.









An Oblt. Mancini from 966th Infantry.

Jim S

A Royal Navy gunnery sight, 10x70 , rather heavy needs to have a tripod adaptation made for it, will have it mounted on a German 10x80 tripod.
The lens are coated and the binocular has been cleaned and serviced.
Downside was the total loss of the front filter plate thanks to heavy handling in the Royal Mail , and poor packaging by the lady who sold it to me.
Luckily Dougie Biggart at Glasgow Binocular Repairs was able to source a replacement the leson being if the packaging is not up to the job the insurance is not worth the paper it is written on.

ionutz21

This has got to be one of the coolest colection I have ever seen! Great stuff!!!