COMPASSIPEDIA
The Online
Compass Museum
The Online
Compass Museum
A & F retailed probably in the years
following WW1a mirror compass resembling the famous PLAN Ltd
and Cruchon
& Emons items but mostly aimed at outdoor sportsmen.
Unlike
the military items, it contains no radium paint and has no
additional oscillation brake. The loop is not
hinged with
screws and the transit lock is a simple push-down lever located on the
loop's fitting and actuated when closing the lid. The sighting aid in
the lid above the
polished brass mirror is a round hole where it is arrow-head-shaped on
the other models.
(Click on picture for an enlarged view)  |
This compass
bears the logo consisting of three intermingled triangles
representing the three "A"s of the company's name "AskAniA" (right).
The shape of each of the three "A"s reminds of masonic symbols. In
the lid is the plant's name BODENSEEWERK (Lake Constance facilities)
engraved. |
The company's
name with three upper case "A"s (AskAniA) on a Dutch Army compass.
Placed above an elongated oval, it looks like a crown.
(Click on picture for enlarged view) Picture Ted Brink / LINKS, Military compasses Technical Data - Dimensions (folded): 70 x 70 x 18 mm - Weight: 140 gr - Ruler: 100 mm - Divisions (Germany): 6400 mils - East-West stripe like on the Bézard compasses. On Warsaw Pact compasses (see FPM), this stripe is always oriented along the North-South axis. |
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Belgium's
compass version:
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A very similar
model was already in use during the late 1940's/early
50's in Belgium's and Netherlands' Armies. Belgium's Army (ABL = Armée Belge / Belgisch Leger) used compasses made after Askania's name change to BODAN. On one face, there is a logo with the letters W and V inside a circle above the German city's name of BIELEFELD where there probably was a plant. This compass featured double graduation: degrees and mils. |
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 The value of the magnetic deviation at this time (9 degrees West) was taken into account by glueing the paper pointer onto the magnetised metal plate askew by this angle. The paper arrow and the frame under the crystal were covered with a luminescent paint |
Technical
Data - Diameter: 46 mm - Weight: 35 g Materials: - case: wood - lid: aluminium - bezel: nickel (?) |
| Advertisement (1915) found in the VONIN papers (Click on picture for enlarged view)  |
The box' lid with the flags of the allied countries
(before the U.S. declared the war to Germany): France, Great-Britain,
Belgium, Holland, Luxemburg and Russia |
User's Instructions (copies can be ordered)  (Click to view page 2) |
(...) |
 (Click on the pictures for enlarged views) This item features cardinal points in German language (N-O-S-W). It was probably exported to the former communist East-Germany (GDR). The black magnetic needle is almost not visible but a large orange plastic arrow is glued on top of it. |
 The logo (three bars in a circle) is located above the zero marker of the ruler. |
 The mfr's name on the box is written "a3uMym" (m = t!) in lower-case letters |
Technical
Data - Dimensions: 85 x 60 x 19mm - Divisions: 360 deg. - Luminous markings: 2 dots for North, 1 dot each for E, S, W on the chapter ring and a triangle on the arrow head. - Ruler: 60 mm (white paint) The manufacturer's name on the compass base written in upper-case letters: 
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PROFILE - The French company LEMAIRE
was part of the BAILLE LEMAIRE Fils & Cie group which
had built cars at the turn of the 19th/20th century (1898-1905).
This company filed under this name a patent (no. 1.041.917,
issued on
June 3, 1953) for an improved version called Modèle
49 of the
well-known compass called Modèle
1922 and a
prismatic, fluid dampened Model 1922 (examples: see Lemaire compasses).| Patent Drawing - Three-sight-view (Lemaire Modèle 49)  |
Patent addition - Level function (Click on the drawings for enlarged views) |
This
compass was based on the Modèle 1922 with
transparent capsule but it featured in addition a hanging
mirror that automatically came to rest at an angle
of 45° like those made by the Swiss companies RECTA and BÜCHI.
This patent was completed (no. 62.195 issued on
Decembre 29, 1954) by a system that allowed the measurement of
slope angles (level). This project was tested in the 1st Vietnam war.
At about the same time, the French Army
commissioned the German Bézard
compass. Its special
version called UBK (Universal-Bézard-Kompass)
had already been offering these functionalities since the
1930's. This decision may have been one of the reasons for the decline
of the French compass industry. It is possible that the German industry
offered this product at very low price after WWII. |
 (Click on the picture for an enlarged view) |
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Technical
Data - Dimensions (w/o pouch): 74 x 50 x 18 mm - Weight: 65 gr - Material: . Case: Acrylic . Pouch and lanyard: leather - Sighting: through a square-shaped opening and a metallic mirror inside the lid - Highly luminescent film inside the pouch below the compass. NOTE: Handling the acrylic compass body outside the pouch is risky when wearing woollen clothes because it gets very quickly a strong static charge and the needle sticks thus on the capsule ground, placing the instrument out of function for a long time... |
1- Model name (?)
 The case design is a mix of the classical hunter-type featuring a loop fitting with push-button release system and a Verner's pattern sighting prism. Technical Data - Dia. case: 2" / 50 mm - Dia. sighting window: mm |
The
retailer's name on the Singer's
pattern dial reads: E. Lennie - 46 Princes St., Edinburgh Below: Another plain version. It is unsigned except for the words Trade Mark London:  (Picture courtesy of Jaypee) |
 Note the tiny push-button card brake below the hinge.  F. Barker & Son's old logo on the prism's fitting. Note the S engraved the normal way, meaning this item was made before Francis Barker's death in 1875. |
2 - Verner's Pattern Mark
V
 Pictures courtesy of Mark Thompson |
 F. Barker & Son's signature on reverse, 1907. |
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| 3 - Lensatic Compass Barker developed and patented in 1916 (no. 103,019) the principle of the lensatic compass. This solution was implemented in several instruments but abandoned by Barker who favoured the more precise prismatic system. The card's rim is upturned in the patent's description (Fig. 1, letter "g" - to view an example, click HERE) |
 Picture courtesy of Nick Godridge - Click on image for a view of the dial The window in the lid was large and centered on this model but smaller and nearer to the hinge on the definitive version (right). On this instrument, the card's rim is flat. |
 (Pic. Jaypee - For description click HERE) |
| 4.1 - Model Mk 1 (no
picture) The Mk 1 was a modernized Mk III with MILS card and w/o cardinals on the casing. ATTENTION: The instrument called Mk 1 and used in the French Army from the early 1970s until the late 1980's was a M-72!  |
 Model DICI (6000 MILS) This instruments features the Arabic letter Jayish within a triangle, the symbol used by the Iraqi military during the 1970's. |
 The 42 Pattern and the Mark III still featured cardinals and divisions all around the case |
| 4.2
- Model Mk III (signed OMI) with Arabic
letters and figures (See also ISRAEL's version)  Pictures courtesy Ion Argyriadis Click for enlarged views |
The
dial, the card and the external markings are only in Arabic
language (see Miscellaneous/Cardinals points).  Signature on
reverse: NISTRI OMI* ROMA.
*Ottica Meccanica Italiana This company which was probably acting as a retailor was closed in the 1980s. |
Technical
data Divisions: 360 deg. clockwise, radium paint on card, Tritium vials in index ring Reverse: The text below the crossed swords reads: Saudi Army S/ No. 1472  |
5 - Model M-71 (left)
/ M-72 (r.) 
 Picture at right: Mixed version with MILS divisions on a M-71 card (with a triangle for North) |
Compare with the M-73's reinforced version below Detail view of dials: click on pictures at left in rows 5 & 6 |
M-71/M-72
- Technical
data Material: brass body and lid Weight: 315 gr The M-71 featured a triangular mark with a tritium tube on the card's and on the chapter's background North reference. This system superseded the Mk III's lozenge and broad radium markings (example: see T.G. Co. Ltd). Divisions: M-71: 360° / M-72 : MILS |
6 - Model M-73
(with 360° dial) Technical data: (see PYSER's website) Material: aluminum case and lid Weight 215 gr |
 (Picture Jaypee) Compared hinges attachment Left: Mk III (brazed) Right: M-73 (screws) Compare also with the models: - G150 made by Stanley - Mk. 4 made by Glauser |
Users
instructions: free download from the website
www.trademarklondon.com A new feature on the M-72 and M-73 was a reinforced hinge in which the pin was a predetermined breaking part. A former owner and head of Barker explained that the Australian soldiers used to test their strength by holding the lid in one hand and the case in the other and break the connection with a single twisting movement*. For this reason Barker developed a new hinge fixed by screws instead of a brazed tab (see pic. at left of an instr. marked "M-73 Pat. appl."). The protection grid of the sighting window was also reinforced and attached by screws and threaded bushes. * Source: courtesy of Trademarklondon.com |
| The (original)
Bézard compasses were built by the German company LUFFT.
They are described in a specific chapter (see THE
BÉZARD COMPASS) Right: a typical Bézard compass with its leather pouch |
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PROFILE
- German compass manufacturer (for more information click HERE)
  Military marching compass Brass model |
Official user's
manual (1940, unchanged reprint of the 1928 issue)  This was the typical marching compass of the Wehrmacht soldiers until 1945. There were several models: most probably, they were first entirely made of brass (case and lid) and the folding ruler measured only 50 mm. Because of lack of material during WW II the products were changed to aluminium. On the other side, the ruler became longer: 60 mm. All compasses featured 6400 mils divisions, counterclockwise. Numerous other details differ (see technical data). |
Compared lid
shapes: Technical Data - Diameter: 54 mm - Depth: 17 mm - Weight: 130 g - Case: brass - Lid: brass (narrow nose), hinge with 3 rivets - Ring: nickel - Folding ruler: 50 mm |
 Military marching compass Aluminium model |
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Technical Data - Diameter: 54 mm - Depth: 17 mm - Weight: 60 g - Case: nickel - Lid: aluminium (broad nose), hinge with 4 rivets - Ring: brass - Folding ruler: 60 mm |
 This model features the same case and lid shapes as the BUSCH "Jungendienst-Kompass" which was also manufactured by several other companies. |
 Stamp of the official material control on obverse: the letters "M P" stand for Material- Prüfungsamt, whereas the letters S and OW stand for bakelite and the supplier's code. For more information click HERE. |
Technical Data - Divisions : counter clockwise - Dimensions: 75 x 55 x 20 mm - Weight: 110 g - Case: bakelite - Lid: brass (?), black rough paint The company's name appears in the left corner near the mirror hinge and reads BREITHAUPT or clk depending on the manufacture date. |
 The lid with a big upper case A appears from 1944 on. The notice to infantry-men (Heeresmitteilung, June 5, 1944) indicates how to use the new A-marked compass with clockwise divisions |
Official user's manual (January 10,
1945) |
Technical Data - Divisions: clockwise Comment: on this model, the needle's axis is concealed behind a black patch with a white bar. This design is also to be found on the F58 and F52 compasses later manufactured by (former East-German) Freiberger Präzisionsmechanik (now Holding FPM). Modern versions in Polish and Russian language also exist. |
Model
COKIL  |
 Comment: This compass is now called COKIL (KIL for "kilometers" ?) when equipped with a map reader and COMAR (MARching?) when without map-reader. It was and still is being manufactured in China. Different versions were issued to the Vietcong troops during the US vs. Vietnam war and to the People's Republic of China's Army. (See below, CHINA, models 5-1 and 6-2). |
 Technical Data - Serial-No. (hidden): 65142 - Diameter: 60 mm - Depth: 20 mm - Weight: 150 g - Case: Aluminium - Ruler (open): 10 cm - Clinometer in degrees - Map reader: 4 scales - Paint: Wehrmacht verdigris |
 On the dial is the registered trade mark abbreviation for the IIIrd Reich (DRGM) but the cardinal point for EAST is indicated with two letters: OE, the O being for the German OST and the E for EAST which would have been unthinkable before 1945. |
On the exterior
faces is a scale for slopes which is also to be seen on the French
PEIGNÉ survey and artillery compasses (s. this category). (Pictures by courtesy of Peter Spielberg). |
Marching compass
(late 1940's) This type had a transparent capsule and a bubble level. Technical Data (same as above) It has at both ends of the 10 cm ruler a red and a black sighting device for elevation angle measures. The magnetic needle locking system was a dedicated lever near the compass rose. |
| Model CONAT
(COmpass NATO) Fluid dampened compass of the German Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundeswehr) since the early 1970's.  The patent (no. 1730856 - 1956) described a mirror with automatic locking at 45 degrees. Pic. below: Patent, Fig. 1-4  |
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Markings in the lid: - the manufacturer's logo, - the NATO Stock Number and - BUNDESWEHR  Technical Data (see this company's website) - Paint: NATO green |
 (Click for enlarged view) |
Standard
M-1950 lensatic compass
of the U.S. Army. Almost identical with the instruments made
by Cammenga, Stocker & Yale (SandY) etc. These compasses contain self luminescent Tritium paint (H3) and are weakly radioactive. For more pictures of M-1950 go to CAMMENGA |
Technical
Data - Dimensions: 75 x 57 x 23 mm - Weight: 140 g - Date: 12/62 |
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 Click on the pictures for an enlarged view. |
Technical Data - Dimensions: 92 x 65 x 18 mm - Weight: 130 g - Double distance scale: 1:50.000 / 1:100.000 |
 NIEDERMANN's Patent: Fig. 1 on page 3 |
PROFILE
- Former French manufacturer of instruments for hikers
(full name Baudet-Burnat see HERE -
altimeters, podometers, etc.). He filed several patents. One
about a new system to attach capsule in
compass casings.
 (Click on picture above for an enlarged view) Below: The compass card and the 3 luminous points on the capsule:  |
 Top: The clinometer dial graduated in degres and percent, each scale being printed normal and mirrored. Below: Measuring a vertical angle by means of the groove and the pin. The angle can be read in the mirror. (The red line is only a drawing).  (Click on pictures for detailed views) |
Technical
Data - Dimensions: 85 x 68 x 20 mm - Weight: 90 g - Double face mirror for compass and clinometer readings - Ruler: 50 mm on hinge - Clinometer graduated in degrees and percent. - Liquid dampened compass card with two luminous points at North. The capsule could be refilled via a special opening (screw on left side). - Three luminous paint points on the capsule: one in the sighting axis, two at 60 deg. on each side.  (Photos B. Gairaut - priv. coll.) |
PROFILE - Former German company located in Rathenow (north-west of
Berlin). For more information click HERE.
Look also at the Pocket and the Survey compasses. BUSCH catalogue no. 3350 Militär-Kompass (military compass) c. 1920 |
Norwegian version (west = V for Vest)
This item also features two lugs for a strap so that it could be used as a wrist compass.  Picture courtesy Totto EIDE (Click on the images for enlarged views) |
Technical Data - Diameter crystal: 50.5mm - Diameter base: 54.5mm - Height (case): 14.4mm; sights erected: 33.5mm - Weight: 83grs - Markings: radium compound - Division of the upper ring: 0-60, numbered every 5, each being subdivided in 15 units (3 x 5) i.e. 180 in the whole, each unit equalling 2 deg. Picture of protection cover and cylindric box. NOTE: Maybe not produced but only retailed by BUSCH. |
 Compass designed for the paramilitary youth organisation Jungendienst (see MISCELLANEOUS/Terminology) Model X (without mirror) (see catalogue below and MISCELLANEOUS/Terminology)  |
 Jungendienst compass model XI (with mirror) This case's basic design was used for many compasses also made by PASTO, WILKIE and FPM after WWII.  The compass pouch was made of brown fabric (like the famous shirts). |
Technical data - Dimensions: 70 x 55 x 18 mm - Weight: 67 g - Case: bakelite - Pouch: fabric  BUSCH was deeply involved in equipping the youth organisation JUNGENDIENST, that replaced the boy scouts (Pfadfinder) organisation and provided a paramilitary training although politically differing from the Hitler-Jugend. In this organisation's manual ("DEUTSCHER JUNGENDIENST", 1933) it is said that the Jungendienst compass was especially developed for the organisation. (Compare with the official Boy and Girl Scouts compasses made by Taylor and U.S. Gauge) Logo in white paint on bakelite cover.  |
 BUSCH catalogue and user's guide, c. 1935  (Click to vew page 2) |
This case design was also common:
the BREITHAUPT with map reader and clinometer used it and many China
made products also. The first FPM compass used by the East-German
police had the same form. Marschkompass II (marching compass) (Click on the picture above for an enlarged view of logo and leather pouch) At right: A nazi NCO Oberscharführer with a Mod. II compass |
The same case but with a fluid capsule and inverted
colours:
 Technical data - Dimensions: 65 x 57 x 16 mm - Weight: 70 g - Case: bakelite - Lubberline : East-West - Pouch: leather  |
 Marschkompass I (military marching compass) This is BUSCH's military compass. Two different versions existed: a dry one (center picture) and one with a fluid capsule (at right) . |
 Technical data - Dimensions: 68 x 55 x 18 mm - Weight: 130 g - Case: brass - Ring: nickel - Folding ruler: 50 mm (Click on the picture: compass open) |
 Technical data - Dimensions: 68 x 55 x 18 mm - Weight: 75 g - Case: aluminium with fluid capsule - Folding ruler: 60 mm - Lubber's line: North-South (Click on the picture: compass open and parts) |
| This compass was found in the foot locker in the estate of an American soldier from World War II. This soldier was a member of the First Special Service Force, also known as “The Devils Brigade”. These soldiers were a combined group of American and Canadian Commandos and saw extensive fighting in Italy including much time at Anzio. | Export version of the
standard model
evolved from the basic design of the Jungendienst for Fascist Italy's
troops. 
 (Click on the picture at right for detail view of the dial - Courtesy T. Schifani) |
Technical Data - Dimensions: 75 x 55 x 20 mm - Weight: 110 g - Case: bakelite - Divisions : 360 deg. clockwise, cardinals in a latin language (NESO - see Miscellaneous / Cardinals - France) - Radium markings: 2 at North, one at each other cardinal point - Marker for magnetic North at ca. 6 deg. West |
 (Detailed
view: click on the picture at right)  Note the West- East bar similar to Bézard's. |
Bundeswehr
model 
 The pouch was rectangular like Bézard's. |
 Busch-Göttingen
developed for the Bundeswehr (Bw) a marching compass made of plexiglas
with a transparent capsule and height symbols (building, truck, man
standing) for distance assessment on its casing right side. In addition
it had an adjustable declination mark, rubber feet for better stability
on the map and a slot in the mirror for easier sighting at high
elevation angles.It was probably produced is small quantities at the moment of the Bw creation (1956). Its NATO Stock No. was 6605-12-120-1507. COMMENT: most probably this instrument would have been very sensitive to static charge like the BARIGO (see above). |
 Note the East-West bar on the dial |
  Pictures courtesy D. Engstfeld (Click on images for enlarged views) |
The Police
of Nordrhein-Westfalen
(North-Rhine/ Westphalia) used this black compass type until the late
80's. They possibly have all been discarded but this one! The plastic pouch had a sharp shape. Die Kompasse dienten früher als Orientierungshilfen bei Durchsuchungen von unübersichtlichen Geländen oder Gebäuden durch die Reiterstaffel oder Diensthundführer als es noch keine technischen Führungs- und Einsatzmittel wie Funk für jeden oder Hubschrauber gab. ". |