MARCHING COMPASSES

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF IDENTIFIED MANUFACTURERS

NOTE: The following list comprises the manufacturers' names of the compasses exhibited here who could be identified.
Other exhibits still lack identification. We also added some technical terms.


A
Abercrombie & Fitch
Anglo-Swiss Ass.
Argentina's Army
ASKANIA
AURICOSTE
AZIMUT (A3ИMYT in cyrillic letters)
B
BAILLE LEMAIRE
BARIGO
BARKER
BÉZARD
B-L
BODAN (see Askania)
BREITHAUPT
BROWNE (Henry)
BRUNSON
BÜCHI
BURNAT
BUSCH (cxn)

C
CAMMENGA
CHINA
clk (s. Breithaupt)
CRC
CREAGH OSBORNE
cro (s. FUESS)
fxn (see ...?)
CRUCHON & EMONS
cxn (s. BUSCH)
D
DELCROIX
DEMARIA-LAPIERRE
DLM
DOIGNON
DOLLOND
DOMATIC
DUROPLAST
E
Escape Compasses
ESCHENBACH
F
FALKE
F-L (French Ltd)
FPM - Freiberger
  Präzisionsmechanik

FUESS (cro)
G
G150
GAMMA
GERLACH
GKS
GLAUSER
GURLEY

H
hap (s. KOHL)
H. B. & S.
HUGHES
I
I.O.R.
ISRAEL (Mk III)
J
JEZNACKI
K
KERN
K.M.32
KOEHN Ed.
KOHL Max (MK, hap)
Kommit (C. Stockert)
K&R (Kasper & Richter)
KRÖPLIN
KÜHRT
KULVIEC

L
LEGH (Major)
LEMAIRE
Lensatic compass
LEUPOLD
LIONEL Corp.
LUFFT
LYTH
M
M-1938
M-1950 (s. Lensatic comp.)
M-49, M-53 (YU)
M-73, M-88 (GB)
MAGNAPOLE
MAG. TRNG
MEOPTA
MERIDIAN
Mirror Compass
MK (s. KOHL)
M (cont'd)
Mk 1
Mk III
Mk 4 / IV (s. Glauser and SISTECO)
M.K.32
Modèle 1922
MOM
MORDAN
MORIN
N
NEUFA (s. GKS)
NIEDERMANN
NIFE
NEWTON

O
OMI
OPTOS
ORION (s. Kröplin)
P - Q
PO-52 (Teleoptik, YU)
PASTO
PLAN
PÖFERLEIN
Prismatic Compass
R
Radio Militaire
RECORD
RECTA
REFLECTOR
S
S (see STOCKERT)
SCHLACHT
SECRETAN
SHORT & MASON
SILVA
SINCLAIR
SIRS
SISTECO
ŠP
SPERRY

S (cont'd)
STANLEY
STEIN (von)
STEWARD
STOCKER & YALE
STOCKERT ("S")
SUPERIOR MAGNETO
SÜSS NÁNDOR
T
TELEOPTIK
T.G. Co Ltd London
Thumb Compasses
Training
TRIUMPH
TYCOS
U
V
VAUCHER
VEB Plastverarbeitung
VERNER'S Pattern
W
WARDALE
WEHRSPORT
WILKIE
WINTERER
X
Unidentified
(Germany or Austria)

Y - Z
YEATES & SON
Z.I.E.L.
ZIKO

- A -

ABERCROMBIE & FITCH

PROFILE - See WIKIPEDIA.
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.
Markings on reverse: Abercrombie & Fitch Co New York - Made in Switzerland.
Click on the picture for an enlarged view.

Anglo-Swiss Association

PROFILE - The Anglo-Swiss Association was a company created in (?) located in (?). The only known product was a marching compass (Verner's pattern).
(Picture Jaypee - priv. coll.)
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ASKANIA

PROFILE - ASKANIA is a German company (Askaniawerke AG). For more information click HERE.
(see also cat. AERONAUTICAL COMPASSES, BAMBERG / Friedenau and also ASKANIA in WRIST and SURVEY  compasses)

This compass features a NATO Stock Number (NSN): the figure 6605 stands for Marching Compass and the figure 12 for Germany. The other figures are a code for the manufacturer and the specification. It was issued the German Army (Bundeswehr) created 1956 but may be already before to the German Border Protection troops (Bundesgrenzschutz) created 1951. Compare with the Breithaupt model CONAT below.

(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.
Belgium's compass version:

 
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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AURICOSTE

PROFILE - French clock and watch maker. The Maison J. AURICOSTE which still manufactures mainly clocks for the navy but also luxurious and pilots' watches has been existing since 1854.

This clock maker built (or at least sold) at the beginning of the 20th century a compass consistent with a patent (1902) filed by Johann von Bézard, the inventor of the famous compass.
This French version appears in an advertisement in a newspaper dated 1915 (in the midst of WW I). Two different boxes are known: one without any picture and one showing the flags of the main countries at war with Germany (without the USA). One was produced before and the other during WW I.

The main features of the Bézard patent are reproduced. The only visible difference with the Original Bézard compass as manufactured in Germany by LUFFT is in the shape of the arrow's rear part in the lid and in the rose (compare with the pictures in The Bézard Compass)


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)
(...)
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AZIMUT (A3ИMYT or a3uMym in cyrillic letters)

PROFILE - Russian manufacturer. Item probably made in the 50's or 60's (no other information momentarily available).



(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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BAILLE LEMAIRE

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.
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BARIGO

PROFILE - BARIGO is an anagramme for Barometerfabrik Richard GOES. German company founded 1929 with facilities in Schwenningen which produces mainly barometers.



(Click on the picture for an enlarged view)
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...
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BARKER

PROFILE - Francis Barker & Son was a British manufacturer (more information HERE and in our LINKS).
See also Nautical, Pocket, Escape, Survey and Wrist compasses.

Chronology of F. Barker's main marching compass models:
(Click on the links to access the
generic chapters dedicated to a cerrtain type of compass)
1868-75 (?) - Singer's pattern dry card in a new case design later called Verner's pattern.
1903 - R.G.S. (Royal Geographical Society) pattern: see Barker wrist compass and also Steward
1910 - Service Pattern Liquid Prismatic Compass
1916 - Lensatic Compass
1930 - Mk II Liquid Prismatic Compass
1932 - Mk III Liquid Prismatic Compass
1939 - Mk IX Dry Card Prismatic compass (a normal Verner's pattern)
1942 - 42 Pattern Liquid Prismatic Compass
1966 - Mk 1 Liquid Prismatic Compass (Mk III converted to Mils) *
1971 - M-71 Transition from Radium to Tritium markers, new protection grid
1972 - M-72  Reinforced lid hinge
1973 - M-73 Still in current production (see PYSER's website)
1988 - M-88 Still in current production (see PYSER's website)
Picture above: Model M-88
Concerning the chronology of the different Mark numbers (all manufacturers) please go to Mark 1, 2 / I, II etc.

Pictures in table below:
- 1st row: This is the transitional stage between the larger Schmalcalder style prismatic compasses, and the early Verner’s pattern prismatic compasses (late 1800's). It was designed to be more pocketable than the older, larger models, and the sighting vane became an etched vertical line on the window glass of a hinged lid.
This instrument is not listed in any of the Barker catalogues known up to now.
- 2nd row: Verners' Pattern Mk V
- 3rd row: Lensatic compasses
- 4rd and 5th rows: MK 1, MILS and DICI, Pattern 42 and Mk III (see also T.G. Co. Ltd)
- 6th row: M-73
Current models of hand-held prismatic compass are the M-73 and M-88. These are available in combinations of 360 degrees, 6400 Mils, or even 6000 Mils like the DICI model used by Eastern Block and Arab countries.

(Unless otherwise specified: all pictures by courtesy of TRADEMARKLONDON.com - click for enlarged views)

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.



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!

(Pic. Jaypee - Click on image to view the French repair manual).



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)


Protection grid
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

See also other Barker products made for various manufacturers or retailers:
- Negretti & Zambra (pocket compass)
- Brown, Lawes Rabjohns (survey compasses)
- Dollond, Glauser, T.G. Co. (marching compasses)
NOTE: Compasses signed by T.G. Co. Ltd London but with the letter 'B' in the serial number were in fact also made by Barker.
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BÉZARD

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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BREITHAUPT (clk)

PROFILE - German compass manufacturer (for more information click HERE)
All model names begin with the abbreviation CO (for COmpass) but the meaning is not always obvious. During WW II, the company's code was clk.
NOTE: This company unfortunately rejected all forms of cooperation with COMPASSIPEDIA.
See also category GEOLOGICAL COMPASSES





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
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



Markings in the lid:
- the manufacturer's logo,
- the NATO Stock Number and - BUNDESWEHR



Technical Data

(see this company's website)
- Paint: NATO green
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BRUNSON

PROFILE -  U.S. manufacturer. Read the company's story on its own website (www.brunsonkc.com).



(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

BÜCHI

PROFILE - Swiss company (Berne). Büchi Optik was created in 1871 by Friedrich Büchi.
(see also Survey & Artilllery Compasses).
The Online Compass Museum doesn't possess precise data concerning this company. Your help is needed.
BÜCHI Optik is kindly invited to contact the Museum's curator.
On this compass is a reference made to a NIEDERMANN patent. Albert Niedermann patented this system January 20, 1929 in Switzerland. This Museum has a copy of the French issue of this patent (no. 728.940, December 29, 1931). He patented several other systems but no product seems to have been manufactured on that basis.

Büchi's name was at that time "E. F. BÜCHI, Sons, Optische Werkstätte, Spitalgasse 18 - Berne".
This patent is interesting since it shows a hinged mirror tilted by 45 deg. downwards so as to look at the compass rose from below. This system was also used ten years later by RECTA on its matchbox-style compass and after WW II by the German WILKIE.
(see also category Geological and Artillery compasses).





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
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BURNAT, Henri

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.
His logo represented a map reader together with his initials H(enri), B(urnat) and PARIS. It was printed on the SOUTH side of the compass rose.
He produced at least two different compass types: the one described below and a pocket compass called 40 XT. 
See also Pocket compasses (Burnat and Baudet).
The marching compass resembled (in size and form) the famous French Modèle 1922 but it featured many additional functionalities.
(No other data momentarily available - your help is needed).


(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.)
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BUSCH (cxn)

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.

The complete official logo was a full circle. On the compasses, it represented a part of a compass: a flattened triangle (i.e. the point of the magnetic needle) with the initial letter B in it and a segment of the compass rose. Compare with the other logo in white paint on bakelite cover below).
The oldest model is rare and not well-known. Later came three common different basic designs. They are shown in a 1935 catalogue (see pict. below).
All WWII compasses featured a counterclockwise 6400 mils scale. From 1936 on, they were also produced with liquid dampened needle.
Price: The book Kartenlesen ("Map reading", printed in 1934) indicated the various prices for the BUSCH compass models I and II (30 and 14,5 Reichsmark).


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. ".
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