compass information
 

I was at a local flea market today and I picked up an old compass. The fellow that was selling it said it came with a bunch of German items from WWI and WWII. So he believes its German. Can anyone give me any information on this compass.

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Nice find either way.

From what I have read so far is that Busch stopped making compasses at the end of WWII. Its got Busch Rathenow stamped on the side of the frame. I read somewhere that it was a field compass for officers. But I am not sure. I'm hoping someone out there knows a little bit about this. I paid $10 bucks at a flea market. I figured it wouldn't hurt the pockets too bad if its worthless.

I found one on Ebay that's pretty close to what this one is and they wanted $299

Whats interesting is where the east direction on the compass dial is located and what it reads. Most actually have the letter "E", this one has a "O". I'm curious on why the difference

Ost= East in German.

I did not now that. Interesting. Thanks!

Appears to be a WWII military compass all right.

We called them bearing compasses.

This compass with the sight and mirror is useful for taking bearings, laying firing sticks, etc. Also used for estimating distance/range. It is calibrated in mils i.e. mili-radians and vary between forces/countries from 6000 to 6400 to a complete circle. A Mili-radian is an option to the Point, Degree and Grad as a unit of measure of a size of angle. Its use originated in France, was played with as an alternative to degrees by the Brits and the USA, but was widely adopted by European countries.

Compasses of this type are mostly used in artillery and mortar units. Added: Just had a call from a buddy who was Armor and he said that the Wehrmacht Armor units also used this type of bearing compass.

Interestingly in WWII, the leadership of the German Forces decided that all military compasses would be graduated to 6400 mills. Thus all references, bearing, directions etc would be so written and oral commands would be given in mills with 6400 mills being a complete circle/compass rose. Therefore as far as I am aware, all compasses in WWII within the Wehrmacht had 6400 mills. But I am not an expert and stand to be corrected.

You got a real bargain here. Congratulations.

John

I do appreciate that history note on this piece. I thought it would be a good deal especially for only 10 bucks. I figured that I couldn't lose regardless on that deal.

That is really really cool. I learned a lot in this thread.

OBTW, If you go to REI (Recreational Equipment Inc. big outdoor sports store) you will have trouble finding a good compass for that price, let alone one that has a mirror.

Gary