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The initials are on a pair of Wray binoculars I picked up recently. The binoculars have the Air Ministry crown and the reference 6E/293 which is correct for their type. What I can’t work out is what does this mark means?
https://i.imgur.com/IuUw9Qo.jpg
lt’s R, followed by S.C.H. then what looks like 6/41.
The binoculars are largely brass; later ones weren’t so it is possible that these go back to the 1940s or even a bit earlier.
Any thoughts or perhaps knowledge would be welcome.
Could Sch refer to ‘school’ and 6/41 is presumably June 1941?
Thanks Chris, that’s a very useful list, I hadn’t seen it before.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris_in_the_UK
R on its own is Range, which could well be possible - logged at a gunnery range etc.
6/41 as June 1941 makes sense, that would work. The numbers are misaligned so look like the kind of adjustable stamp that would be used for a date.
I don’t think SCH is school as it is punctuated S.C.H. Maybe I am looking for a gunnery range with those initials.
Thanks for the suggestions both.
Following the leads above, I’ve learned a bit about Air Weapons Ranges in the UK. One is RAF Holbeach, that originally was called "R.A.F. Practice Camp, Sutton Bridge" when it was opened by the Air Ministry in 1928. It became RAF Holbeach in the 1950s.
Is Sutton Camp, Holbeach too much of a stretch?
Is that a W above the R?
I don’t have them with me now but I think not. I’ll check tomorrow, thanks.
Not a W, just random scratches.
All RAF Camps have a 3 digit code often prefacing a local serial number on various station assets (e.g. BZN = Brize Norton, CON = Coningsby etc) so it could be that. My favourites for SCH would be RAF Schleswigland or RAF Schoolhill.
Very helpful, thanks. It turns out that RAF Schoolhill was a RADAR station near Aberdeen during WW2, so maybe that explains the ‘R’.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lampoc
http://www.old-portlethen.co.uk/RAFSchoolhill.htm
I can’t find anything yet about three letter codes, only the two letter Pundit codes. A three letter abbreviation for stores would make sense though.
If 41 is believed to be 1941 then Schleswigland was probably under alternative management.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lampoc
:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Carlton-Browne
I believe it was returned to its former owner in 1958.
Quote:
Originally Posted by alfat33
It still has an association with the letter 'R', but we British would have been calling it RDF for radio direction-finding in 1941. The term RADAR originated in 1940, but that was in the USA.
Why would an abbreviation of 'Schoolhill' to 'SCH' require dots/periods between the letters (S.C.H.)? It's only one word.
As per Chris's posted list of Ministry of Defence acronyms in post #3, RSCH stood for Royal Surrey County Hospital. It was used as an auxiliary military hospital for periods during WW2. Those buildings are now known as the Farnham Road Hospital.
Thanks PickleB, good point about RDF.
I saw Royal Surrey County Hospital in Chris’s list but thought it an unlikely candidate. I couldn’t see why the Air Ministry would be issuing equipment to a hospital, even a military one. But I’m very open to learning, in fact very appreciative of all the suggestions and help so far.
Something related to the nurses' quarters springs to mind...
That could explain why the bakelite eye cups are completely missing from them and most of the paint has been rubbed off.Quote:
Originally Posted by Carlton-Browne
Quote:
Originally Posted by alfat33
Nor could I, but it appears that Guildford had some strategic importance if there had been an invasion, so possibly there was an observer post located at or near the hospital.
Also, the Home Guard had a post in nearby Farnham Park & a spigot mortar dated to 1941 (and pointing towards the town) was unearthed in 1998. (https://www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk...les/SAS322.pdf)
Does anyone have a copy of Fernglaser und Fernrohre by Hans Seeger? Apparently there is some information on Wray binoculars of the period on p214...link...and a couple of chapters are in English:
Wow, very helpful PB, thank you. The same stamp but looks like 4/41, and a lot better nick than mine.
Thanks, I hadn’t thought of that. I guess observer posts must have been dotted all over the place.Quote:
Originally Posted by jwg663
It may be worth asking the question here . . .
https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/6...part-3/page-30
Thanks Magirus. I registered for that site earlier to learn about collimation. I hadn’t seen the historical threads. I might also email the RAF Museum.
Good luck! I hope you find some info, I’m rather intrigued by the mystery.
Thanks! I’ve spoken to an archivist at the RAF Museum, who clearly knows his Air Ministry binoculars. He didn’t recognise the initials but asked me to send in a picture. He did wonder if it was a manufacturers mark.
In any event I’ve sent an email and will have to wait up to 20 days. In the meantime I’ll try to make a couple of simple repairs to them. I’ll post the outcome here.
Thanks all again.
A few years ago I bought an original 1944 Irvin flying jacket as an investment. On one of the labels someone had written the initials 'I.N.R.S.'
I thought I could be on to a real winner if I could do a bit of digging and find out that the jacket belonged to some famous pilot or wartime character with those initials.
Eventually the penny dropped;
It's Not Rocket Science
[emoji1787] Very good. I had a similar experience early in my WISdom, before I realised FA just meant Fond Acier.Quote:
Originally Posted by Harry Smith
Or ‘Not Rocket Surgery’ as mentioned elsewhere on the forum.
I haven’t heard back from the RAF Museum but I have been working on the binoculars so I thought I’d post some pictures.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a76993d673.jpg
They are a made by Wray, a leading British optical manufacturer. The founder, William Wray, was a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and founded the company in 1850. They are marked as such, as well as carrying the Air Ministry mark and stores code 6E/293. They are 6x30.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3f10803ab3.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...d6e2c93faa.jpg
They don’t have a central focusing wheel like modern binoculars. Instead, each ocular lens has its own focus adjustment, with dioptre markings.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...9d9dbfc20f.jpg
Originally the finish would have been all black, with black leather. I love the way that the brass shows through, and the leather has worn to brown where it has been held so much.
They were carried in a very nice case, beautiful well made leather.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...48660796c9.jpg
The case is also marked with the Air Ministry badge and the stores number.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a014c7cca9.jpg
I put this together from three different eBay purchases. The binoculars were in a pretty sorry state, so I also bought a post-war pair as a spares donor. I salvaged the bakelite eye cups, the cap on the end of the central pivot and a prism adjustment screw. The screw was essential to achieve some kind of collimation (alignment) of the prisms and lenses. They do actually work OK, although the prisms need a very good clean.
The final purchase was the case, which was being sold with a different model of Wray binoculars, an 8x30 pair. These are actually in very good condition for 60 years old and are a convenient size, so I’ve been using them.
Overall I’m very pleased with my Wray 6x30 Air Ministry binoculars.
I’ve had a reply from the RAF Museum Archive. They confirmed the date mark but unfortunately couldn’t identify the main marking. They did refer me to Rochester Avionic Archive who apparently hold the archive for Wray Optical.Quote:
Originally Posted by magirus
https://rochesteravionicarchives.co....-optical-works
I’ll follow up there and hope the trail doesn’t go cold. In the meantime I’m enjoying using them sometimes and wondering whether it’s worth dismantling them to clean the prisms.