WW2 Tank Episcope - Identification needed?

[Armortek]

A little off topic, however curious to see if someone knows the answer to a question someone has asked on Facebook but with no response.

I said we had a forum full of amazingly helpful and knowledgeable customers (no pressure ) and I would see if I could help.

This part was sold as a German vehicle relic. Is this correct. Can anyone throw any light on this?

Many thanks

Gill

[Adrian Harris]

I presume you mean periscope

An episcope is a very early form of Powerpoint

Adrian.

[mark lawson]

I don’t believe this is from a German Panzer, it’s certainly not from a Tiger, Panther or any of the later types earlier stuff I’m not that up to date on.

[Adrian Harris]

It doesn't look to be very long, or that it would give you the 90+90 degree reflection you would expect in a normal periscope, so could it be for a vision slit instead ?

Adrian.

[Stephen White]

Ah, definitions...... Always safe to assume Gill is correct and she is. Adrian is right too.

The use of episcope as a vision device is peculiarly military. In general civilian use, it refers to a light projector for showing pictures.

In my military experience, episcope is use for fixed vision devices, where the viewpoint is displaced from the line of sight. The purpose is to give the viewer protection under armour. Periscope is used to refer to similar device with the added feature of being moveable in relation to the vehicle via a trainable mounting.

Both episcopes and periscopes allow binocular vision, ie use of both eyes. A telescope is (generally)monocular in military usage.

Thus on a Chieftain for example, the commander's cupola had a number of fixed episcopes to provide all round vision and one periscopic sight which could be rotated in elevation only via a handle linkage. The whole cupola was rotatable independent of the turret. The gunner's main sights were variants of binocular periscopes with a backup telescope. Loader had a periscope, moveable in elevation, whereas the drivers episcope was fixed.

Hope that makes sense.

Don't recognise the episcope except to say it has the features of a cupola episcope. The objective lens is smaller than the eyepiece which is set at an angle implying that the viewer is below the device. There is a flange around the housing which would allow the episcope to be seated in its mounting from below. Crews carry spare episcopes to allow replacement from below in action. There is also a small bar at the bottom. I've seen similar on post war episcopes which were provided with retractable screens to allow the viewing lense to be covered to protect against nuclear flash, assuming someone was kind enough to tip you the nod that it was on its way.

Regards

Stephen

[Stephen White]

Weren't the majority of German optics constructed with Bakelite housings? This one is steel. Stephen

[Derek Attree]

Hi Gill
Would someone at the tank museum be able to help.

regards
Derek

[mark lawson]

Stephen yes German versions were made from Bakelite, I think the block versions used on PzIII and IV cupolas had a steel casing but as suggests they were a block shape with laminated glass.

[Adrian Harris]

I thought, looking at the available pictures on Google, that the colour was more suggestive of a Russian part.

Adrian.