Original WWI AEF BEF Mirrored Trench Periscope Fully Operational with C.O.A.

Description

Comes with COA
The trench periscope is an optical device that soldiers used during the First World War to observe the ground in front of their trenches and fortifications, without taking the risk of raising their eyes above the parapet and creating a target for enemy snipers. There were a variety of trench periscopes use throughout the trenches during the great war that came in many different sizes shapes and colors. Regardless of its look, the periscope served as a life-saving optical device for conducting observations from a concealed or protected position. This mirrored periscope consists of reflecting mirrors and/or prisms at opposite ends of a tube container. The reflecting surfaces are parallel to each other and at a 45° angle to the axis of the tube.
As of early 1915 soldiers on the battlefield were spending most of their time inside trenches and underground shelters called dugouts. Such conditions posed special challenges related to observation. Sentries needed to be able to watch over no-man’s-land to warn of enemy attack. Artillery observers needed to be able to scrutinize enemy positions to identify targets and to gauge the accuracy of gunfire. However, a soldier who raised his head above the trench parapet to observe made himself a target for enemy fire. Resourceful soldiers looked to submarine periscopes for a solution.
One of the most interesting parts of this trench periscope is the pivoting arm bar attached to its side. This armbar allowed for soldiers inside the trench to easily extend the arm outward into the mud and adjust a periscope at any height or elevation that they needed. Most of the periscopes use during World War I were not built to last, that's making this an extremely rare artifact to survive the Great War.