Thorsten Wahl wrote:I pretty sure german optics of the WW1 timeline were somewhat better than their british counterparts.
I remember reading about a british offer via a neutral country regarding sniper optics for rubber.
Incidentally my textbook is from the end of the fifties. Hence it should include also summarised knowledge from the worldwars.
Hi Thorsten,
You might be recollecting the following. My best guess is that German optical glass may well have reached Great Britain via Sweden. Sweden, by virtue of its important iron ore trade with Germany, was probably the only nation with sufficient economic leverage to obtain such product from them.
quote ----------
The most important
pre-war producer had been Germany and, perhaps surprisingly, some supplies
of optical glass from there continued to be shipped to Britain throughout
the entire duration of the war. This remains something of a mystery, but
there is evidence in official statistics to indicate that glass was imported
from German ports of origin, albeit in decreasing quantities, from 1915 to
1918. The figures not only quantify the amounts landed, but also give some
categorisation of types. In 1915 there had been negotiations through
embassies in neutral Switzerland to secure deliveries from Germany of
particular optical munitions for the British forces. In principle, both
sides were willing to trade, Britain supplying rubber in exchange, and an
Act of Parliament was passed in 1916 to regulate, rather than prohibit,
trade with the Enemy. This proposed barter never came into effect, at least
in the form proposed. It must still be a matter of conjecture as to exactly
how the acquisition of German glass was organised, but it is apparent that
some considerable amounts were imported.
---------- unquote
NO GUNNERY WITHOUT GLASS - OPTICAL GLASS SUPPLY AND PRODUCTION PROBLEMS IN
BRITAIN AND THE USA, 1914 – 1918
By Stephen Sambrook
B