WW2 British RAF SOE Escape & Evade Pill Box Compass With Optics

WW2 British RAF SOE Escape & Evade Pill Box Compass With Optics

Code: 13098

SOLD
For sale is a WW2 British RAF SOE Escape & Evade Pill Box Compass. This particular escape Compass is in good condition, good working order and has the fine white double optic rings on the lens! This compass measures 4.6mm height x 15mm diameter. 
 
Escape compasses were issued to allied pilots, paratroopers, commandos, the regular army and SOE agents as part of escape and evasion kits. For collectors, these compasses are a very exciting subject because of their secret nature.
 
 
The ‘pill box’ escape compass:
 
Two pillobox type escape compasses with square card
This is the most common model. Together with escape maps, a hacksaw blade and phrase cards, they were packed in a rubberized canvas map pouch. It is cylindrical in shape and consists of a brass shell, 0.60” (15,24 mm) in diameter x 0.19” (4,9 mm) high, with a wall thickness of 0.015” (0,38 mm). The blackened compass card is a non-ferromagnetic material balanced on a brass pivot and encased beneath a swaged-in 0.030” (0,76 mm) thick glass cover. The seal between the glass and the shell is hermetic to prevent the entry and/or entrapment of moisture in the compass chamber. The compass card has points at each corner and at the middle of each edge: eight points in all, set at 45 degree intervals. North is designated by a white dot lined up between a corner of the card and its center. A pair of white dots are located on the opposite corner. The dots have been coated with a luminous material, which, over the years has depleted on most of the examples you see here. The compass card turns freely on its pivot. There is no external means for detenting the card when the compass is not in use, as is common on military field compasses. A small magnet secured to the underside of the card aligns the card with the North Magnetic Pole.
 
This is in good condition and in good working order. This will be dispatched via Royal Mail 1st class signed for and dispatched within two working days.