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| View Original: | Signal Mirror British Dinghy Heliograph 4inch 1943.jpg (3648x2736) | |||
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| Keywords: Signal Mirror British Dinghy Heliograph 4inch 1943.jpg en This British 1940s 4 x4 stainless steel mirror with attached foresight wand and cloth sachet case is an example of those commonly issued in British emergency kits in World War II They were developed in 1942-1943 so that downed pilots could signal to rescue planes and ships with reflected sunlight Such emergency mirrors are more likely to be termed signal mirrors or emergency signaling mirrors in non-Commonwealth countries or if they lack a foresight Signal mirrors are required lifeboat equipment in most countries and are provided in the survival kits of most military pilots Both the mirror and the painted wand are 14 gauge steel The mirror has a 1/4 diameter sighting hole countersunk from the rear and painted black to reduce reflections The foresight has a 7/8 diameter head with a 3/16 diameter sighting hole The case has separate pockets for the mirror and the wand The user held the wand in front of the mirror and sighted the target by looking through the rear of the mirror sighting hole and the wand sighting hole The user then centered the shadow of the mirror sighting hole on the foresight hole with the aid of the shadows cast by the scribed mirror lines on the foresight by tilting the mirror When the target was centered in the two sighting holes and the shadow of the mirror hole was centered on the foresight hole the mirror reflected sunlight on the target The prototype of this mirror and probably this mirror as well was made by George Ibberson Company General Machinists 146 West Street Sheffield 1 The testing of the prototype is described in the Report Heliograph mirrors for emergency dinghies Report No issued 28 February 1943 by the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment Helensburgh That report is in the British National Archives cataloged under AVIA 19/218 at http //www nationalarchives gov uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails asp CATLN 6 CATID 3074923 j 1 own Heliograph 2010-09-25 Cc-zero ImageNote 1 2426 570 356 1491 3648 2736 2 Foresight ImageNoteEnd 1 ImageNote 2 2540 707 114 119 3648 2736 2 Foresight Sighting Hole ImageNoteEnd 2 ImageNote 3 1035 1564 105 137 3648 2736 2 Mirror Sighting Hole countersunk from rear with countersink painted black to reduce reflections ImageNoteEnd 3 ImageNote 4 739 588 1477 1414 3648 2736 2 Mirror 4 x4 14 gauge stainless steel with sighting hole and scribe marks ImageNoteEnd 4 ImageNote 5 3279 1167 187 223 3648 2736 2 Eyelet for round-section closing tie cord ImageNoteEnd 5 ImageNote 6 1797 2175 360 91 3648 2736 2 Tether connecting foresight and mirror ImageNoteEnd 6 ImageNote 7 2841 2207 689 301 3648 2736 2 Tie cord to close cloth sachet case securely by threading through eyelet above it ImageNoteEnd 7 ImageNote 8 41 255 2859 196 3648 2736 2 One of two cloth ties typically used to secure the closed case around the centre and tied in a bow The other tie is below the mirror ImageNoteEnd 8 Heliographs Signalling mirrors Taken with Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 | ||||
