Canadian Handheld Military Binoculars 1899-2010 Including a history of the made-in-Canada R.E.L. & ELCAN binoculars
A comprehensive history of the handheld military binoculars used by the Canadian Militia, Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Expeditionary Force, Royal Canadian Air Force, Canadian Army, and the unified Canadian Armed Forces .
From the time of the Boer War to current Canadian forces have used a great variety of handheld binoculars manufactured in Canada, Britain, the United States, France, Germany, and Japan. Although the subject is rich in history, Canadian Handheld Military Binoculars 1899–2010 is the first comprehensive study of it undertaken. Using primary source documentation from Library and Archives Canada, the Department of National Defence (Army and Navy), and the Department of Munitions & Supply, as well as Canadian, British and American ordnance manuals and catalogues, this book presents previously unpublished information of interest to both binocular collectors and Canadian military historians.
Number of Pages: 308
Number of Photographs and Illustrations: 194 plus 62 pages of appendices containing databases and primary source documents
Size and Construction : 8.5" x 11", matte film laminated softcover
ISBN: 978-91-826201-0
This book includes:
Photographs, descriptions and service histories of over 40 handheld binocular types used by the Canadian Militia, Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Expeditionary Force, Royal Canadian Air Force, Canadian Army, and unified Canadian Armed Forces. These include binoculars made by Barr & Stroud, Bausch & Lomb, Fujinon, Hughes and Son, Kershaw, Taylor & Hobson, Optical & Film Supply, Ross, Universal Camera, Watson-Baker, Wollensak, and Wray as well as all types of R.E.L. binoculars, B.O.P. filter modified and C.A.L. reconditioned binoculars, the ELCAN, British and French Galileans used during WWI, and a wide variety of captured, donated and privately purchased binoculars.
Historical accounts of the binoculars used by notable servicemen such as Lieutenant Everett C. Ethridge, Major General Robert T. Frederick, Captain Henry Buell Hicks, Captain Clarence A. King, Rear-Admiral G.C. Jones, Corporal S. Kormendy, Lieutenant Harold Lawrence, Major Slade Lerch, Sergeant Harold A. Marshall, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, Vice-Admiral Percy Walker Nelles, Corporal Francis Pegamagabow, and Lieutenant E.T. Simmons.
The history of Research Enterprises Limited (R.E.L.) including its formation, organization and operation; the types, amounts and values of the instruments produced (e.g. clinometers, dial sights, electronics and radar, fire control clocks, periscopes, prismatic gun sights, telescopic rifle scopes, rangefinders); the 14 types of optical glass it manufactured; and the terms of its commercial relationships with Barr & Stroud, Bausch & Lomb, Chance Brothers, and the Universal Camera Corporation.
A catalogue of the 12 types of binoculars made by R.E.L. and an explanation of the ordnance markings found on them (e.g. CGB, MA, GA, and P) based on Canadian and British ordnance manuals and other primary source documentation.
The developmental and service history of R.E.L.'s experimental high power artillery 20 x 72 binoculars according to the Canadian Army's Technical Board Report on the project and other primary source documentation.
An accounting of the exportation of R.E.L. binoculars to the United Kingdom and Australia and to Chinese Nationalist forces.
The scales of issue of binoculars to Canadian and British army units and navy classes of ships including naval allowances for Barr & Stroud CF41's and R.E.L. 7 x 50's.
The company history of Beaconing, Optical and Precision Materials Co. Ltd. (B.O.P.) in Granby, Québec including its affiliation with B.B.T.-Krauss, Paris and the developmental and service histories of B.O.P.'s filter-converted 7 x 50 binoculars with descriptions and pictures of its internal construction and the conversion kits supplied to the Royal Canadian Navy.
The history of Canadian Arsenals Limited (C.A.L.) and descriptions of the 1950 Army reclassifications and reconditionings of binoculars carried out by both C.A.L. and Army shops.
The company history of E. Leitz Canada (ELCAN) and the he developmental and service histories of the ELCAN 7 x 50 binocular including an analysis of its optical qualities and construction.
An R.E.L. binocular serial number databases comprising 2,540 entries, over half of which are according to a 1948 Royal Canadian Navy inventory of binoculars held in ships and stores. Additionally, there are databases with 101 Bausch & Lomb binoculars which are listed in the 1948 inventories and 104 ELCAN binoculars.
Guidelines for the maintenance and repair of antique binoculars. This includes advice on the external maintenance and storage of binoculars which every collector should know about and be able to do and guidelines and cautions regarding optical and internal servicing of binoculars which may be of interest both to those already familiar with these operations and those wishing to learn new skills and more about binoculars.
"In this remarkable work, Frank Lagorio illuminates a field that has long remained in the shadows. Following in the tradition of the late William “Bill” Reid, he combines rigorous archival research with a connoisseur’s eye for the instruments themselves. The result is not merely a catalogue of REL and Canadian binoculars, but a profound historical study that restores these optics to their rightful place in the story of twentieth-century warfare and technology. What makes this book particularly outstanding is the author’s ability to situate Canada’s wartime optical achievements within their wider international context. He succeeds in building bridges between the Canadian, British, American, French, and even German optical industries – connections that, until now, have remained entirely unknown in such detail.
The history of REL is far more than an industrial or technological episode: it is the story of how a small nation, under the most daunting of circumstances and in one of the darkest periods of modern history, succeeded in producing optical instruments of the highest quality. Canada’s wartime effort in this field was truly extraordinary, and Lagorio’s book ensures that it will no longer be overlooked.
Scholarly, meticulous, and yet highly engaging, this volume sets a new standard for research in the field. It is destined to become an indispensable reference for historians, collectors, and all who take a serious interest in historical military binoculars."
Dr. drs. Peter De Laet Author of The Eye of the Flak: Das Auge der Flak, Volumes I and II and of the forthcoming The Eyes of the German Navies, Volume I.
Frank Lagorio is a former teacher, principal and schools administrator who lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He is blessed with three sons and five grandchildren. In addition to binoculars, he enjoys studying, collecting, and using well-made sporting shotguns and mechanical watches. His favourite activities include reading history and biography, taking long walks with the dogs, clay target shooting, waterfowling, fishing, and spending time at the family cabin at Lake of the Woods, Ontario.