German periscope ?

[Hans Molier]

On the internet I've found a photo where a German(?) officer can be seen with some kind of periscope. But is this a periscope or something completely different ?

[centurion]

I think this has been on he forum somewhere before. Not a periscope. Too big, too bulky, too conspicuous but above all too fixed - with those trunnions you could change the elevation but could not simply turn it horizontally as you'd want to be able to do with a periscope. Could be some form of launcher (for a gas cylinder - a la Levin or smoke perhaps). However I don't think this is in the front line given the handy little notice board hammered in just over the parapet. A dummy for training purposes possibly for rifle practice?

[centurion]

Thinking about it it looks very much like an old fashioned noise cannon in which a small calibre cartridge like a 22 (or a four ten shot gun blank) was fired to make a really loud bang. They use propane devices today. Possibly part of battle field training.

[Robert Dunlop]

Hans, I can see why you questioned if this was a German officer.

centurion, the possibility of a noise cannon seems most likely. The German gas projectors were very similar to the Livens, or they used Minenwerfer. The Nebeltopf smoke generators did not look like the photo. Some form of noise cannon was used by the Germans to fool sound-ranging units. I have never seen pictures of the apparatus that was used for this purpose. Your suggestion would fit the bill on this.

Robert

[Hans Molier]

Centurion and Robert, thank you both very much for your reply.

[bob lembke]

Hans, I can see why you questioned if this was a German officer.

Robert

Also, the man is almost certainly German, but is much more likely to be a NCO than an officer. Senior NCOs wore much of the same uniform details and equipment as officers. Epaulets seem to be those of an OR. (Warning: I am no uniform expert. There are people who could look at the picture and even give you his peacetime street address, as well as his marksmanship marks in his Shooting Book.)

Bob Lembke

[centurion]

The German gas projectors were very similar to the Livens, or they used Minenwerfer. The Nebeltopf smoke generators did not look like the photo.

Perfectly true BUT

The Germans did produce a number of improvised projectors as well. Some of these were included in an American Army manual produced in 1918 and did resemble the infernal device in the photo. They sometimes projected not gas or smoke but flame fuel (much as Liven originally intended) and were used for point defence as fire once devices (like a fougasse). They were fired remotely from a safe distance (and looking at them I for one would reckon a safe distance to be from a neighbouring neutral country ). However I would still plump for sound cannon as:

• Such improvised projector devices were emplaced in the front line and the photo was taken well behind the lines given the position of the photographer which must have been standing up above the line of the parapet
• They were usually part or wholly buried
• Some effort was made to conceal them from attacking troops