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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Terrasse compass


tillymint90210

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Mum has just shown me a compass that she believes to have belonged to my dad's father. She says he fought in Ypress in WW1 but doesn't know which regiment or any other details.

The compass looks like a pocket watch and has the engraving of : Terrasse W.co

VI

32798

1918

Had a quick look on google and ebay and they seem to suggest this is an officers compass, would this be correct? Also was everyone presented with one,and why would someone be presented with one??

Any info would be most appreciated, thank you x

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Mum has just shown me a compass that she believes to have belonged to my dad's father. She says he fought in Ypress in WW1 but doesn't know which regiment or any other details.

The compass looks like a pocket watch and has the engraving of : Terrasse W.co

VI

32798

1918

Had a quick look on google and ebay and they seem to suggest this is an officers compass, would this be correct? Also was everyone presented with one,and why would someone be presented with one??

Any info would be most appreciated, thank you x

Terrasse W. and Company were high quality pocket compass makers during the WW1 period, and most Officers would have carried a pocket compass.

The engraving on the back of your's is :-

Terrasse W. Co - Maker's Mark.

VI - Compass Type/Model.

32798 - Serial Number.

1918 - Manufacture Date.

If the compass is marked with the Government ' Broad Arrow ' Mark, that means it was issued to the Officer by the Government and was Government property.

If there is no ' Broad Arrow ' mark, it could have been a private purchase item, purchased by the Officer himself.

Attached are some photographs of a Terrasse Pocket Compass from WW1.

Regards,

LF

post-63666-0-28985900-1381432861_thumb.j

post-63666-0-20001500-1381432880_thumb.j

post-63666-0-01796200-1381432894_thumb.j

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i am sure it did have the arrow mark you mention. What is it made of and should i try to clean it? We do not want to sell it so may be just best to leave it as it is. As i said we do not as yet know which regiment my grandfather served with, or what rank, trying to find him on Ancestry.com with not much luck, but mum said she remembered him talking about Ypress and maybe about riding a motorcycle there.

is there such a thing as a list which gives the serial numbers and who received each numbered compass??

Thank you for your help and the pictures which are exactly like the one mum has, only hers is more tarnished!

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i am sure it did have the arrow mark you mention. What is it made of and should i try to clean it? We do not want to sell it so may be just best to leave it as it is. As i said we do not as yet know which regiment my grandfather served with, or what rank, trying to find him on Ancestry.com with not much luck, but mum said she remembered him talking about Ypress and maybe about riding a motorcycle there.

is there such a thing as a list which gives the serial numbers and who received each numbered compass??

Thank you for your help and the pictures which are exactly like the one mum has, only hers is more tarnished!

The compass casing was usually either steel or brass, if you intend keeping it, it would then be your preference as to cleaning it or not. If it is showing signs of tarnish, then to preserve it from any deterioration, it may be better to give the case a clean with a good metal polish ( nothing abrasive ).

I am sure at some point, the military would have kept stores records showing the serial number of which particular compass was issued to each person.

You should be able to trace some records for your Grandfather, you can start with his name and date of birth, and if you knew his regiment or his service number that would be much better.

Regards,

LF

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Had a quick look on google and ebay and they seem to suggest this is an officers compass, would this be correct? Also was everyone presented with one,and why would someone be presented with one??

Officers carried compasses for a number of purposes including:

  1. Taking a bearing on a feature in the enemy lines to report to artillery or machine gun support "We're being fired on by a machine gun at bearing XXX from this position". If another officer has also taken a compass bearing from a different postion then a quick bit of work on a map with a ruler and pencil would allow an artillery officer to see exactly where to send a shell to remove the machine gun.
  2. Leading an attacking party to exactly the position they are supposed to take. No mans land was surprisingly featureless in places and over what could be as much as half a mile it was easy to loose direction so that for example, instead of reaching the gap in the enemy's wire that your trench mortars have made, you end up trying to get through un cut wire in the teeth of enemy fire. Following a compass bearing could avoid this.
  3. Generally finding one's way about. A lot of movement was made at night, often over the top behind your own lines (it was quicker for example to bring up reinforcements this way than in a snake like file along a slippery communications trench) . In the dark a luminous compass was essential

If your grandfather was connected, say with the artillery or the machine gun corps then a compass would be a vital tool as firing was often done on a compass bearing. Engineers laying, say telephone wires, would likewise find a compass essential.

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Officers carried compasses for a number of purposes including:

  1. Taking a bearing on a feature in the enemy lines to report to artillery or machine gun support "We're being fired on by a machine gun at bearing XXX from this position". If another officer has also taken a compass bearing from a different postion then a quick bit of work on a map with a ruler and pencil would allow an artillery officer to see exactly where to send a shell to remove the machine gun.
  2. Leading an attacking party to exactly the position they are supposed to take. No mans land was surprisingly featureless in places and over what could be as much as half a mile it was easy to loose direction so that for example, instead of reaching the gap in the enemy's wire that your trench mortars have made, you end up trying to get through un cut wire in the teeth of enemy fire. Following a compass bearing could avoid this.
  3. Generally finding one's way about. A lot of movement was made at night, often over the top behind your own lines (it was quicker for example to bring up reinforcements this way than in a snake like file along a slippery communications trench) . In the dark a luminous compass was essential

If your grandfather was connected, say with the artillery or the machine gun corps then a compass would be a vital tool as firing was often done on a compass bearing. Engineers laying, say telephone wires, would likewise find a compass essential.

Not really with the pocket watch type compass, though. The prismatic type, represented mostly in WW1 by 'Verners' Pattern' VII and VIII had a precision card in mother-of-pearl for sighting in low light, a pivoting prism with a casing slotted for sighting, and a scribed sighting line on the lid glass. These could and still can deliver better than half-degree accuracy in bearing-taking, and are much more suitable for task 1, and in most cases 2, than a pocket-watch type - though that latter would still be a whole lot better than nothing, especially for task 3.

Regards,

MikB

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Motorcycles contain lots of ferrous metal which would limit the use of magnetic compasses unless they, the motorcycles, were 'swung' like ships and aircraft - I jest!

Old Tom

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Not really with the pocket watch type compass, though. The prismatic type, represented mostly in WW1 by 'Verners' Pattern' VII and VIII had a precision card in mother-of-pearl for sighting in low light, a pivoting prism with a casing slotted for sighting, and a scribed sighting line on the lid glass. These could and still can deliver better than half-degree accuracy in bearing-taking, and are much more suitable for task 1, and in most cases 2, than a pocket-watch type - though that latter would still be a whole lot better than nothing, especially for task 3.

Regards,

MikB

And the Verners III was a pocket compass not a prismatic and the IV had features of both. As said a pocket compass was a lot better than nothing and was probably what many officers had to manage with.

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Afraid i don't yet know which regiment or what rank/number my grandfather was. Mum is searching through her papers to see if she can find anything. In the meantime if anyone here is on ancestry he is named WILLIAM ALBERT UNWIN, BORN 1891 IN BIRKENHEAD, parents William and Annie.

So these comapsses were issued to be actually used? I thought maybe they were some sort of award for service or something of that nature. What an honour to have held such an item that was used in the war.

Thank you for your valuable information!

x

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Afraid i don't yet know which regiment or what rank/number my grandfather was. Mum is searching through her papers to see if she can find anything. In the meantime if anyone here is on ancestry he is named WILLIAM ALBERT UNWIN, BORN 1891 IN BIRKENHEAD, parents William and Annie.

So these comapsses were issued to be actually used? I thought maybe they were some sort of award for service or something of that nature. What an honour to have held such an item that was used in the war.

Thank you for your valuable information!

x

Yes, your Grandfather would have used it and relied on it, and it is a wonderful family keepsake.

Regards,

LF

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I have one of these by Terrasse also dated 1918 and it still works accurately. How good it that after 95 years?

John

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I have one of these by Terrasse also dated 1918 and it still works accurately. How good it that after 95 years?

John

John,

I have a WW1 Verners Prismatic, which like your's works perfectly, they do not make them like they used to !

Regards,

LF

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I agree LF. Yesterday it was side by side with another WW1 compass and both were in synch.

Mine is numbered 61494, which may give scale to the 1918 production. It also has the broad arrow, which is smaller and neater than the one pictured (post #2). Other similar compasses were made by Clement Clark the opticians, with cases by (If I remember the name correctly) Dennison. In these examples the cases and the compasses were seperately numbered.

John

post-8629-0-91448000-1381823000_thumb.jp

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  • 2 years later...
Guest byngsboys

Just acquired an example of one of these lovely compasses.

serial number 85596

The Broad Arrow in this case looks clumsy and may have been added after the fact, but it still a lovely feeling artifact!

Thanks for all the information.

Kris

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  • 2 years later...

White can i fond to wel the compass was issues?? Maby nu the week al nummer?? I woud like to find family members to get the Compaq back to the relatives...

Sorry doe my more English, i am form belgium...

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hdcp,

 

Welcome to the Forum, especially with such an admirable quest.

Unfortunately, any records of which item was issued to which man have long since been destroyed.

You could either keep the compass in your own collection or donate it to a military museum in Belgium.

 

Regards,

JMB

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