Dennison Mk 6 compass info reqd

[pompeyrodney]

I have just discovered a Dennison compass that belonged to my grandfather Lieutenant John Pitt. It is a Mk 6 and has the serial number 117554, dated 1916. I am confused as there is a different number inside the case of 101691. There is a letter M beneath this. Any information would be very welcome please. Thank you.

 

 

[pierssc]

Dennison are best known for making cases for the makers of watch movements, and you get many examples of watches up to the 1960s where there is a Dennison case number (usually inside the case) and then a different watch maker's number on the movement - and in the case of War Office issued watches, a government number on the outside of the case as well.  It was fairly normal for manufacturers like Rolex, Longines, etc to send movements over to be cased in the UK by Dennison - all to do with import duties I think.  Anyway what we have here is a compass in what is essentially a watch case.  I would suggest that the number on the outside of the case is its WO number (it seems to have been added after the rest of the script, ie after it left the factory) and that on the inside its manufacturer's number.

Edited 2 May , 2021 by pierssc

[pierssc]

More info on WW1 compasses of this type at http://compasscollector.com/Article_page_1.htm

[pompeyrodney]

Thank you for sharing this link Piers

[mike st]

Possibly 101691 is a cyphered form of 10 1916?

[pierssc]

On 06/07/2021 at 16:48, mike st said:

Possibly 101691 is a cyphered form of 10 1916?

Ingenious.  But it has 1916 on the outside of the case.... so why bother disguise it?

 

EDIT: This page (a follow-on from the link I posted above) discusses manufacturers' serial number and it is clear they were sequential http://compasscollector.com/Article_page_2.htm 

Of course, the most secure way of disguising the date (should one wish to do so) is to have a serial number which can be linked back to records kept elsewhere of when a particular batch was delivered.

Edited 9 July , 2021 by pierssc

[Gareth Powell]

I also have one of these compasses though not as precious as the one that began this thread, as mine is not an heirloom and I have no idea who owned it. 
I have already seen the webpage that has a link above but wondered if there is anything else out there that can tell me to whom these were issued? I know that the officers used the more sophisticated prismatic compasses. Were these then issued to Platoon Sergeants perhaps or were they given out as needed rather than to individuals?

Any more information would be gratefully received as there seems very little out there.

Thanks!