Stephanie Posted 19 July , 2006 Share Posted 19 July , 2006 Did soldiers wear spectacles in WW1? If so are they often at auction? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coldstreamer Posted 19 July , 2006 Share Posted 19 July , 2006 hello only seen officers in pictures wearing glasses Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilB Posted 19 July , 2006 Share Posted 19 July , 2006 Seen some German ORs in pictures. Phil B But:- Sutcliffe, John Hamer 1867-1940 London, England Optometrist in an ophthalmic optical practice in Lancashire Traveled a great deal internationally Had many international Masonic links Editor of the Dioptric Review First full-time Secretary of the B.O.A. Spoke of “an optical house beautiful” in 1901 Founder of the B.O.A. Museum, circa 1914 For more than four years acted as the Superintendent of The Army Spectacle Depot during World War 1 Wrote: B.O.A. Library, Library and Museum Catalogue, London, 1932 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coldstreamer Posted 19 July , 2006 Share Posted 19 July , 2006 Hello heres a link to a chap with glasses and a beard! Ian http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/i...62&hl=beard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marina Posted 19 July , 2006 Share Posted 19 July , 2006 Rudyard Kipling's son Jack was killed at the front. His glasses were broken and there is a description of him groping about to find his way before he was killed. Marina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilB Posted 19 July , 2006 Share Posted 19 July , 2006 Anybody any idea where the Army Spectacle Depot was? (see post 3) Phil B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alliekiwi Posted 19 July , 2006 Share Posted 19 July , 2006 My great uncle enlisted in the New Zealand infantry, and he wore spectacles all the time. He enlisted as a private. Now, before you think they were starting to get desperate and letting standards slip, look at his date of enlistment: 13/8/1914. When you enlisted down here you had to fill in 'Form No 2: New Zealand Expeditionary Force Attestation", and a military doctor then filled in the other side. Uncle Jock's says "Right eye: normal Left eye: normal". His second attestation form, done a month later (presumable after basic training), has both eyes 'normal - with glasses'. We have a photo of him from before the war, however, wearing those same glasses, so he must have been wearing them at the first medical. There's a photo of him at the top of this thread, if you want to have a look. Allie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marina Posted 19 July , 2006 Share Posted 19 July , 2006 There have been a couple of threads on this subject: http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/i...c=34506&hl= http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/i...c=14931&hl= http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/i...ic=5611&hl= Marina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 20 July , 2006 Share Posted 20 July , 2006 Anybody any idea where the Army Spectacle Depot was? (see post 3) Phil B Crystal Palace? Well, there was plenty of spare glass I'll get my coat.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delta Posted 20 July , 2006 Share Posted 20 July , 2006 Good idea - or it's the glass-house for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisC Posted 20 July , 2006 Share Posted 20 July , 2006 There's always one that makes a spectacle of himself...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaymen Posted 20 July , 2006 Share Posted 20 July , 2006 You might like to take a look at an old thread I started a while ago. http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/i...c=44131&hl= Glyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auchonvillerssomme Posted 20 July , 2006 Share Posted 20 July , 2006 Guess who I bumped into in Specsavers? Everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 20 July , 2006 Share Posted 20 July , 2006 Actually, it could have been near Lens..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marina Posted 20 July , 2006 Share Posted 20 July , 2006 G-R-O-A-N! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgarwood Posted 3 June , 2013 Share Posted 3 June , 2013 John Hamer Sutcliffe ( Not J.R. as in the Medical History of the War) was the men who was loaned to the army by the British Optical Association in 1916. He set up at Clifford's Inn Hall and established 93 centres at home and 31 overseas. Each staffed by an ophthalmic surgeon and a enlisted qualified optician. 193,700 pairs of spectacles were supplied at home and 156,271 frames, 472,488 lenses and 125,861 metal spectacle cases were issued. The frames were on non-tranishable white metal with the cable curl sides, (tortoise shell not being the frame of choice). Although some officers wore shell frames. Crown glass lenses were used and the frames were designed to take the same size lens so that ready cut lenses could be popped in if a breakage occured. In 1916 300, 000 pairs of sunspectacles werer sent to Egypt and Mesopotamia. The standard of vision on the chart was shocking - one eye had to get 6/24 (one quarter of the chart from the top) and the other eye had to be corrected to 6/12 (half of the chart from the top). Right eye was needed to be best for rifle firing in the British infantry whereas the French did not worry about a left eye dominant soldier! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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