REL production reports.

I was submitting some various information with regard to REL no32 telescope production in the Canadian sniper thread up in the stickies. However, I realized that without a chronological posting of the information, it was getting quite confusing. So I will post photos of snippets from their quarterly production summaries, many of which mention the progress in no32 telescope production.

I got these in conversation with an advanced binocular collector. We were discussing something else entirely when the topic of sighting telescopes came up (I was more concerned with finding an REL no41 scope for my 25 pdr) and when he sent me a copy of the summary, I realized it also included data on the no32 scopes, which will be of interest to some of us.

Here is a copy of an interesting page that for some reason shows SAL rifle production in 1941, then in each quarter up until end of December, 1943. It also shows the disposition of the rifles up to that point.

Now to the original meaning of this thread, here are some of the summaries, hopefully in chronological order.

These are June 1941, Dec 41, Mar 42, and Mar42

Jun 30 1942, Jun30 1943, September 1943, Mar 1944

A pair from Dec 44, and a couple from Dec 31 1945

Now much of the above may not interest the average collector, but to those who have the LB snipers, there is some of the elusive information on these rarities. There will be conflicts between these reports and perhaps the reports of LongBranch, but in the end it is one department's report against anothers.

I don't have a copy from the report, byt Frank sent me this regarding post war outstanding orders:

Outstanding Contract Balances at Dec. 31, 1945". The only references to Telescopes, Sighting in this listing are:

Telescopes Sighting Mod.E, Quantity - 350
Conversion of 51--32 Mk. I Telescopes to 32 Mk. IA and Spare Parts, Quantity- Balance to be Cancelled

I suspect that the model E scopes will be the no32mk3 scope, which will be the 5th production model of telescope by REL in the sniper series.
One thing that is clear is that rifle telescope production, expected to be 20 telescopes per week, did not meet those expectations.

Well, you've answered a bunch of questions right here stencollector that we've guessed at for a long time!

What an amazing variety of production; we can't even begin to guess at the technical difficulties that were overcome. No wonder Research Enterprises Ltd. had over 7000 employees at the end.

[edited]

Is that document in private or public hands and what is it titled please?

Anyone know what "WSL Account" refers to?

The acceptance and distribution of 165 sniping rifles from small arms limited by Dec31,1943 is interesting.

I suppose that some of them may have not been no4 rifles??

I believe they are only talking about no4 rifles in that section.

I just got a bunch of the minutes from the REL instrument committee. Lots of new and interesting information there. Not sure how to post these....I may have to type each one out as they are fairly blurred, so it may be a while before I post them.

I have asked Frank if the documents are from private or public collections. Frank is writing a book on Canadian Binoculars, so the last thing I want to do is release any of the material as it pertains to the binoculars, and steal his thunder.

If you can read them to type them out, we can read them too! ;)

Great stuff, thank you for sharing it and thanks to Frank too.

This will fit into some of the documents I am working on from my reels of fiche
Since most REL documents got destroyed in the early 50's the documents shown here are a real treasure trove.
REL was a WW II cutting edge technology company and made items that were almost dreams in their day.
From absolutely zero, REL rivaled both the Germans and British for quality in optics in less than two years......

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Originally Posted by Warren

This will fit into some of the documents I am working on from my reels of fiche
Since most REL documents got destroyed in the early 50's the documents shown here are a real treasure trove.
REL was a WW II cutting edge technology company and made items that were almost dreams in their day.
From absolutely zero, REL rivaled both the Germans and British for quality in optics in less than two years......

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Well if I have pleased Warren, then as I suspected, these are fairly significant to our discussions. I know you will be even more pleased with the committee reports as it discusses some of the difficulties, failures, and improvements.

I don't want to say too much, but there are reports regarding your last statement which conflict.

Re the blurred images, again I promised Frank I would not steal his thunder with any of the information he sent me, so it is not just a matter of the blurring, but also a matter of separating the binocular sections from the no32 telescope sections. There is also some information re the sniper observation telescopes.

More to follow when I get a chance.

Lenses in telescopes and telescopic sights we did great with, however comparing lenses to prisms is another matter.
The biggest problem Canada had with most optical devices was the waterproofing and sealing.
Most of the 32 scopes that were rejected were due to the sealing.
Canada had never poured a billet of optical glass prior to REL starting up. Canada (REL) did a great job considering we basically started from scratch in the optical industry.
Optical glass is poured in a huge billet of almost a cubic yard and then a knapper chips off spauls that are ground into lenses and prisms.
Prisms are another matter all together and require a much higher degree of expertise in both knapping and grinding.

Having examined a few (literally) REL No32s, I suspect the water-proofing issue was nothing but a canard, typical of the little games that were played later, as detailed in Without Warning. The quality and fitting of those scopes was considerably better than the UK made No32 MkIs I've seen and messed with, and what waterproofing did they have?? Not much on the ones I saw: a bit of mastic(?) on the ocular lens locking ring, the erector locking segment cover plate and the objective sun shade, sometimes? As for the drums, about the only waterproofing they had was the quality of the fit between the metal parts and REL was well out in front there IMHO.

You've worked on plenty of them Warren, what's your impression?

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Originally Posted by Surpmil

Anyone know what "WSL Account" refers to?

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I was reminded by a fellow collector today that it is War Supplies Limited. It would seem to have been a US guided (government) company which controlled a lot of the munitions exports. Canada asked for a seat on the Board and was given one. Other contracts from them included things like Ram tanks and Universal Carriers. There is a good write up on them in a thread over on MLU Forum if you google War Supplies Limited".

This is that thread I assume. Lots of material in the Archives, for those who live in Ottawa.

Quote:

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The Allied War Supplies Corporation was a Crown Corporation authorized under the Munitions and Supply Act, 1939 (3 George IV Ch.4), to facilitate the production of explosives and chemicals in Canada during the Second World War. The corporation was incorporated on 23 July 1940, a time when the allied forces were in desperate need for all forms of munitions. To meet this objective Allied War Supplies Corporation administered, directed and supervised the construction of plants producing a range of chemicals and explosives required for the war effort.

The corporation was situated in Montreal where it worked in conjunction with the Chemical and Explosives Branch of the Department of Munitions and Supply. Once a requirement had been identified for the production of a particular chemical, the corporation moved to identify contractors for the design and building of the plant. There were a number of cases where the corporation oversaw the expansion of existing privately owned plants for wartime production. However, in the majority of cases the plants constructed for Allied War Supplies were government owned. The siting of plants was conducted in conjunction with the Canadian National Railway, whose property offices carried out appropriation or expropriation of property on behalf of the crown. The actual construction work was done by private companies, most often Defence Industries Limited, a special wartime subsidiary of Canadian Industries Limited, (C.I.L.). By the end of the war Allied War Supplies Corporation had directed the construction or expansion of 48 plants, producing a range of explosives, chemicals and chemical warfare agents.

The Allied War Supplies Corporation final activities involved the closing down and decommissioning of the 40 plants which were under its direct control. In April 1946 the records of the corporation were transferred to the Department of Reconstruction and Supply, and with a resolution of the corporation's Board of Directors on 10 April 1946, the Allied War Supplies Corporation ceased operations.

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That is the one. But I also found reference to a US/UK version which Canada became part of. Similar name. Not sure which one SAL would have been selling rifles to.

Saw these for sale recently in Vancouver: made by R.E.L. One of 75 pairs made according to the previously posted documents. They seem to have been able to produce just about anything. Do I believe they had problems producing No32 scopes? Ah, no! :rolleyes:

And another, Telescope, Signalling, C. Mk.VII. 1942 Interesting that the "C/" is a hand-cut addition to the markings.