L42A1 and the Swift Spotting Scope

[waco16]

There's been plenty of posts on the Swift spotting scope used in the later days of the L42, but rarely any photographs showing them in use

Came across this interesting one taken during the Falklands campaign along with the L42

Note also the IWS being used on the M16

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[blurrededge]

Great photo! for several reasons, I've certainly not seen it before.

[bigduke6]

A picture tells a thousand words.......... one piece of kit stands out in that picture that tells me they maybe something special.

[55recce]

With the AR15s and soft head gear I assume they are SAS. What does the guy reclining top right have on his head? Assume it is some sort of comms gear.

BTW I picked up a nice cased Swift scope with tripod and camera adapter for $29 on ebay. Not military issue (no NSN) but otherwise identical. Of course it cost a bit to ship to Canada but still in my collection for less than $100 Canadian. A bit of work with a printer and I was able to reproduce the labels on the outside of the case using photos for reference.

[bigduke6]

With the AR15s and soft head gear I assume they are SAS. What does the guy reclining top right have on his head? Assume it is some sort of comms gear.

They are the big give aways (The comms gear, I thought was a single sided headset used with the clansman radio but expanding the picture looks more like the headsets for the Racal 5080 (also can be used on all the clansman radios), but there is one bit of kit there that certainly points towards the "Regiment"

[waco16]

They are the big give aways (The comms gear, I thought was a single sided headset used with the clansman radio but expanding the picture looks more like the headsets for the Racal 5080 (also can be used on all the clansman radios), but there is one bit of kit there that certainly points towards the "Regiment"

I think the M16's point in that direction too..........

---------- Post added at 09:10 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:05 AM ----------

With the AR15s and soft head gear I assume they are SAS. What does the guy reclining top right have on his head? Assume it is some sort of comms gear.

BTW I picked up a nice cased Swift scope with tripod and camera adapter for $29 on ebay. Not military issue (no NSN) but otherwise identical. Of course it cost a bit to ship to Canada but still in my collection for less than $100 Canadian. A bit of work with a printer and I was able to reproduce the labels on the outside of the case using photos for reference.

There were no military markings on the issue swifts, other than (occasionally) stick on labels, same goes for the very 'civilian' case they were issued in...
Someone has resurrected an old post 'British Army Spotting Scopes' that shows mine fresh from MOD disposal.
Only IDs were small square labels on the tripod and NSN numbers on the case

[chosenman]

I have one with broad arrow marks. One on the mount on the underside of the scope and one on the tripod.
Nice picture Neil!!!

[P51Mustang]

Was the 2nd M16 for another member or was it a secondary weapon for the sniper?

[Strangely Brown]

After I came out of the army in 1974 I spent the rest of my working life in the photo trade; mainly the second hand side of it and over the years had quite a few ex military Swift Spotting scopes pass through the shop.
A number of them still had Dyno tape stickers on giving away their past ownership....which we would rip off and clean up with lighter fuel to hide any past involvement with the military to get a better price!

On another matter regarding procurement I was once told to buy a couple of spotting scopes for use in Belfast's gas works and Telephone House because the ones we had were crap! (my memory is a little dim but I'm sure they were Scout regiment scopes) I was tasked to do this being one of the regimental Int photographers and therefore supposedly knowing all about optics.
I asked what sort of deal the shop could do for the army and was given a price, I then returned with a cheque from regimental funds and took away the two scopes.
They were Greenkat scopes which I had seen advertised in Guns Review back in the day, if they were in Guns Review they had to be good!
We also bought other stuff like photographic lighting and darkroom equipment that was just left for the next regiment to use.

[bigduke6]

I think the M16's point in that direction too..........

Its what I meant in the big give aways......, but no one has spotted the other bit of kit......