Oddball No32 MkIII

[Roger Payne]

In response to Lance's request, here is the unusual MkIII scope that has been seen on this forum before, albeit some years ago, when it belonged to Advisory Panel member Simon. There has been some speculation that it might be Israeli, or made by a third party country, but I believe that it is a prototype MkIII developed by William Watson but which lost out to an alternative design which became the MkIII we are all familiar with.

The scope tube is pretty much the same as a conventional tube, though the eye cell is different as are the R&D drum assemblies. I have not stripped it down yet, though will in the fullness of time, which will no doubt yield additional information. It does not bear the usual intertwined WW logo typical of Watson, but if it was not produced on the regular production line I do not think that that is particularly surprising. It certainly does bear the initials of the company. The markings are otherwise similar to Watson markings, being shallowly engraved, & are typical of what one would expect to find on a scope tube, apart from the lack of an individual serial number & an Optical Stores number. Again, both of these observations are unsurprising if the scope was a prototype/experimental model.

I sent photo's to Ian Skennerton recently & previously discussed the scope with PL. Both arrived at similar views to those that I have related above (for which I was very glad as I'd had to cough up to prize it out of Simon!), with PL making the additional comment that it could also have been from the SLEM trials of just immediately after the war. I can't comment for certain on that, but my gut feeling is it is circa 1944 (the designation is 'MkIII' not 'Mk3'), & if Watson were unsuccessful with the initial MkIII design I would think they would have been less likely to contribute a modified design for later trials. But, anything's possible!

There it is FWIW. I'd be interested to hear what people think of it.......a rare prototype or made in Bubba's basement? Or something else again.....?

P.S. It has clearly been used in some other role post-manufacture, & came with a set of clamps for holding it in some sort of cradle. The anti-rotation peg has also been carefully removed. The clamps fitted across the area that shows signs of soft solder. It will be re-acquiring an anti-rotation peg & will eventually find a home on one of my rifles....!

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