Seven years bad luck? Making periscopes on Gallipoli

When the Gallipoli campaign quickly bogged down into trench warfare, there were not enough periscopes available to allow Australian and New Zealand soldiers to look over the parapets at ANZAC without being shot.

The improvised periscope above was found at Gallipoli in 1919 by the Australian Historical Mission. The mirrors endured a bit of wear and tear during the war, but they can still sufficiently reflect images to give us an idea of how well the periscope worked.

The image below shows the view reflected from the top mirror to the bottom one - in this case part of the staff library. You can make out the rows of books, although the image is a little 'foggy'. You can also see the piece of wood and the ceiling reflected in the bottom mirror, which is a bit distracting and makes it a little difficult to focus on the image from the top mirror.

Still, they were better than nothing and fulfilled an important role in the campaign. Improvised periscopes were an important feature of the periscope rifle. The photograph below even shows one man using a periscope rifle, while another observes through an improvised periscope!

The Gallipoli campaign is full of examples of improvisation and this trench periscope is one of the classics. You have to admire the ingenuity and ability of the soldiers to use whatever they could find around them to create an item so important in trench warfare.