AUSTRALIAN PERISCOPIC RIFLE

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2545, 20 August 1915, Page 5

AUSTRALIAN PERISCOPIC RIFLE

' ♦ • GENERAL BIRDWOOD PRAISES INVENTION. . The invention of a periscopic rifle by a young Australian, soldier in the trenches is described in a letter received by the Governor-General of the Commonwealth from General Birdwood. General Birdwood partly attributes the "complete moral ' superiority" of his force over the Turk to this new invention. The letter reads:— \ "I have made our whole surwun&Baa here much safer by the erection of really big traverses across every path, and tho cutting of deep covered ways through all spurs of the hills. The rate of casualties has consequently been reduced almost from 10 to 1. "We are most fortunate in having so manv excellent miners, who have been working like tigers both at tunnelling and trenching. In one section we completed a whole length of trenches, complete with traverses, fire platforms, etc:, all under ground. You were able to walk along sis feet high passages with almost a foot of earth left on top. At the last moment, and'during the night, the 'lid' was taken off this, and the enemy were faced with a second row of entrenchments complete in every respect, and a good deal nearer to t-hem than they had anticipated. . "Our complete moral superiority over the Turk is partly due to a very - clever invention of a, man named Beach, who produced a periscopic rifle; When wo cot here wo denuded the whole of our transports of their looking-glasses, and made up some 2000 periscopes on our little beach. This man then made a very simple device. . . The result is the Turk only sees the muzzle of the rifle coming over the parapet without anything behind it. to shoot at, and wo understand from prisoners that he dislikes this intensely I" In connection with the foregoing tho Minister, of, Defence said that the following extract from Army Corps orders might be of general interest; —"Tho Army Cori)s commander wishes to record his appreciation-of tho clever invention of the periscopic attachment for the rifle, the work of Lance-Corporal W. C. B. Beach. 2nd Battalion, Australian Imperial Forcc. As, so far as is known, this invention has not been treed in France, the lieutenant-general commanding has forwarded the idea to Lord Kitchener for •. consideration." —.'Tho Age.", ' .