A WWII Anti-Aircraft Double Telescope, by Ross of London, dated 1940.

In a period transit case by Cooke, Troughton & Simms, of York.

Marked: TELESCOPE IDENTIFICATION AA MARK III – ROSS LONDON – 1940 –  /|\ – No 2525

With tripod.

Width: 80 cm.

60 mm objective lenses.

For a similar mark III model see: The History of Science Museum, Oxford. (Inventory number: 86327).

Ross & Co, London – Ross (optics) was founded by Andrew Ross (1798–1859) in 1830.  By the 1890s Ross & Co were making Zeiss and Goerz lenses under licence for sale in the UK and the British Empire. Before WWI Ross and Zeiss worked closely together, but at the outbreak of War the British Government put Ross in control of the newly opened Carl Zeiss binocular and optical factory in Mill Hill, London. Ross made binoculars for the Royal Navy during WWII.