In 1915 the British War Department adopted 3 patterns of optical sights: the Lattey, Ulster/Neill, and the Martin. A further 2 types: the Gibbs and B.S.A7. (Birmingham Small Arms Co.) were also acquired in some quantity. Ultimately, 14,125 optical sights were to be purchased by the War Department, with 9,000 of these the Lattey. Curiously, this figure is roughly twice the number of conventional telescopic sights fitted to British sniping rifles during WWI.
This Neill sight came from a old weapon collector and is completely fresh to the market. The sight itself is in good used condition as you can see from the photographs and could easily be mounted to a rifle for display. The case is in amazing condition for its age and is named to a Cpl Daley (4456 RFC). You may think why would a RFC soldier be using a sniper sight, and we thought that too! However my best guess would be that in the early days of the RFC, the planes were not fixed with machine guns and so the pilots relied on small arms such as rifles and pistols to combat enemy aircraft. Using iron sights in air combat would be difficult and so the addition of a Neill sight would significantly aid the firer in air to air combat. This would also explain the reason why the rear sight that came with the sight is missing. In all, this is probably a once in a lifetime opportunity to purchase one of these incredibly rare sights with the addition of the case being named to a member of the RFC.
I have left for sight and the case in as found condition however if the buyer would like to clean the leather and treat it professionally, the case would look stunning. Overall, the case is in great condition and can easily mounted on a belt.
