The Signaling Mirror: WWII US Government Training Film

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14 жыл бұрын

This teaches how to aim a two-sided emergency signaling mirror. This August 1943 US Government Training film is a digitized version of the US National Archives copy. Later testing proved retroreflective ("reflex") signal mirror aimers were more accurate, and the US services changed to that type of emergency signal mirror, but two-sided mirrors are still found in many liferaft kits. They are also the type sold for decades as the official US Boy Scout signal mirror, and the type typically made by Varsity Scouts in their "Operation on Target" event.

Пікірлер: 35

@galaxiedance3135 7 ай бұрын

I love watching these types of shows!

@yottoo.5037 8 жыл бұрын

Thanks for uploading this! My grandfather was an Air Force pilot, and I have his old signaling mirror. It's the exact model as the one featured in this film.

@rafowell 8 жыл бұрын

You are welcome! Over 1,000,000 of this type of signalling mirror were issued in WWII, and they saved many lives. Although the US military transitioned to "retroreflective aimer (which they called "reflex aimer") signaling mirrors that were even easier to aim, the "cross-in-glass" mirrors were a great advance over the plain mirrors that were put in military survival kits prior to these. As I mentioned above, I have posted an extensive article about the development of this signaling mirror here: forums.equipped.org/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=197515&page=2

@yottoo.5037 8 жыл бұрын

rafowell - It's interesting to learn more about how it originated and the improvements in subsequent models. I'll be sure to check out your article, thanks for the link!

@01qp68 5 жыл бұрын

I have the markiii signaling mirror not sure about the date

@revolutionaryprepper4076 2 жыл бұрын

This is very useful information that can be used in an emergency situation. Please watch this film, it gives you precise instructions on how to use a signal mirror. Ty for posting this video.

@rafowell 2 жыл бұрын

You're welcome. One caution - this is great for the "double-sided" mirror type, but these days, those are mostly the metal survival mirrors packed in lifeboat kits (These days, the 4"x5" steel mirrors made by Datrex). "Retroreflective aimer" aka "reflex sight" aimers are far more effective than the double-sided mirror aimers, and the US military replaced the "double-sided" aimer type with the "retroreflective aimer" type in the late 1940s, went to the "retroreflective mesh" aimer type ca. 1949, and have stuck with that since. You can buy the MIL-Spec MIL-M-18371E mirrors of that type in glass (2"x3" and 3"x5") or commercial (not rated for water submersion, unlike the Mil-Spec ones) 2"x3" glass ones as the Coghlan's "Survival Signal Mirror" Model 9902. Or, you can make your own DIY version of the late 1940s type ("red-dot aimer"), as per this video: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/orqpYNJmqM-YXZ8.html Detailed photo-illustrated instructions for using the mesh retroreflective type are here: flic.kr/p/nsrjRG NOTE: There are many knockoff "mesh aimer" mirrors out there with nonfunctional mesh. Buy Coghlans, or MIL-M-18371E mirrors (manufacturer, S.I. Howard Glass). They are the ONLY current manufacturers making functional retroreflective mesh. For more details, read: WARNING: Phony Glass Signal Mirrors - Equipped To Survive www.equipped.com/phony_signal_mirrors.htm

@CaptainBerz 14 жыл бұрын

I love old time videos like this!

@krassilverfang5504 5 жыл бұрын

Was there only 1 narrator in the whole world at the time? I swear Its always the voice from the SAME guy on every film from the 30's and 40's

@md65000 2 жыл бұрын

You may be joking but I think you're right. There really were maybe 3 or 4 guys who did all these narrations. My favorite was Vic Perrin. He narrated probably thousands of short films like this--you can hear his voice in the opening of The Outer Limits.

@jrcadet4 12 жыл бұрын

I recently lucked onto a signal mirror just like the ones demonstrated in this training film. Nice to have a better idea how one would use it!

@davidgold5961 Жыл бұрын

9:32 you can see the film camera briefly reflected in the 8” x 10” signal mirror.

@ufoengines 13 жыл бұрын

Very nice film. I just posted a vid of my home made Heliograph. While testing it, I looked into the beam of light to see just how well it worked, and I can tell you that 20 million candle power number seems close to right. VERY BRIGHT! Read that a Heliograph was able to send a flash seen 189 miles from Az to Ut. in the 1890's . Don't know if any code was sent.

@rafowell 14 жыл бұрын

@n7tek : I saw this film referenced in WWII documents, and asked the US Coast Guard historian, who sent me to the US National Archives, who had a copy. I followed the Archives standard process for copying of movies in their collection, It was expensive - $285 was the low bid. I converted the contractor's version from professional format to MPEG4 on my Mac and uploaded it. The range is conservative, yes. See my KZfaq video demonstrating 43 mile range with a 3"x5" mirror.

@allyourcode 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for letting us know how you got this. Always wondered about that. I assumed that the US government would digitize their collection themselves, but I guess it would be a big expensive project with no obvious benefit (other than our amusement). Maybe if KZfaq were interested in preserving such films, they would do it? Google scanned almost all the books in the world. Why not digitize all films?

@rafowell 2 жыл бұрын

@@allyourcode The US Govt has a number of digitization projects, but there's a lot of US Govt. One upside in this case - part of the deal was that when I paid for the digitization, the US Govt got a copy, so that the next time someone wanted a digital copy, they would not have to pay for it. One example of US Govt. hosted images is DVIDs - but a lot heavier on photos than video. The Library of Congress hosts a lot of digitized stuff online, too: www.loc.gov/pictures/ Here's a discussion of the National Archives digitization efforts: www.archives.gov/digitization There are also public/private digitization efforts for US Govt docs - an example here: www.archives.gov/digitization/digitized-by-partners

@chuckjohnson2564 Жыл бұрын

We used to get chewed out for rolling our dixie cup like this guy .

@midnightwildpictures2991 4 жыл бұрын

OMG thank you for this! I'm editing a documentary right now and was trying to find a military training tape for this!

@rafowell 4 жыл бұрын

You're welcome. If there is any other information about signal mirrors of interest to you, just let me know. The background of this particular film is summarized here: forums.equipped.org/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=197515&page=2 I see you've done a documentary about ARVN - the signal mirrors used by US troops in the Vietnam war, were a different type, aimed by a different principle, though anyone seeing the flash wouldn't know the difference. I've collected a number of links to specific occasions where signal mirrors were used in the Vietnam War here: forums.equipped.org/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=260916 (I see that some of the links have died - you can use the Wayback Machine to recover many of them, I suspect).

@midnightwildpictures2991 4 жыл бұрын

@@rafowell The ARVN documentary is actually what I want to use this footage for! We have a story of a special forces guy being rescued from the jungle because of the mirror pop technique in one part and wanted some footage that just demonstrated how popping a mirror works. Couldn't find any Vietnam War footage, but I'll denote that in the doc itself. And thank you so much for the links!

@rafowell 4 жыл бұрын

@@midnightwildpictures2991 If by "pop" you mean sighting it in, you can see the technique used for the typical Vietnam era signal mirror in the first four seconds of this clip I took of the Thunderbirds ground crew, here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/j5mXnaRltdaliWQ.html It is a completely different sighting technique. This Flickr gallery from another airshow has some "stop-action" photos of the technique and closeups of the mirror, including the instructions on the back. flic.kr/s/aHskzjJWBE The smaller mirror at right is a 2"x3" MIL-M-18371E signal mirror - this would be the commonest type in Vietnam (or the earlier D or C variants, but they are essentially identical). You can read the MIL-M-18371E Milspec online here: www.equipped.com/pp/pic2038.htm#1 If by "pop" you mean the flash, there are many examples on my channel, including this one, which if you cropped in, could actually look sort of jungle-like: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fd1zlcqCrNOtdGg.html Lots of good flashes here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/aquFZMKEx9u2d2Q.html but from swimmers, not jungle. I haven't found any Vietnam footage of a signal mirror in action either, alas.

@rafowell 3 жыл бұрын

This mirror is the General Electric ESM/1 Emergency Signaling Mirror, jointly designed by the NBS and GE in late 1942-early 1943. Over 1 million were issued in WW2, starting August 1943, so they come up frequently on Ebay. The ESM/1 was the 3rd generation emergency signaling mirror issued by the US in the 1940s, and three generations were issued by 1950. For more information on the ESM/1, go to the link below and scroll down to below teh photos to read the text and links: www.flickr.com/photos/signalmirror/8421299783/in/album-72157715413710233/

@rafowell 13 жыл бұрын

@ufoengines Thanks! Nice helio! The heliograph entry in Wikipedia has a list of external links at the end. The first link leads to a page with a button: build your own Hg: at the top that leads to a number of heliograph plans. The Wikipedia article also gives the link record as 183 miles between Utah and Colorado Sept 17 1894, and a footnote link leading to book online with the details on pp. 10 and 11. They did send code both ways.

@MyREDTAIL 6 жыл бұрын

Wally World use to sell them in their Camping section, do not know if they still do etc.

@n7tek 14 жыл бұрын

How did you get a hold of this old training film???!!! And how did you get it converted to a video format for uploading onto youtube? The signaling distance stated in the film is a bit short from my experience but then again I'm usually signaling through dry desert air not moisture laden ocean air. There is a big difference.

@adriandiaz4071 4 жыл бұрын

9 years too late but a WW2 Historian sent this too him from the WW2 Archives

@ChernobylPizza 8 жыл бұрын

The original laser pen

@greeker94 3 жыл бұрын

They made these in Cleveland, Ohio! GE

@NikosKatsikanis Жыл бұрын

nice one, where did you get this?

@rafowell Жыл бұрын

I ordered it from the US National Archives.

@NikosKatsikanis Жыл бұрын

@@rafowell thx

@rafowell 9 жыл бұрын

For those interested in the historical background for this movie, my research results to date are summarized here: forums.equipped.org/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=197515&page=2

@trumpocalypsenow4654 7 жыл бұрын

Why would a WWII training film mention the United Nations? The UN did not exist until after WWII. I know there was some discussion of the concept which would become the UN during WWII, but I find it odd that the term would be used in a training film.

@KandiKlover 6 жыл бұрын

Becuase people use liberalism to feel special about themselves, all it's good for. So only low self esteem unattractive losers are drawn to the DNC.

@McGuillorys 5 жыл бұрын

During WW2 the term united nations referred to those countries allied against Germany, Japan and the other Axis powers, not the future organization. Think of "united nations" as "nations united to defeat the Axis."