Most people know that for navigational purposes a compass normally has a circle containing 360 degrees though not everyone knows that this is not always the case. Since around 1960 the military have divided their compass circle into 6400 mils which is a short version of mil-radion, a way of dividing up a circle which is best left to the mathematicians. All we really need to know is that in this system there are 6400 mils in a circle and because there are a lot more mils than degrees, map reading, artillery fire and the like can become more accurate. The needle still points north, however, and most mils compasses will still have a degree scale somewhere as is the case with the excellent example we have here in the collection. It was bought on the internet for £1 in 2015.