Rudolf Gundlach

He headed the design division of the Armored Weapons Technical Research Bureau (Biuro Badań Technicznych Broni Pancernych).

[1] From 1903 to 1911, he attended a classical gymnasium in Łódź, and then entered the Riga Technical University where he studied until his conscription into the Russian Army in 1916.

[2] After the fall of Poland in 1939, Gundlach was one of hundreds of thousand Polish soldiers, technicians, scientists and engineers who escaped to France via Romania.

After the end of World War II, Gundlach sought enforcement of intellectual property rights over his periscope, which had been copied in several countries and produced under different names.

He was unsuccessful in the United States due to long and costly court proceedings, but managed to obtain a license fee from the British Royal Commission.

After paying the attorney's fees, court costs, and taxes, he was left with 17 million francs, which allowed him to buy a villa in Le Vésinet near Paris.

[1] He is famous for his invention of the Gundlach Rotary Periscope (Polish: Peryskop obrotowy Gundlacha), patented in 1938, which made possible 360° vision.

[6] Since it greatly increased the comfort of observer and widened the field of view, the new periscope design was used in virtually every tank built after 1940.