RAF watches ww2

[kowalski]

hello, do you have?(or 1939-53 years) Please be proud of ( paste photo here), and by the way the topic, if someone had for sale, please PM best regards Dawid

 

[B-24J]

Air Commodore Alan C. Deere in his book "Nine Lives" recounts having his wrist watch broken by a bullet from a Bf-109 in 1940. Deere says that wristlet watches "..were not service issue in those days." He had to request reimbursement for the loss. Apparently wrist watches were not service issue during the BoB.

Not quite done with the book yet, but a good read so far.

John

 

[Smithy]

Air Commodore Alan C. Deere in his book "Nine Lives" recounts having his wrist watch broken by a bullet from a Bf-109 in 1940. Deere says that wristlet watches "..were not service issue in those days." He had to request reimbursement for the loss. Apparently wrist watches were not service issue during the BoB.

Sorry but Al's memory was probably getting a little fuzzy when he wrote "Nine Lives" in the 50s. The 6B/159 was service issue to aircrew from 1936 until 1941.

If you're keen on reading more about Deere may I recommend Smith's authorised biography about him? Very satisfying to read after "Nine Lives".

 

[B-24J]

After I posted it occurred to me that Deere was an officer and perhaps, like American officers, had to purchase his wrist watch. So Deere's memory may have been okay and I drew the wrong conclusion.

John

 

[jon z]

Here's one for sale.

http://corrwatches.com/detail.php?productId=220

I've no affiliation.

 

[kowalski]

the good side, a lot of watches just a pity that most of the military watch especially is sold (Omega P A F !!!! )

 

[jon z]

The one in the link I posted above doesn't appear to be sold.

 

[JanSolo]

I also have a couple of the so-called "Dirty Dozen". The WWW service watch was sourced from 12 different manufacturers. Well known brands like Omega, Longines and IWC were among them. They all comply to a certain spec sheet i.e. sub-seconds hand winding movement, black dial with tritium markers, fixed bars, domed acrylic chrystal etc.

Here's a generic pic of a Cyma with pretty weathered dial:

Timor in slightly better condition:

Here's a Longines with a wrong set of hands:

 

[Spitfire]

http://www.network54.com/Forum/180748/message/1279398789/Watches+back+in+production+at+last

There is the chap over at the RAF Collectors/Reenactors Forum who makes some rather nice repros at a very affordable price.
Please observe they are REPROS!

 

[JanSolo]

Anchorsupplies has genuine WWWs and other service watches from time to time. Usually they are serviced and in good condition and come with warranty.

http://www.anchorsupplies.com/wrist.htm

http://www.anchorsupplies.com/horo.htm

 

[kowalski]

wonderful collection Jan, bravo !!! it's amazing, they have so many years and watches are always on time ,if you decide to sell this Longines give me a sign

 

[HackerF15E]

Sorry but Al's memory was probably getting a little fuzzy when he wrote "Nine Lives" in the 50s. The 6B/159 was service issue to aircrew from 1936 until 1941.

To be fair, just because something was available and authorized to be issued to pilots certainly doesn't mean that it actually was issued to everyone.

It's certainly possible that entire groups of pilots, depending on circumstances, didn't get issued that watch, hence Commodore Deere's recollection of events based on he and his squadronmates.

 

[JanSolo]

Sorry, but those aren't my watches! The pics were pinched in order to give some idea of how WWWs look like. I personally own a Cyma, a Longines and a Vertex but I don't have any pictures of them.

 

[Smithy]

To be fair, just because something was available and authorized to be issued to pilots certainly doesn't mean that it actually was issued to everyone.

It's certainly possible that entire groups of pilots, depending on circumstances, didn't get issued that watch, hence Commodore Deere's recollection of events based on he and his squadronmates.

I was responding to B24J's post that watches were not issue at this stage of the war.

And yes, wristwatches were issue with the RAF at the time that Deere mentions. However some pieces of kit were not AM replaceable and therefore the individual had to stump up for a replacement if said piece was lost or damaged. Watches being one of them.