WW1 Military Watches

A Brief History of British Military Watches 1914-1919

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British Watches, Aircraft

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Historical Background

Britain was notoriously slow to adopt powered flight. The first flight in Britain of a heavier-than-air, manned, craft was not recorded until 16 October 1908 (when the pilot was an American, Samuel F Cody, assisted in his efforts by the Royal Engineers based in the ‘Balloon Factory’ at Farnborough). When the first British Military Aircraft Trials were held in 1912 to provide aircraft for a proposed Royal Flying Corps (RFC), Cody won both Foreign and Home categories, but Cody was killed the following year and the recently-formed Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers, its observation kites and balloons now supplemented by fixed wing aircraft, was surrendered to provide the basis for the Military Wing of the RFC, when it was formally established in 1912. The Naval Wing of the RFC, administered by the Air Department of the Admiralty (1912-1915), quickly evolved into the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), which was part of the Military Branch of the Royal Navy, and under the control of the Admiralty from 1914 onwards.

This separation of air power continued throughout the war, with both organisations often competing for the same resources, because the separation between them was never clear cut or even necessarily intuitive. The RNAS operated seaplanes from bases such as Calshot in Hampshire and Eastchurch in Kent, and pioneered the flying of aircraft from naval vessels. However, the Admiralty also sent land-based aircraft to France in support of RFC operations there and interpreted its historical role as guarantor of the island’s borders so liberally at times as to include responsibility for the air defence of Great Britain and to justify attacks on Zeppelin bases and manufacturing sites located in Germany.

On 1 April 1918, the Royal Air Force was established as an ‘independent’ force, ie as a third arm, separate from both the Army and the Navy, and the RFC and RNAS were both disbanded.

The working assumption among military watch collectors has always been that the RNAS issued the Admiralty Type I and II aviation watch throughout WWI whilst the RFC issued the Mark IVA, and later the Mark V.

8-day Movements used in British Aviation Watches of the WWI era

It will be convenient to describe the 8-day movements together because there is some commonality in their usage.

The Octava Watch Company (8-days, 15 jewels)

To include:

• the Admiralty Types I and II;
• the Mark IVA;
• the Mark V.

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British Watches, Pocket General Service

To include the various General Service watches.

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British Watches, Wrist and Wristlet

To include what ZMW describes as the ‘1917 evaluation issue’:

• the 38mm snap back;
• the various Dennison cased screw-back watches (3 distinct types).

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