WW1 Military Watches

Notes on British Military Watches 1914-1919

References

Books

• Konrad Knirim British Military Timepieces/Uhren der britischen Streitkräfte (POMP, 2009) (‘KK’)

• Z. M. Wesolowski A Concise Guide to Military Timepieces 1880-1990 (The Crowood Press, 1996) (‘ZMW’)

Articles

• A Taylerson Military Timepieces: Watches Issued to British Armed Forces 1870-1970 (Horological Journal September 1995 pp 293-296; October 1995 pp 334-337) (British Horological Institute,1995) (‘Taylerson’)

British Watches, Aircraft

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Historical Background

watch attached to instrument board in cockpit of WWI aircraft

For much of the First World War, British military procurement was pursued separately by the Admiralty and the War Office. The procurement of aviation watches was no exception, although there is a clear horological connection between the watches issued by the two branches.

The watches under discussion ('aviation watches') are sometimes known as cockpit watches but they are essentially pocket watches of no special design, apart from a pendant that was required to protrude from any housing that was used to fix them. They were cased in nickel or plated steel, with the usual military markings often applied to the case back. The dials carried nomenclature that related to their supply under contract

All watches were supplied according to published specifications and each iteration of the requirement was marked accordingly. During WWI, the Admiralty issued the Mark I, followed by the Mark II, whilst the War Office (via the Royal Aircraft Factory) issued the Mark IVA. The Mark V aviation watch was issued to both services after supply chains had merged during 1917. (A Mark III aviation watch has also appeared but in such small numbers that it must be considered 'putative').

Unlike other aviation instruments (eg the compass, altimeter, ASI), no particular development was forced on the aviation watch by experience of war, although, by the war’s end, the 8-day watch had been supplemented by 30-hour movements, and this may have been a response to increased aircraft performance (particularly the increase in operating ceilings).

Common Features of the WWI Aviation Watch

The archetype for British aviation watches comprises:

• nomenclature applied to the dial (specifying, amongst other things, the contracted supplier of the watch)
• luminous and non-luminous versions (although luminous versions were restricted to RNAS issue until late in WWI)
• military issue to the RFC/RAF further indicated by markings stamped or engraved to the case
• an 8-day Swiss movement was used for the works until the Mark V (which used 30-hour movements as standard but also allowed 8-day movements to be used)

Nomenclature to the dial

The dials carried as a minimum the name of the supplier and the specification that it met (eg Mark IVA).

Individual serial numbers were applied from the Mark IVA onwards and incorporated a letter code that identified the supplier. It was British standard practice during WWI to mark military equipment supplied under contract in this way. It allowed each individual item to be referenced in a contract ledger, giving details of the size of the order, the series number range allocated to each order, the item to be delivered, the name of the contracted supplier, the contract reference number, and dates.

The Swiss manufacturers of Mark V watches were identified by the assigned digraphic letter code that appeared on the dial (although company branding was allowed to appear to the movements, cuvette, inner case back, etc). These watches also carried item serial numbers, appearing after the digraphic codes.

Luminous and non-luminous versions

The Admiralty issued both luminous and non-luminous versions of their Mark I and Mark II aviation watch. In RFC and RAF issue, however, the non-luminous type predominated.

The Royal Aircraft Factory started to issue luminous versions of the Mark IVA only from 1917 onwards, when black dials were mandated for all aviation instruments.

Luminous and non-luminous versions of the Mark V watch were issued.

Luminous dials used a block numeral design filled with radium and 'cathedral' hand sets (also filled with radium).

Military issue markings

• A ↑ D dial mark (probably Air Department of the Admiralty)

The A ↑ D mark is painted to the dial of Admiralty Mark I and Mark II watches and probably denotes the Air Department of the Admiralty. ZMW [p 30] prefers ‘Admiralty Department’.

• A ↑ S case back mark (sui generis, possibly not an official ‘mark’)

An ‘A ↑ S’ mark appears only on one watch: a Mark IVA supplied by S. Alexander & Son Ltd. The mark may simply be supplier's branding (A & S) rather than a service designator. ZMW [p 12] attributes this mark to the Royal Naval Air Service c. 1914 (‘Air Service’), however.

• ‘Air’ case back and dial mark (possibly Air Board) (1917 onwards)

The ‘Air’ Mark (A [underline] ↑] was applied to all Mark V watches (and to a very late version of the Mark IVA supplied by H. Williamson Ltd c 1917). The use of this mark may reflect the reorganisation of war effort that led to the creation of the Air Board in 1917. However, ZMW [p 12] prefers ‘Aviation’.

• Air Ministry case back mark (inter-war)

The Air Ministry mark (A.M. with King’s Crown surmounted), which was used from the inter-war period until c 1943, occasionally appears in addition to one of the other marks, indicating retention in stores after WWI. These watches sometimes have ‘G.S. Type’ applied to the dial, indicating a General Service watch that in RAF usage was assigned the 6E/50 stores reference.

• W ↑ D case back (War Department) (up to 1917)

The War Department (W.D.) mark (W ↑ D) was applied to the Mark IVA watch until that mark was cancelled in 1917. (The mark typically appears to the case back, although an early issue of the Mark IVA watch supplied by G Davenport & Co Ltd sees the mark painted to the dial; the putative Mark III watch also sees the mark painted to the dial). At least three different designs of the W.D. mark were employed: (i) an elaborate decorated version that occupied the whole of the flat portion of the case back; (ii) a much smaller, simple, stamped version that is the more common usage seen in surviving examples; and (iii) a slightly larger, boldly-engraved version of the simple style is also seen, perhaps confined to early issue watches.

Although the War Department became the War Office in 1857, the name remained in use for certain purposes.

• Sterile case backs (no markings)

The Admiralty Mark I and Mark II had sterile case backs, apart from one version of the Mark II that was supplied by Thos. Armstrong & Bros, Manchester (which had a unique stamped ‘long arrow’ design). Presumably the nomenclature that appeared on the Mark I and Mark II watch dials was considered sufficient for most purposes

Eight-day movements

Before the 30-hour Mark V standard was formulated, the British aviation watch used a variety of Swiss 8-day movements.

Octava Watch Company (Swiss nickel-finished 8-day movement)

The Octava 8-day movement was used by various contractors to supply the Admiralty Mark I and Mark II, the (putative) Mark III, and the Mark IVA. An anomalous version of the Mark V (which otherwise is a 30-hour watch) also used the Octava 8-day movement.

For a while, Georges Favre Jacot et Cie of Le Locle (better known today as Zenith) supplied a Mark IVA watch with a movement of this design marked with its own BILLODES trademark. (Later examples were marked Octava in the standard manner).

All Octava movements have serial numbers stamped to the base plate near the balance wheel.

Unattributed (possibly supplied through Nicole, Nielsen & Co) (Swiss gilt-finished 8-day movement)

This unattributed 8-day movement was used by various contractors to supply the Mark IVA watch.

The movement carries serial numbers stamped clearly to a main movement plate.

Eterna Calibre 83 (Swiss gilt-finished 8-day movement)

This movement was supplied uniquely by H Williamson Ltd London for the Mark IVA watch (and possibly the Admiralty Mark II).

The movement, attributed to Eterna, is entirely different to the 7-jewel Astral movement that Williamson used for its General Service watches supplied to the British Army during WWI.

Serial numbers are stamped to the base plate near the balance wheel.

Douard Patent (Swiss gilt-finished 8-day movement)

This movement was used by S. Smith & Sons (M.A.) Ltd to supply Admiralty Mark II watches.

The main movement plate has +7032 stamped to its edge, denoting a Swiss patent granted in 1893 to Amédée Douard (pere) of Bienne, Switzerland.

The movements have serial numbers stamped to the dial face of the base plate, which is usually inaccessible.

The Admiralty Mark I

Elliott Brothers Admiralty Mark I watch (luminous), c 1914

All Admiralty Mark I watches seen to date were supplied by Elliott Brothers, London, and it seems likely that they were the only contracted supplier.

The Admiralty Mark I appeared in both a luminous (black dial) and a non-luminous (white dial) version.

The Admiralty Mark I uses the Swiss 8-day Octava movement. We can tell from movement serials that the Admiralty Mark I predates all other British issued aviation watches that used this movement (ignoring the putative Mark III).

Admiralty Mark I case backs were sterile, presumably because the nomenclature on the dials was considered sufficient.

Elliott Brothers, London

Elliott Brothers was a supplier of scientific & technical instruments with a famous reputation. They already held important contracts with the Admiralty and the War Office.

The Elliott instrument board

Flight magazine (September 14, 1912)

Elliott Brothers produced a very early full instrument board which Flight noted to be fitted to the BE2 at the first military aircraft trials in 1912. The journal advocated the use of the Elliott instrument board on all flying machines ‘in order that pilots may get accustomed to flying by the clock, so to speak, instead of by their own impressions of speed and attitude’.

The board was made of aluminium and comprised: an aneroid (scaled for both barometric and height readings), an Engine Revolution Indicator, an Air Speed Indicator, an Ascent-Descent Indicator (inclinometer), and, surmounting all, a clock.

Photographic evidence argues against the Elliott Admiralty watch being supplied with this board - the dimensions appear to be closer to those of an instrument with clock works - but the connection is interesting.

The Admiralty Mark II

The Admiralty Mark II watch was supplied by two firms: (1) Thos. Armstrong & Bro, Manchester (using the Swiss 8-day Octava movement); and (2) S. Smith & Sons (M.A.) Ltd (using the Swiss gilt Douad patent 8-day movement).

The Admiralty Mark II appeared in both a luminous (black dial) and non-luminous (white dial) version. S. Smith & Sons (M.A.) Ltd supplied both versions.

Thos. Armstrong & Bro supplied only the luminous version but the dial was rendered in two styles: (a) a gloss black version with gilt detailing and diamonds and pearls chapter markings; (b) a matt black dial with all details in white relief.

Admiralty Mark II case backs were sterile, except for the Thos. Armstrong & Bro type (b) dial, which feature a stamped, stylised ‘long arrow’ design.

The Mark III (putative)

With only two examples so far come to light, it seems too early to draw any firm conclusions one way or another about the Mark III watch.

The following nomenclature appears to the dial: Elliott Bros/London/Rolex 8 Days/Mark III/ W ↑ D

The movement seen in these watches (Octava (two adjustments) with serial numbers that precede the earliest known Admiralty Mark I), and the W ↑ D mark painted to the dial, are obscure details that encourage belief. However, the reference to Rolex appears to be gratuitous, at a time when Rolex was not a manufacturer and Elliott Brothers already appears named as a supplier.

The Mark IVA

R.A.F. (Royal Aircraft Factory) Specification No. 68 for the Mark IVA 8-day watch & holder for aeroplanes can be dated towards the end of 1914.

The firms that supplied the Mark IVA watch had the following letter codes assigned to them (a mixture of monographic and digraphic codes):

xxx/C: G Davenport & Co Ltd (White dial only)

xxx F: S Smith & Sons (M.A.) Ltd (Black dial only)

xxx R: Grimshaw, Baxter & J.J. Elliot Ltd (Black dial only)

xxx S: Nicole, Nielsen & Co (see below)

xxx W: George Favre Jacot & Cie, Le Locle (White dials then Black dials)

xxx Z: S Alexander & Son (Black dials: see also AJ)

xxx AB: Carley & Clemence Ltd (White dials then Black dials)

xxx AC: H Williamson Ltd (White dials then Black dials)

xxx AF: W. Ehrhardt, London (Black dial only)

xxx AG: Moise Dreyfuss (White dials then Black dials)

xxx AJ: S Alexander & Son (White dials: see also Z)

xxx AT: Etienne & Cie (White dial only)

Points to note:

• There is no system to these codes because they were assigned by the contracting authority on demand and they apply to any item or instrument supplied by a certain company under contract. The gaps occur because the system applies to all contracted equipment, not simply watches.

• Williamson used the unique Eterna 83 caliber to supply the Mark IVA; Davenport, Etienne, Ehrhardt and Smiths supplied watches using only the (unattributed) gilt 8-day movement; the rest supplied Mark IVA watches using Octava movements.

• The Williamson watch apart, the early supply of Mark IVA watches appears to have come from motor accessories suppliers before recognised 'watchmakers' were involved (although the term 'watchmaker' has to be used with caution, especially in discussions of English firms of this era). Similarly, the Admiralty watches were supplied by instrument makers and by S. Smith and Sons (Motor Accessories) Ltd rather than by watchmakers.

• although the S monograph is assigned to Nicole, Nielsen & Co, all surviving examples of Mark IVA watches marked by an S letter code are now attributed to S Smith & Sons (M.A.) Ltd. (Nicole, Nielson & Co are known to have supplied S Smith & Son with watch movements, as well as motor accessories such as speedometers). Surviving examples of the watch with the S letter code carry black dials only, although, if supplied by Nicole, Nielsen & Co originally, these watches might have had white dials to begin with. It is difficult to place these watches in a timeline because the movement (a Swiss gilt 8-day movement) is unique to the issue, although its design is very close to that of the unattributed gilt 8-day movement used by Davenport, Etienne, Ehrhardt and Smiths.

• The A.G. code was also used for Mark IVA watches that have an Air Board mark applied to the dial, indicating a separate issue from the War Office issue, and therefore dated to late-1917 and beyond. These watches are often misattributed to Moise Dreyfuss, although that issue is distinguished by use of the W.D. mark. The A.G. digraph was probably used to complement the B.G. mark used for Mark V watches that were also 8-day watches (although by that token they were anomalous as Mark V issue which otherwise used 30-hour movements).

• S Alexander & Son seems to have used the digraphic letter code AJ initially, to be superseded by the monographic Z code later in the war.

• the AT code used by Etienne & Cie is a bit of an anomaly because all dials appear to have been marked 'No 11A' from the factory. In surviving examples, this mark is struck out by an overpaint and a unique series number added suffixed with AT.

The Mark V

Although the specification for a Mark V watch has not surfaced, all are black dialled watches and most are non-luminous (marked as such to the dial). From archive records, we do know that Omega received its first orders for a Mark V watch in May 1917, and this implies that the specification was signed off by the Royal Aircraft Factory (R.A.F.). Whatever the case, the responsibility for issuing Specifications for aircraft and equipment for both the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Navy Air Service passed (temporarily) to the Air Board in the course of 1917 and the case back of the Mark V watch carried a mark (underlined A, surmounting a broad arrow) that is common to all equipment issued under Air Board specifications. (The first Air Board specification was G.1 issued for the Goggle-Mask, Flying, Mk I on 1 October 1917).

The Mark V supply also saw a change in contracting arrangements. Up until then, domestic suppliers were contracted to provide a watch within a segregated system. With the Mark V, contracts were made with Swiss manufacturers directly for watches that were supplied as complete items.

The series number system was continued in principle for the Mark V watch but the assigned supplier codes were now uniformly digraphic and the order of two component elements was reversed, ie the letter code now preceded the series number.

The full list of assigned letter codes for the Mark V watch comprises:

Omega (letter code: B.B.); Invicta (letter code: B.D.); Doxa (letter code: B.E.); Octava (letter code: B.G.); Record (letter code: B.H.); Electa (letter code: B.K.); Paul Garnier (letter code: B.L.); Zenith (letter code: C.B.); Moser (letter code: C.C.).

There were three phases of issue, distinguishable by the type of dial that was used:

(i) Type I dials (gilt script on glossy black dial), seen with letter codes B.B., B.D., B.E., B.K. (ii) Type II dials (white reversed script on matt black dial), seen with letter codes B.K., B.H., and possibly B.D. (iii) Type III dials (as per Type II but numerals now blocked rather than italic), seen with letter codes B.B., B.E., B.L., C.B., C.C.

British Watches, Pocket General Service

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For most of WWI, the standard British military issue was a 7 jewel pocket watch, supplied by established firms like H Williamson, H White, and W Ehrhardt. All but the Ehrhardt were cased by Dennison (Ehrhardt being an established case maker in its own right).

Once the USA came on board, 7 jewel Elgin pocket watches were supplied also, c 1917.

Watches issued to the Royal Artillery need to be considered separately because they were entirely different (eg some hacked).

A Corporal of the Border Regiment wounded in the Somme battles of July 1916 mentions his issued pocket watch in an IWM interview: I can remember an RAMC man looking at me and saying: 'He won't live long...' and he took my watch out of my breast pocket - my official watch, suspended on a leather strap. Royal Army Medical Corps? Royal Army Robbing Corps more like!. To be fair to the maligned, removal of valuable officially issued items may have been a standing order in those circumstances.

British Watches, Wristlet

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The starting point

Some trench watches bear the unmistakable signs of issue to the British Armed Forces: a broad arrow marking and/or an engraved alphanumeric sequence (an ‘issue number’). Genuine examples of these watches are rare, and reliable information about them scarce.

The starting point for most discussions of WWI British military-issued wristlets is ZMW [p 60]. This short but troublesome text states that:

• the British War Department obtained wristlets c 1917 for evaluation and issue (hence some collectors know these as 1917 evaluation watches);
• the watch dials used were black enamel with radium-filled numerals and hands;
• a number of different unsigned Swiss lever 15 jewel movements were employed;
• two designs of case were used: snapback and screw back;
• the snapback watches proved unsuitable in the field and were disposed of, whereas the screw back watches proved themselves and were retained.

Although I would challenge the first and last of these statements, a neat scheme is suggested whereby issued wristlets can be categorised according to whether their cases were of a snapback or screw back design, viz.

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

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