WW2 Sniper CES

[speckles]

Mine shows 1050/82... so I assume watch number 1,050 from 1982

I have to agree a watch of sorts was most probably used by the NO2 as indicated, but certainly it was only in the very early 70's from my recollection, and I hope Peter picks up on this, that watches, strapped for the use of, were finally issued to snipers and included in the CES. They became a starred item and issued to all NCO's and Officers.

Speckles,
The CWC watch you show is a fairly recent addition, and issued with MWC, SEIKO and others. What is the date on the back please which will indicate its manufacture date?

[Gil Boyd]

Speckles,
Yes absolutely right the 1050th watch of 1982 in larger text at the bottom of the rear plate, with the NSN NATO STOCK Number beside it including a 99 indicating it was made for NATO countries to avail themselves of it if they so wish.

[bigduke6]

For anyone into watches, then look out for one of these WW2 "dirty Dozen" below in the article......... I missed out on an Omega sometime back.

In-Depth: The An Incredible Collection Of 12 (Mostly) Inexpensive Military Watches - HODINKEE

[Peter Laidler]

Just a few what I consider to be '....erronious' comments in this thread. We used to overhaul and repair all of the mechanical wrist watches you see here (see Big Duk's post). The WWW stands for Watches, Wristlet, Waterproof and the W10 is the VAOS category and VB the stores codification. The Omega was followed by 10033 while the Vertex was 10018. I worked on all of the watches listed in the superb post by Big Duke. These are what we called the 'primary makers' Without doubt, the nicest the 30T2 W10VB 10033 Omega followed by the Longines. Equal to the Longines was the Jaeger le Coutre. I never saw an IWC or a Grana and very few Buren. We had a saying in the Instrument circles. If you are just rich, buy a Rolex. If you are rich and have style, buy an Omega. If you are rich, have style and want everlasting reliability, buy a Longines! I gave my son a G-10 Longines when he was old enough to appreciate it - but kept a pair of consecutively serially numbered Omegas for myself of course!

I'm surprised that the author of Big Dukes article says that mixing up parts was common...... Not in my experience. None of the backs were ever interchangeable (certainly without model engineering and tool room skills at a guess) and the designation and serial number were on the backs. And all of the serial numbers commenced with a different letter. Omega with a Y and Vertex with an A and so on. All the movements were mated to a case so you'd struggle to fit an Omega movement or hands onto/into a Jaeger case to work a fiddle!!!!! And any case, a mechanical wristwatch was deemed to be V&A for Valuable and attractive and to loose one was almost a hanging offence. Unless it was active service with ........ anyway!!!!! The first of the post war replacements that we saw when back in England in the early 70's was the Smiths Industries from Witney wristwatches, made in Wales. Quite nice but still expensive. a few mechanical CWC's (not good!) and then the quarts fat-boy CWC's, slimline CWC's, both with battery bay access and later the one-way-trip Pulsars. They didn't even have battery access. So as soon as the battery died so did the watch! You only had to look inside to see the movement. Then look into a lovely Eterna (another good one) or Omega - and cry!

As for the supplementary issues. Chosenman is 99% sort-of correct. The supplementary kit was not part of the CES - as in the chest. It meant that the actual issue of the CES to the unit would automatically trigger an update in the QM's scales giving him the authority to demand the supplementary issues according to the new issue scale - if that makes sense. So if the Battalion had, say, another 4 snipers allocated for doctrinal or tactical reasons or deployment, then when the QM got the rifles, he could also get the extra compasses, binos, wrist watches etc etc

[browningautorifle]

to lose one was almost a hanging offence.

Even losing one of our cheap ones caused waves that could drown you...that never changed because they were "Attractive items" and kept secured.

[Gil Boyd]

Starred items and a long time in jail if lost!!

[Peter Laidler]

Later, you could buy genuine Army CWC wristwatches in the shops and on ebay. New for £60 I seem to recall. There was no real repair policy so thousands were sold off by the government as sales. However, soon, the crunchies learned that if you got issued with one and 'lost' it, you'd be charged the VAOS 'charge-for' price - which was £25 - the bulk, buy-in cost price! So they'd loose one, buy it and be done with it.

The BIGGEST killer of the old mechanical wrist watches, without any shadow of doubt was the ending of the wartime and post war leather straps (that were crap really. These were replaced in the early to mid 60's by a sand coloured nylon strap. Alas, these nylon straps didn't have the secondary 'double restraint strap' built in as the later grey straps do. As a result, as soon as you took he watch off, it';d slide down the strap, onto the floor. That resulted in one or two things happening to it. Or BOTH. The balance staff would break (that fault was always 10033/3) or the winding head shearing off the stem (a 10033/12 fault).

Don't ask me how I remember these things............

[browningautorifle]

So they'd lose one, buy it and be done with it.

I suppose but there were certainly better watches available at Canex...almost any sports watch. Here's the one I have from somewhere in time. Probably at the end from the reserves...I don't recall. You see the manufacture date. I included the strap so you can see they're the same. This one is wind-up of course.

[Gil Boyd]

Blimey Jim, you are pulling out the rare watches now...................You lot haven't seen old watches, here's the first "Cromwells Watch Company" CWC watch, now thats what I call old, alright I know there's no NSN on it!!!!

[Peter Laidler]

One of our strict specs was that the strap bars were fixed to prevent them pulling out. A lot of people bent the crap out of them to fit special all singing and dancing straps - only to find that the commercial springy strap bars didn't fit! If it ain't broke, don't fix it I say.

Of army wristwatches. The owner of my little local garage asked me if I wanted a slimline CWC many years ago, for £20 or 25! He'd taken it in lieu of payment for some petrol from a local passing crunchie. So I paid and took it. I enquired with the Tech QM as to whether it could be traced through the serial number and Ordnance system. He just laughed