While going though some of my reference material I have found a photocopy from a book that I failed to record the details of the title or Author. I believe the book was titled something like 'USAAF flying equipment'. The following notes from the text of chapter 7 titled "Miscellaneous Equipment" pages 198 to 202 are given below. The last page also includes signal pistols and projectors.

If anyone could enlighten me as to the books title etc I would be most grateful.

Information

A-1 For use with ground drift indicator. Standardised for use 29 March 1930. Limited standard use 28 March 1936. Obsolete 31 January 1944.
A-2 Swiss Wittnauer Limited standard 8 January 1932. Master timepiece. One solar and 1 sidereal in a wooden case. Obsolete 22 November 1943.
A-3 Limited standard 8 January 1932. Wittnauer wristwatch with sweep second hand rotating inner dial used with a sextant for astronomical observations. Obsolete 22 November 1943.
A-4 Limited standard 12 October 1934. One Waltham solar and 1 sidereal mounted in a wooden case. Referred as a “avigation“ watch. Obsolete 14 March 1942.
A-5 George H Adamson product with a Waltham movement. Service testing began on 16 April 1934 but was placed in inactive service status on 19 July 1937 and reworked into the type A-9.
A-6 Master timepiece. Contained 2 standard white faced railway watch mounted in a vibration proof wooden case with an observation window. Similar to the A-4
Limited standard 1 May 1940 obsolete 26 November 1943.
A-7 Secondary timepiece or hack watch. Limited standard 1 May 1940. Obsolete 26 November 1943.
A-8 Never officially standardised. Stop watch for timing ground speed meters.
A-9 reworked A-5. Limited standard 1 May 1940. Obsolete 26 November 1943.
A-10 believed to be an experimental design in 1937 that was discontinued.
A-11 Standardised 1 May 1940. Built in large quantities by several manufactures.
A-12 Elgin designed hack watch. Limited standard 1 May 1940. Obsolete 26 November 1943.
A-13 Master similar to the A-9. Standardised 1 May 1940. Limited standard 20 October 1941. Obsolete 26 November 1943.
A-14 Designated but not assigned.
A-15 Service tested but obsolete 4 June 1945.
A-16 Substitute standard 24 March 1945, Similar to the A-11 but better temperature performance.
B-1 Pilots watch service testing began in 5 January 1945, obsolete 4 June 1945.

Craig. This is a real useful list! I also wish I knew the source name.

The closest thing I have is a 1943 vintage aircraft parts cross reference chart which lists some clocks.

Thanks for taking the time to type in the list of timepieces. We can't get enough original source material.

Best regards,
Greg

Thanks Craig! This is great information. Have you by any chance run across a date for the introduction of the A-17? Everything I have seen so far indicate it is post WW II but I've not yet found anything to say exactly when it was introduced. The list you have provided ends at the A-16 so this supports the thought that the A-17 is post war as well.

The name of the book in question is "Combat Flying Equipment: US Army Aviator's Personal Equipment, 1917-1945 by C.G. Sweeting"
Mr. Sweeting was the Curator of Flight Material at the National Air and Space Museum.

Thanks, John.

I wonder if there are any WWI watches/clocks noted in the book?

Greg, I will quote directly from the book:

A common complaint voiced by the flyer, concerning the equipment used during World War II, was that he felt like a Christmas tree when fully equipped, with items dangling everywhere. An examination of aviation-supply catalogs published from World War I through World War II discloses a substantial growth in the number of items of clothing and personal gear available to the airman, but also a significant increase in the sophistication of the equipment. The development of equipment and pocedures has traditionally been tied closely to advances in aircraft technology. Providing the most modern and efficient personal gearfor the aviator has always been a challenge, and this situation is unlikely to change in the forseeable future. Several major catagories of personal equipment have been discussed in previous chapters. The following is, by necessity, only a small selection of some of the more important types of miscellaneous flight material used by Army aviators.

WATCHES FOR AVIATORS

Military operations are keyed to correct, or at least standard time, and synchronized time is particulary important to the airman. Army pocket watches normally were of two types; Grade I (railroad grade), and Grade II; the grade being determined by the requirements for accuracy. Wrist watches were issued at least as early as 1912, and during World War I the Signal Corps procured wrist watches from the Hampden Watch Company, the Illinois Watch Company, and the Elgin Watch Company. A seven jewel movement was adopted as standard for issue to authorized enlisted personnel and a fifteen-jewel movement for sale to officers. All had a waterproof case bearing the serial number of the movement on the outside. The Army Air Service issued a time and stop watch (navigation timer), made in Switzerland. It was a fifteen-jewel pocket watch with a white dial face marked "Allion a Versailles, US Air Service, Importe de Suisse." The gun metal case was trimmed with gold plateand the hands were gilt. many fliers provided their own personal watches, rather than use the standard Army watches, which became a responsibility of the Ordanance Department during the 1920s. The installation of timepieces in aircraft, for general flight and navigation purposes, became more common during the early 1920s. These clocks, with various features, were usually of American manufacture. According to a report by the US Bureau of Standards in 1923, and sturdy, reliable make of clock could be used. The only clocks peculiar to Army aircraft at that time were reversing stop watches used in bombing. These were constructed that, when the stem was pressed for the second time, the pointer started moving back to zero instead of stopping as in a stopwatch of the usual type.
Accuracy was essential in the timepieces and stopwatches required for use in working complex navigation problems. By the early 1930s, watches procured by the Air Corps had become an item of issue for use in aerial navigation. The "hack watch" was a particular kind of wriswatch, used especially by navigators, so constructed that the movement was stopped when the winding knob was disengaged, allowing accurate setting. The hack watch could be "hacked," or stopped, and set to within a second, meaning that the second hand could be sychronized with the minute hand.

I will post the rest of the text from the book concerning watches in the next few days. The next part is a cronological order of issue watches starting with the Type A-1. Hope you glean some information from all of this. Best wishes,

Thanks John,

I ordered a copy of this book from Alibris.com

It's interesting that the U.S. Air Service Navigation Chronograph is mentioned, for they are rather hard to find. On the other hand, the Swiss made Signal Corps wristwatches like those made by Zenith, Moser, etc. are not mentioned at all. As for the American made wristwatches, I'm not sure that I have ever seen examples of any of them other than - maybe - some Elgins.

Best regards,
Greg

I have always wondered whether the Allion a Versailles chronographs were actually WW I in age since they are marked Air Service which did not come into being until the end of the war and then lasted until 1926. It is possible they might have been ordered and used in the waning days of the war, but my guess is they were more likely post-war given their Air Service marking and the fact that the movements would have to have come from Switzerland at that time. I wish I could find some facts to say one way or another. I also wish I could find which Swiss company actually made the movements. Allion a Versailles itself was not a Swiss company - they were a French company that bought movements from Switzerland and cased them to sell to the French military. They supplied aircraft clocks, pocket watches and chronographs. The pocket watches and chronographs seem to have been provided for use by the observation balloon units.

The U.S. Air Service got that name around May of 1918. Plenty of time to have some watch dials so marked. There is an example on page 21 of the Special Exhibit book from the Society of Military Horologists Chapter 143. The watch pictured is engraved to Cpt. Eddie Richenbacker, our most famous WWI Ace. Cpt. Richenbacker used a French Spad while in the U.S. Air Service.

The pocket chronographs marked "U.S. Air Service" and Allion A Versailles on the dial, were made by the Swiss firm, La Phare. The U.S. Service watches are exactly like those supplied to the French Aviation Ministry in WWI. Allion also sold the same chronograph as a commercial watch in a nickle case. It is my impression from my research to date, that these watches were issued to French pilots.

Prior to 1917, there were Americans serving in the French Air Force. These men transferred to the U.S. after we entered the war. These airmen would have been familure with the French Chronographs and I would suppose the U.S.Army ordered some more from the same firm who supplied the French Govt.

Best regards,
Greg

Hi Greg.

Many thanks for the information that the maker of movements for Allion a Versailles was La Phare. I didn't know this since these movements are unmarked.

On my question as to whether the Allion a Versailles watches with the Army's Air Service markings were war time or post war I'm still not convinced. The only authoritative bit I've seen in writing on any of these Allion a Versailles watches is in Whitney, page 85, where he shows a French Air Service Allion a Versailles watch in a leather case and says it was for a balloon pilot. If these were also for aircraft pilots or even dirigible pilots why would he have not said so?

Does the Rickenbacker watch you mention have any indication when it was presented to Eddie? Generally speaking the majority of WW I presentation items of various kinds that I've seen around seem to be post-war. Also, I would wonder whether there was much chance that the A.S.S.C. or Air Service would give up an important piece of government property that it would have badly needed during the war due to the shortages. I also wonder whether the French government would have permitted a French company - their main war time supplier of military timepieces - to divert watches to the Americans that the French Air Service would have sorely needed.

I do have an open mind, but so far I'm reserving my judgment one way or the other until I see some strong evidence/documentation.

Well reasoned questions and comments. I'll try to respond:

The clock in a leather hanging case pictured in Whitney is not a pocket chronograph, it is in fact a regular aircraft clock. It appears to have been removed from it’s anti-vibration dashboard mount and placed in the leather hanging mount in the picture. I suspect the leather hanging mount was actually intended for one of the large pocket watch shaped clocks which have French Air Ministry and Allion company markings. These goliath pocket watches otherwise have no obvious mounting brackets, and so a leather or pressed metal bracket is the most obvious alternative.

As for use of these clocks by balloonists; it sounds plausible. But remember, France used aircraft for spotting purposes at the beginning of the war in 1914, and it would make as much sense for a pilot to have a clock as it would a balloonist.

Why did Whitney not mention the issue of French aircraft clocks and watches? One guy can’t cover everything. There are few errors and omissions in Whitney. Most errors and omissions are found in the captions accompanying pictures of other people’s timepieces. In the main text of the work, Whitney does not mention these French timepieces at all. This is unfortunate, but considering the massive amount of data Whitney compiled, it’s understandable that he might have overlooked a few obscure items from WWI.

The Richenbacker watch: All it says in the catalog is as follows: “Pocket Chronograph, c.1910 Allion Versailles, France. Captain Eddie Richenbacker, an American air ace and winner of the congressional medal of honor, carried this watch during WWI." The back of the watch is engraved as follows: “ Captain E.V. Richenbacker 94th Squadron.” There is a picture of Richenbaker standing next to his French Spad fighter, and another picture of the front of the watch.

As a general collector of WWI militaria, I have found it common to see U.S. equipment with the name, rank and other information of the men to whom the items were issued. Named items have included M1911 .45 pistols, knifes, helmets, etc. etc. Thus, there is nothing unusual about a captain getting his name engraved upon Govt. property during the war. And it was not unusual for officers and men to take such items home with them after the war (even though they really were not supposed to ).

Would France have permitted Allion to sell watches to the Americans? I suspect they were delighted ! Instead of the U.S. Air Service going to the Swiss directly, (as the U.S. Signal Corps did) the American Air Service used a French middle-man who then made some money on the deal.

The sale of crital stuff to the Americans: It was not unusual for France to help out us Americans in 1917-1918. France supplied the U.S. with lots of critically needed equipment at that time. America used French machineguns, French cannons (the 75mm became the U.S.A. standard after WWI), French aircraft (like Richenbacker’s Spad), some American units used French helmets and French rifles. Don’t forget the U.S. was not actually ready at that time. What the French did not give us, the English did.

Frankly, Jim, there is a lot to learn about WWI French aviation timepieces. For this reason, we should petition our wealthy chapter to finance a fact-finding-mission to Paris and Versailles, France, so we can do some research.

Best regards,
Greg

Thanks Greg. If that is the exact inscription on the watch then I would think that it is likely a fake inscription to garner a much higher sales price by attributing an otherwise nice watch to a famous person by adding a forged inscription. Eddie's real last name was "Reichenbacher" but he changed it to Rickenbacker when the U.S. entered the war so that it would not sound and look so German. If the watch spells it Richenbacker with the "h" instead of the "k" then that is not correct for either way that he spelled it.

Also, Eddie was a Captain for only the last two months of the war and during the short time he was in the Air Service after the war ended. After leaving the Army he was of course forever referred to as "Captain". At the beginning of the war he was a sergeant in a motor pool driving a staff car, later in the war he became a lieutenant in charge of aircraft engine overhauls at an aircraft maintenance depot and then in early 1918 he became a pilot. The part about Eddie carrying this watch throughout the war makes no sense to my thinking since the first half of the war in which he was there he was not a pilot. This means that even if the engraving is authentic, it could only have been engraved either in the last few weeks of the war after he had become a captain or in the years post-war.

Even more unsettling to me is the auctioneer's description of the watch being circa 1910. This is well before the war and about 8 years before there was a U.S. Army "Air Service" to have put its name on the dial. I am still trying to find out when Allion a Versailles began supplying clocks and watches to the French "Aviation Militaire" as their air service was called, but 1910 seems way too early in my mind given the kind of aircraft they had at that point.

Also, one small point that by itself doesn't mean much but in light of my points above makes it take on a bit extra weight in my overall suspicion of this watch - the description that you mention that the auctioneer wrote for the watch says that Eddie was the winner of the "Congressional Medal of Honor." There is no such medal, the correct name is simply the "Medal of Honor." This may have been simple ignorance by the auctioneer but it makes me uneasy. If the watch had actually belonged to Eddie and was carried by him in the war I might have expected that the person selling it through the auction would have known the correct story behind the watch was and would have provided it to the auctioneer.

I'm keeping my mind open but so far I am still holding out for some kind of documentation or other airtight proof one way or the other about these Air Service Allion a Versailles watches. Hopefully some day a copy of a contract or a cache of Allion a Versailles company records or a period wartime photo of a pilot holding one of these in his hands will surface.

Jim

It looks like I'm guilty of numerous typos as well as permitting some confusion about the nature of the source I was quoting.

First: The Source of the quote and the pictures of Cpt. RicKenbacker's watch is not from an auction catalogue, but a special exhibit catalogue. The catalogue, or booklet, is from a special exhibit of Military Timepieces which was conducted at the NAWCC Museum. The exhibit ran through 2002. The exhibit catalogue, or booklet, was published by the Society of Military Horologists, Copyright 2001- my mistake for not making that more clear. (if you would like a copy, send me an email).

The Incorrect Spelling of Cpt. Eddie Rickenbacker's name: This was entirely my fault. (As many have noted, I'm not as careful of typos as I should be.) Page 21 actually does have the correct spelling of Cpt. Rickenbacker's name. The spelling of the engraved name pictured on the back of the watch is also correct.

Many of the items in the special exhibit booklet appear to have been the property of the late Commander William R. Bricker, past president Society of Military Horologists, Ch. 143 and FNAWCC.

Commander Bricker was a Naval Aviator for 20 years, starting in WWII. Collecting military timepieces was an interest Commander Bricker picked up from his father.

The description in the booklet does in fact state - "c. 1910" next to the watch. I don't know why they would provide such a clearly inaccurate date, unless it was to indicate it was a watch from the second decade of the 20th century? (Or maybe I'm not the only guy capable of a typo.)

The description states that Rickenbacker carried the watch during WWI, but does not say for how long he carried it. I think we would agree that if it was used during the last two months of the war, that would be good enough.

Calling the medal of honor the “congressional” medal of honor is rather common. Even WWII veterans can be heard using this term. I’m not sure how the "congressional" thing got started, but I first heard corrections being used in military collectors circles many years ago.

Again, sorry for the misunderstandings in my prior post, and thanks for your input.

Best regards,
Greg.

Hello Greg,
may it´s possible to show me a picture of this special "La Phare" watch including its movement, please? I´m curious if its name were written either "La Phare" or "Le Phare".
If it´s a "Le Phare", so I want to know what kind of movement it was. Also its serials.
Thanks in advance for any picture.
Best regards
Tony

Tony,

Welcome to the forum.

I intend to start a new thread regarding Allion military chronographs. The requested pictures will be posted along with it.

As for "Le Phare": The French and American Allion brand chronographs examined have had movements without maker's marks. I have seen a commercial chronograph with an identical movement with a "Le Phare" dial. Prior to observing this watch, I was informed by other collectors that Le Phare produced these watches. However, I'm always willing to be corrected if you find further information.

Please check back in a few days for images and further discussion. I look forward to learning more about these historic watches.

Best regards,
Greg

Hello Greg,
many thanks for this information!
These section of military watches is new to my experiences with my researches of the brand Le Phare and I´m very curious how this watch will look like. Hope to find more collectors of the brand Le Phare to share informations and pictures, equal if pocket or wrist watches.
Thanks again Greg.
Sending you my best regards
Tony