And here is a clock that allegedly came out of a German halftrack...
It works which is nice and it is running as I write this post. Some enterprising soldier during the war or post war fitted it into scrap brass from a 105mm artillery shell casing. I was told by the son of the veteran I bought it from that it came from a German halftrack. I always wondered if that were true or not. The only markings that I see on the outside surfaces is the number '939'. The dial appears to be painted metal and is about 3 inches in diameter. So perhaps someone here can answer the question whether it came from a military vehicle. thanks! Kim
It does not look very military to me especially with its lack of German military markings, but I do not know. My suggestion would be to get in touch with Konrad Knirim or buy his reference books on German timepieces which are exceptionally well done.
Posts: 874 | Location: Baltimore, Maryland USA | Registered: September 20, 2004
I quite agree with Jim, it´s definately not German military, they had all their equipement marked with an WaA = Wehrmachtsabnahme Amt engraving or stamp, or BAL = Bauaufsichts-Leitung des RLM, or...look here, I´ve included a google translaton... http://translate.google.com/tr..._waa_stempelung.html
My WWW collection is now complete, time to look for new ventures!
Posts: 699 | Location: Hannover in Germany | Registered: July 23, 2009
It looks like an old commercial automobile clock. It might be old enough to be WWII vintage but it does not look like an item of military issue. The movement might have a maker's name and other data to help narrow down when it was made.
Posts: 2015 | Location: East Lansing, Michigan USA | Registered: November 24, 2002
Thank you gentlemen. I appreciate all your responses. I ended up spending an excessive amount of time on the internet this past weekend trying to find a similar/same clock attached to the dash in anything. Although I did not find any clear photographs of the dashes, I have sorta, kinda circumstantially concluded that this type clock would have been assembled into the dash of cars or trucks and that many of these cars and trucks ended up going to the German military. Not sure about halftracks as there are not many surviving WWII german halftracks that survived the war! One site I did visit had a case similar to mine with the numbers '639' stamped on the back and he claimed it stood for the date 'June 1939'. Interestingly, that clock came with 'bringback' papers identifying the soldier and the item. I made a weak attempt to disassemble the clock this weekend to see what marks could be found on the inside but stopped fairly quickly as it wasn't clear to me how to proceed and I didn't want to break it either. There is a small museum in North Central Indiana not far from me that is supposed to have a German halftrack. Maybe they will let me 'behind the curtain' or I should say rope and take a peek inside and look at the dash! I really do appreciate your responses and will post back here if I find out something interesting. Kim
It may not even be German. It could be, but from what I can see it could also be just about any other kind of automobile clock from any other country. It looks like the kind that were bought as aftermarket add on clocks in cars of the 1920s to 1940s.
Anyway, let us know what you find out about the halftrack in that museum near where you live. Anything is possible, though the German army was quite fastidious about marking their equipment and I don't see any such markings on this clock. Also, it does not appear to be of the sturdiness that German military clocks from its military vehicles would typically be fitted with.
Posts: 874 | Location: Baltimore, Maryland USA | Registered: September 20, 2004
