Internet Horology Club 185
WW2 RAF CLOCK

This topic can be found at:
https://ihc185.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/990103944/m/893107284

August 31, 2004, 10:28
Ged Pitchford
WW2 RAF CLOCK
Large chain Fusee movement dated 1939. Stained solid dark Oak case. RAF in Oak Leaf badge engraved on silvered face.With Crown over.

RAF CLOCK

August 31, 2004, 10:32
Ged Pitchford
Movement with pendulum removed to see markings on back-plate.


August 31, 2004, 11:26
Greg Crockett
Wow, those clocks are hard to find on this side of "the pond". I see the movement is marked A.M. for “Air Ministry”. Thanks for the post!

Best regards,
Greg
September 01, 2004, 19:27
<William Schorr>
Terrific clock !! A friend here in Gallup N.M. owns one - i'll do my best to take a few pix tomorrow morning and post them.

Congrats on such a wonderful find ...

Best Regards from N.M.

billy
September 01, 2004, 19:49
Lindell V. Riddle

WELCOME TO CHAPTER 185 BILL SCHORR, GLAD TO HAVE YOU WITH US!


We're all looking forward to your participation.

Lindell

Wink

September 02, 2004, 12:49
<William Schorr>
Hi all,

here is the example of an RAF mantelpiece clock i mentioned yesterday - a good friend owns this one = origianlly his father's, who was a WWII Bomber pilot and a watch / clock collector.







i would have taken more photos, including a few movement shots, but my camera's battery died Frown I will try to get a few more shots early next week and post them here !

Best Regards from N.M.

billy
September 02, 2004, 18:24
Greg Crockett
These clocks are clearly of superior quality and accuracy. They also must have been expensive. Does anyone know how they were deployed/used by the R.A.F.?

Best regards,
Greg
September 04, 2004, 12:41
Ben Roberts
Hi Greg
Hold on to your hat - this is a long one, but I have a lot to say on one of my favourite subjects.
The RAF Clocks Ged and William show are getting a little rare now, although I have seen one or two come up on the UK eBay over the past year. These clocks were purely functional - that is they served no operational purpose. They could be seen on the mantel in the Officer's or the Sgt's Mess, or perhaps in the CO's office. They were English clocks, always of good quality, and were found mainly on permanent RAF Sations built pre-war. Those sort of frills were not usually provided at RAF stations built to meet wartime needs.
On the subject of RAF Timepieces generally, they basically fall into four major categories. Firstly there were the purely 'household' clocks such as those currently under discussion. Then there were the Operational Control clocks with special coloured dials which were used in Sector and Filter rooms involved in the plotting of aircraft such as during the Battle of Britain. Then there were the actual watches issued to individual aircrew such as Navigators and/or Pilots, and finally timepieces provided on the actual instrument panel of the aircraft, usually called aircraft clocks. However in the RAF, unlike most of the US aircraft, the majority of aircraft came with no aircraft clock, or were supplied with just a Watch Holder, and a "Specially issued for that purpose" watch was inserted into the holder.
Over the past couple of years, I have researched and put together a collection of all RAF Aircraft Timepieces, dating from WWI to the end of WWII. The complete collection consists of three watches and 12 clocks, only one of which I have so far been unable to find. This is the RAF Mark 1 clock. It is quite rare as only a few were made, so until I find one to mortgage my house for, I have only a picture and description of it in my collection. This is a real peeve to me as this particular clock was provided for use in flying boats, and I hapen to have passed my time as a Flight Engineer in the RAF on Sunderland Flying Boats during the latter years of WWII.
Finally, if anyone is interested in seeing the collection, I can post a couple of pictures of it, and can provide answers to some questions.
I hope this is of some interest.
Ben Roberts
Chapter 111 (and 185)
Ottawa, Canada
September 04, 2004, 14:03
Dr. Debbie Irvine

Ben,

Thanks so much, your insights and explanations are always greatly appreciated. We'd all love to see your collection, please start a new topic and show it off.

Dr. Debbie

Smile

September 08, 2004, 17:13
Ben Roberts
Hi Ged
I ran on so much in my posting that I forgot to mention one source of information you may like to look at in regard to your RAF clock That is if you have not already seen it.
It is a UK site at:
http://www.aeroclocks.com/history.htm
A very good and interesting site on this subject. It pictures and gives details of RAF mantel clocks similar to yours and Williams.