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WW2 RAF CLOCK "Click" to Login or Register 
Picture of Ged Pitchford
posted
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
 
Posts: 909 | Location: Winterton-on-Sea Norfolk, England | Registered: February 17, 2003
Picture of Ged Pitchford
posted
Movement with pendulum removed to see markings on back-plate.

 
Posts: 909 | Location: Winterton-on-Sea Norfolk, England | Registered: February 17, 2003
Life Achievement
Military Expert
Picture of Greg Crockett
posted
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
 
Posts: 1960 | Location: East Lansing, Michigan USA | Registered: November 24, 2002
<William Schorr>
posted
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
 
IHC President
Life Member
Picture of Lindell V. Riddle
posted

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


We're all looking forward to your participation.

Lindell

Wink
 
Posts: 10553 | Location: Northeastern Ohio in the USA | Registered: November 19, 2002
<William Schorr>
posted
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
 
Life Achievement
Military Expert
Picture of Greg Crockett
posted
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
 
Posts: 1960 | Location: East Lansing, Michigan USA | Registered: November 24, 2002
Picture of Ben Roberts
posted
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
 
Posts: 34 | Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | Registered: October 04, 2003
Administrative Assistant
Picture of Dr. Debbie Irvine
posted

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
 
Posts: 5206 | Location: Northern Ohio in the U.S.A. | Registered: December 04, 2002
Picture of Ben Roberts
posted
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.
 
Posts: 34 | Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | Registered: October 04, 2003
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