Anyone have a historical watch?

Thank you again for your interest!

No historical watches here, but I have always had a weak spot for amazing black & white portrait photography with a " clin d'oeil " to the wristwatches worn as each object has its own " material biography " telling its history & life story.
Not only about pilots or astronauts/cosmonauts, here're two great examples: Rolex & Cartier
(Photos: Robert Mapplethorpe & Yousuf Karsh)
.

1953 Magellanic Premium award
A few tribute photographs commemorating US Navy officer navigator Philip Van Horn Weems, who passed away 44 years ago.
(Photos: US Navy/NASM)
.

The portrait of Hemingway is stunning.

64 years ago Agatha Christie decided that Hercule Poirot needed to swap his pocket watch for a decent wrist watch, in short story "The Dream"
It was adapted for TV starring David Suchet as Poirot in the first season of Agatha Christie’s Poirot in 1989,
I always wondered which wrist watch that should have been ?

This is on it's way to America, it is a letter from Lt. General Minoru Genda. The father of Japanese aircraft carrier tactics. He was also Isoruku Yamamoto's tactical architect.




Further collecting artifacts. A collector of these aircraft id plates called "Data Plates" sold off several of these.
They are in my limited experience with them very difficult to come by. PacificWrecks.com has the largest database I am aware of for these data plates of WW2 aircraft.


The center Identification plate is from a Yokosuka developed D4Y1 Dive Bomber. This plane is rare. Only one complete plane exists. This was one of the fastest planes ever developed by the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was faster than the legendary Zero, but flawed design so the D4Y1 was more of an ultra fast reconnaissance plane than the later multi-role D4Y3 version that was a true dive bomber and fighter plane. The other two id plates come from A6M2 Zeros.

Still so far, no solid information suggests that the Longines Weems was a fighter pilot watch.
I still think it was at least a bomber crew watch for a G3M or G4M.

Here is how to tell if an ID Plate came from a Zero.
Of course if it is the main plate like this one, it will contain the Model Number A6M like the below A6M5.
Other plates do not have the model number but will say the major component is for a Reisen using the Rei kanji.

Nothing new in a long while. Just been looking for genuine remnants of IJN fighter planes.
I've already posted a similar picture in another thread, this is with a new frame that I like.
Any one of these aircrafts could have had a pilot with a Longines Weems IJN issued watch.
I haven't found any reconnaissance long range bomber data plate, my luck on finding these
seems to have run out at the moment.

Serial Number and Aircraft Type Identification Plates (Data Plates)
Top Left: D4Y1 Suisei (Comet)
Top Right: Nakajima built Zero Fighter A6M2 Type 21 Carrier Based
Bottom Left: Prototype "Type 2 High Speed Naval Carrier Based Reconnaissance" (Reconn Derivative of D4Y1 Comet)
Bottom Middle: Prototype J2M3 Raiden Kai (Thunder, next version)
Bottom Right: Zero Fighter Likely a A6M2 (Pilot Seat Tag with Aircraft Serial Number)

I haven't had anything to write about in a long time. Recently, I did come a cross a wreck of a watch and most likely over paid due to taxes and exorbitant shipping rates that I didn't think about at the time I made a reasonable offer for it.

It's not a Longines, but it is in my opinion qualified to be a historic watch. This Glycine looks like any other Glycine of it's era, but it has a bit of a surprise. The soldier that owned the watch was in the famous 21st Panzer Division. I don't know yet what the person looks like.



The watch I am waiting for to arrive on this shore is for a Wehrmacht (not Waffen-SS) Panzer division tank possibly driver.

This story begins from all places unexpected, Indiana at Atterbury in the United States in 1943. It was the internment camp used to hold the captured Italian Africa Corp and also the German Afrika Korps Panzer division soldiers.


I don't know how much truth there is to the stories that the soldiers were treated so well that it was a holiday compared to being out at Tobruk.
Anything beats being flash roasted in a "Dutch Oven", especially since by this time in the war, there were only 21 targets left.



For some of the people that are not familiar with the 21st Panzer Division, it is one of THE MOST famous tank divisions.



I guess more about this later. It will take time to absorb the details of what happened and why the watch is interesting even though it is in terrible condition.

Yes, I was surprised to see that also in Indiana, there were many Italian and German captives that worked on farms. I don't know how nice the conditions were, but it seemed to have been pretty normal there. And again, it sure beats being target practice for the RAF.
I haven't looked over all the documents from Atterbury yet, I didn't notice any Waffen-SS so maybe there were not there. Not too many people know the Waffen-SS also comprised many Finnish soldiers so it wasn't all Germans.

The following is the prisoner of war list for Camp Atterbury. The person the watch was issued to was Obergefreiter Alfred Berg of the

21st Panzer Division Wehrmacht

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21st_Panzer_Division_(Wehrmacht)




1941–1942
The Italian army group in North Africa was routed by the British Commonwealth Western Desert Force in Operation Compass 9 December 1940 – 9 February 1941 under General Wavell. The German Armed Forces High Command (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht) decided to send a "blocking force" to Libya to support the Italian army, commanded by the future Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. The German blocking force at first was based only on Panzer Regiment 5, which was put together from the second regiment of the 3rd Panzer Division. These elements were organized into the 5th Light Division when they arrived in Africa from 10 February – 12 March 1941. On 2 March 1941, the first 8.8 cm "88" dual purpose anti-aircraft/anti-tank guns arrived and provided much needed firepower. In late April and into May, the 5th Light Division was joined by elements of 15th Panzer Division forming the Afrika Corps. In late summer the 90th Light Infantry Division was formed and joined the Africa Corps. On 15 August 1941, the 5th Light Division was redesignated 21st Panzer Division.

Although the DAK commander, Erwin Rommel, was under strict orders to remain on the defensive, he ordered an attack on 31 March 1941 by the 5th Light and 4th Italian divisions, which was a big success, as the British began a retreat that would, by April, see German forces pushing into Egypt after an advance of some 600 miles (970 km).[1]

After being renamed the 21st Panzer Division, the unit did not enjoy any particular success throughout the remainder of the year. The British regrouped and were reinforced, and formed the British Eighth Army made up of XIII Corps and XXX Corps. Eighth Army launched Operation Crusader on 18 November 1941, which forced Rommel to retreat to El Agheila by the end of the year, allowing the British to re-occupy Cyrenaica and lift the siege of Tobruk. The 21st Panzer, along with 15th Panzer Division, did score a notable victory over XXX Corps (and in particular the 7th Armoured Division) on 22 November at Sidi Rezegh and broke through to the Egyptian border, posing a threat to the Eighth Army. Over-stretched supply lines and the urgent need to assist the Axis forces around Tobruk, which were being hard-pressed by XIII Corps, obliged them to withdraw. On returning to Sidi Rezegh, the division lost Major-General Johann von Ravenstein, who was captured while on reconnaissance during 29 November.

1943
By the time it reached Tunis, 21st Panzer had ceased to exist as a cohesive unit and was split up into Battle Groups (Kampfgruppen) Pfeiffer and Gruen. They were subsequently renamed Battle Groups Stenkhoff and Schuette, which took part in the Battle of Kasserine Pass. Major General Von Hulsen surrendered the remnants of the division on 13 May 1943.

You can see the markings on the watch band here.

Alfred Berg
8WG53184

This Speedmaster ref. 145.022-69 ST has a sporty provenance as it was once the personal watch of a Malaysian Badminton player and Asia's champion in 1971: Nara Sudjana.
It was gifted to him at the 1970 edition of the Thomas Cup, the most important badminton event, when Indonesia won the final against Malaysia
Sadly couldn't find much information about the gentleman online, but his watch is certainly super cool, especially as it comes with its flatlink 1039 bracelet..

Just to make sure there is no confusion for others jumping into this topic in the middle, Alfred Berg was not Waffen-SS or Schutzstaffel. He was Wehrmacht Panzer DAK, which was not about ethnic cleaning, just tank fighting. Rommel did not lead a campaign against Jews in North African Deserts, he was after more interesting opponents like the 8th Army. Do not confuse DAK with SS, Concentration Camp SS-TV, or armored Waffen-SS that would be incorrect. Not all German soldiers or divisions were Schutzstaffel.

Of course, if you were French or other invaded nationality that were invaded by Rommel, you are not happy about seeing a DAK watch. That is understandable.

Now that is an interesting situation, a former USA spy with an employee that was proud of his association with Rommel. I can imagine there were arguments daily about which army general would have won if both armies had the equal resources.

More about Rommel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erwin_Rommel

In World War II, he commanded the 7th Panzer Division during the 1940 invasion of France. His leadership of German and Italian forces in the North African campaign established his reputation as one of the ablest tank commanders of the war, and earned him the nickname der Wüstenfuchs, "the Desert Fox". Among his British adversaries he had a reputation for chivalry, and his phrase "war without hate" has been uncritically used to describe the North African campaign.[2] A number of historians have since rejected the phrase as a myth and uncovered numerous examples of German war crimes and abuses towards both enemy soldiers and native populations in Africa during the conflict.[3] Other historians note that there is no clear evidence Rommel was involved or aware of these crimes,[4] with some pointing out that the war in the desert, as fought by Rommel and his opponents, still came as close to a clean fight as there was in World War II.[5] He later commanded the German forces opposing the Allied cross-channel invasion of Normandy in June 1944.


With the Nazis gaining power in Germany, Rommel gradually came to accept the new regime. Historians have given different accounts of the specific period and his motivations.[6] He was a supporter of Adolf Hitler, at least until near the end of the war, if not necessarily sympathetic to the party and the paramilitary forces associated with it.[7] In 1944, Rommel was implicated in the 20 July plot to assassinate Hitler. Because of Rommel's status as a national hero, Hitler wanted to eliminate him quietly instead of having him immediately executed, as many other plotters were. Rommel was given a choice between committing suicide, in return for assurances that his reputation would remain intact and that his family would not be persecuted following his death, or facing a trial that would result in his disgrace and execution; he chose the former and committed suicide using a cyanide pill.[8] Rommel was given a state funeral, and it was announced that he had succumbed to his injuries from the strafing of his staff car in Normandy.


I found this is interesting that Rommel is still considered today a national hero in Germany. This is on a German Nato Base and it is honoring the 21st Panzer division with it's new namesake 21st Panzer Brigade.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_Marshal_Rommel_Barracks,_Augustdorf

The Field Marshal Rommel Barracks, Augustdorf (German: Generalfeldmarschall-Rommel-Kaserne, often abbreviated to GFM-Rommel-Kaserne) is a German Army military base located in Augustdorf in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and the largest base of the German Army. The brigade staff and most of the units of the 21st Panzer Brigade are located there. Around 4,300 soldiers serve there.

The base is located on the southern edge of the Teutoburg Forest, and directly adjacent to the Sennelager Training Area where German soldiers train together with British soldiers and other NATO partners.

Named in honour of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, the street address of the base is Gfm.-Rommel-Straße 1 (1 Field Marshal Rommel Street). The base shares its name with the Rommel Barracks, Dornstadt; a similarly named base, the Field Marshal Rommel Barracks, Osterode, closed down in 2004.


Rommel's possible view of antisemitism:

During his visit to Switzerland in 1938, Rommel reported that Swiss soldiers who he met showed "remarkable understanding of our Jewish problem".[51] Butler comments that he did share the view (popular in Germany and many European countries during that time) that as a people, the Jews were loyal to themselves rather than the nations which they lived in. Despite this fact, other pieces of evidence show that he considered the Nazi racial ideologies rubbish.[52] Searle comments that Rommel knew the official stand of the regime, but in this case, the phrase was ambiguous and there is no evidence after or before this event that he ever sympathised with the antisemitism of the Nazi movement.[53] Rommel's son Manfred Rommel stated in documentary The Real Rommel, published in 2001 by Channel 4 that his father would "look the other way" when faced with anti-Jewish violence on the streets. According to the documentary, Rommel also requested proof of "Aryan descent" from the Italian boyfriend of his illegitimate daughter Gertrud.[54][55] According to Remy, during the time Rommel was posted in Goslar, he repeatedly clashed with the SA whose members terrorised the Jews and dissident Goslar citizens. After the Röhm Purge, he mistakenly believed that the worst was over, although restrictions on Jewish businesses were still being imposed and agitation against their community continued. According to Remy, Manfred Rommel recounts that his father knew about and privately disagreed with the government's antisemitism, but by this time, he had not actively campaigned on behalf of the Jews.[56] However, Uri Avnery notes that even when he was a low-ranking officer, he protected the Jews who lived in his district.[57] Manfred Rommel tells the Stuttgarter Nachrichten that their family lived in isolated military lands but knew about the discrimination against the Jews which was occurring on the outside. They could not foresee the enormity of the impending atrocities, about which they only knew much later.[58]