What was the 6B/321 strap?

Most probably the unstamped strap commonly seen on unmarked compasses that were issued to SOE/Commando/Parachute troops towards the end of WW2.     The strap is single thickness pull through webbing with a shouldered stainless steel buckle and loops.  The design of the buckle is very similar to the shouldered brass buckle used on AF0210 straps from 1945, and early versions of the strap used brass hardware.

The AF0210 strap (unstamped), is also found on this compass.

The Vocabulary of Royal Air Force Equipment, Air Publication 1086, Section 6B lists the Mark 7 watch, with a leather strap, and a fabric strap as accessories.  Is this the fabric strap?   Here are extracts from the 16 July 1963 version of the Vocabulary.

The Mark 7 6B/159 watch was re-cased in 1956 and was still in service for a long period of time.

The Aircraft Navigation Instruments and Equipment items were numbered sequentially as items were added to the Vocabulary, and below is a table indicating the approximate dates of the numbering of various items of equipment.   Full versions of the Vocabulary are currently difficult to find.

The 6B/321 fabric strap uses our AF0210 buckles until stainless steel buckles become available.

Two original 6B/321 straps with brass hardware, and fabric widths of 15mm and 16mm are shown below and the length is about 250mm for the un-shortened strap, with the cut end dipped in dope to prevent fraying.    

The VB Hygienique strap

 

The “fatter” VBH type strap

The wider or fatter VBH type strap discussed above, seen stamped 6032, has been remanufactured by us as a prototype.

This is seen below.   We are working on this and may one day commence production, but we will try and preserve the rustic feel of the strap.

Where does the VB Hygienique strap sit in the NATO strap timeline

TORNEK-RAYVILLE, TR-900 MILSPEC WATCH STRAP

(SPEC : MIL-W-22176A, MILITARY SPECIFICATION: WATCH, WRIST, SUBMERSIBLE (400-FOOT), NON-MAGNETIC)

MIL – W – 22176 A (SHIPS) of 24 March 1961 replaced MIL – W – 22176 (SHIPS) of 1 September 1959, and was for an amagnetic 400 foot deep capacity diver’s watch.  The US Navy specification for submersible watches was strict and only one manufacturer could meet the requirements

Allen Tornek, who was then importing pieces from the Rayville Watch Company who were already manufacturing a diver’s watch, the Blancpain ‘Fifty Fathoms’, bid for the contract, and produced the Tournek-Rayville 900.

Only 1000 watches were produced after a purchase order dated 1964, and many have been destroyed as radioactive waste, so maybe only less than 50 currently survive.      About 10 sterile dial watches, relumed with tritium rather than promethium-147 exist within this number.

The MIL – W – 22176 A (SHIPS) specification required :

3.9 Strap – Each watch supplied under this specification shall be equipped with a one-piece nylon strap conforming to the specification MIL-S-21382, and which has met the magnetic test requirement of that specification.

Above is part of the Tornek-Rayville instruction manual, showing the 11 ribbed nylon strap.

The watches are commonly referred to as “Tornek-Rayville”, “TR-900” or sometimes just as “Tornek”, as these are the markings seen on the dial and on the movement. The initial order delivered to the US Navy was for 780 pieces in 1964 and another in 1965 for 300 pieces giving a total of just over a thousand for this model.

The as-issued 11 ribbed RAF style watch strap is shown below.

The buckle was brass, and the webbing keeper the same width as the strap.

The wear of the strap can be seen on the two part screw down case back.

MIL-S-21382(SHIPS) is for STRAP, WRIST INSTRUMENT, WOVEN NYLON and was issued on 21 August 1958.

The specification requirements were for an 11 inch, light grey herringbone weave nylon strap, with an 1/2 inch wide keeper of the same material fused to the watch strap.  Also, “the buckle shall have a dull nonreflecting finish and be free from burrs.”

In 1963, before the first watches were supplied, MIL-S-21382(SHIPS), was replaced by MIL-S-46383, STRAP, WRIST: INSTRUMENT of 20 July 1963. The strap became the Type I – Strap, Special Purpose: Non-Magnetic Buckle of the 46383 series of specification issues.

The strap colour grey changed to black with the specification change, and the webbing keeper to the same width as the strap (see Note 5).    The strap width was 3/4″+/- 1/16″ or in the range 18.2mm to 19.8mm.   The thickness specified was .042″ +/- .005″ or 1.1mm.   The buckle was specified to be made of brass which complied with the magnetic effect limits specified in MIL-N-19595.

Above is the Type I special purpose strap drawing from MIL-S-46383.  The dimensions are as for the MIL-S-21382 specification strap, and the length allows the watch to be worn over a diving suit.

One such strap sold on a TR-900 on December 12 2020 in the Philips auction in NewYork,  at a record price. 

We have remanufactured these 11 rib straps in the RAF style (MIL-S-46383), and now have these for sale.

The U.S. Armed Forces put in a total order for 1,080 Tornek-Rayville watches.⠀The watch used⠀beryllium parts in the movement and featured Promethium 147 lume.⠀This compound was incredibly luminescent, but also known to emit a high level of X-rays.
⠀
To counter this,⠀later,⠀the painted logo as well as the hazardous Promethium 147 was stripped from the dial, and tritium lume was applied instead.

⠀
There are 5 known sterile dial TR900 watches.

The TR900 was eventually issued partly as a result of the failure of earlier Bulova prototypes during watertightness testing in 1958.

During these tests changes to the strap were recommended.

Recently a Bulova MIL-SHIPS-W-2181 reissue has been made in tribute to the 1958 watch, seen here on our TR900 strap 16mm wide prototype.      This is now available in black plated brass, and stainless steel.

The strap has a 16mm brass buckle plated matt black, or stainless steel as an alternative.

Here is the 20mm wide TR900 strap on a TR660 watch.  

The strap has either the brass buckle above or a matt black plated brass buckle.  Buckles available are brass, black plated brass, and stainless steel.

The 18mm (or 20mm) wide 6B/2617 NATO strap

Photo Credit : John Rivera

Review of our 6B/2617 16mm strap

INTRODUCTION

In earlier posts the predecessors of the NATO watch strap were reviewed.

Some military watch specifications were in the process of revision after some years of experience in the field, and the the need for more advanced watches was revealed.

The W.W.W. watch for the British army was a revision to the ATP watch, released at the end of WWII, and surplus watches were de-stocked back into the civilian market. Advanced navigation and dive watches were being planned and were specified after the end of the war.

Also, after the end of WWII, political considerations led to the NATO military alliance, and all issued military equipment of members and associates of NATO, including watches, and straps, had an identifying NATO stock number (NSN).

One such NATO watch strap, more than the others, has had its NATO NSN shortened by common usage to just NATO.

THE NATO STOCK NUMBER

WWII revealed the need to coordinate the supply of military equipment, particularly when joint forces were in the field together.

The Vocabulary of Army Ordnance Stores (VAOS) was the British Army system of cataloguing parts.  The Director of Stores maintained notes on all the in-service equipment and kept track of changes in patterns of equipment and stores. This list was updated and circulated on a regular basis.  The Vocabulary publication, which in the later years of its use was amended quarterly, required that units use the exact nomenclature that appeared in the Vocabulary. The Vocabulary system was used by the British Army for close to ninety years until it started to be displaced by the NSN system in 1956.

With the formation of NATO in 1949, common numbering systems were developed for items of equipment.   This system was based on the US Federal Stock Number (FSN), which itself commenced in 1953.   In 1974 two additional digits were added (the national identifier), and in the US this became the National Stock Number.

In all 64 other NATO affiliated countries this number is referred to as the NATO Stock Number (NSN), and has 13-digits, the first four indicating the group and classification of similar supply military items. The next two digits correspond with the country code of NATO member states (12 is Germany, 99 is Great Britain, 00 or 01 is USA). The last seven digits describe the exact object.

The NSN, or NATO Stock Number is most easily explained in the above diagram.  It commences with a NSC, and then a NCB, together with a 7 digit number.

The NSC for “Time Measuring Instruments” is 6645.  The first two digits called the Federal Supply Group (FSG), define the overall category of the item.  In the case of most issued watches, that is “66 – Instruments and Laboratory Equipment.”  Adding the FSG to the next pair of digits – the 2-digit Federal Supply Class (FSC) – narrows the item category even more.   For military watches, that becomes “6645 – Time Measuring Instruments.”

In the illustration above, the classification category code 1005 is “Guns, through 30mm”, 13 is Belgium, and the other non-significant numbers are meaningless.

Some 13 million items are identified with a NSN.

USMC KOREAN WAR WATCHES

(SPEC: WATCH, WRIST, 15-JEWEL AND 17-JEWEL)

The US Marine Corps sourced new watches in about 1949, which were very similar to the ORD DEPT watches of WWII.  These included the Bulova 1917-H and the Hamilton 747.   They were stainless steel, and the major external difference was the sub-seconds dial where the numerals were oriented horizontally. The end of the blued seconds hand was enhanced with a luminous ball.     The specification for this watch is unknown, but there is a stock number, and ordnance drawing number for the Bulova.

The Buolva used a 15J 10BM movement.

Below is a Hamilton 747 on the right, with an ORD DEPT Hamilton on the left.

The case back reads USMC, OF-xxxxxx (the serial number).    Later, more crudely some were additionally stamped MODEL 747, HAM  or just 747.  The inside case back is stamped with the case manufacturer, Keystone, Stainless Steel.

Image courtesy MWR forum user: Steve Z

The Hamilton 747 was issued from 1949 onwards, the complete assembly having part number 43011, and came with a strap, part number 43013.   The strap drawing specification was B7646909.

Below is a similar dialed Bulova 1917-H in a stainless steel gunmetal or parkerised case, on the original strap.

Image courtesy MWR forum user: pittsjock

The gunmetal finish stainless case back is a screw-down design stamped “U.S. 1917-H.”

The mechanism has a domed metal dust cover for further protection. Removing this reveals the original manual wind (non-hack) mechanism, signed Bulova Watch Co., USA – 15 Jewels, 10BM.

The original inside case back is stamped STAR WATCH CASE CO., STAINLESS STEEL – xxxxxxx – 7197108. The first number is the watch serial number while the second number (7197108) is an ordnance number for the case back.

THE A-17 AND A-17A NAVIGATION

(SPEC; WATCH, WRIST; SECOND SETTING)

During WWII improvements were sought to the A-11 watch, and manufacturers produced some prototypes, as the improvements were largely dial related.   As occurs often in product development, did the prototype proceed the specification? Nevertheless, MIL-W-6433 of 1950 describes the requirement for the A-17, with essentially much more luminosity, and a 24-hour dial when compared to the A-11.

Waltham produced the A-17, Watch, Wrist, Second setting, Navigation, Hack, from 1950 onwards, as shown below with a coin edge case back.  Waltham made 3 lots of this watch, in 1950, 1952 and 1956. The watches made in 1952 and 1956 have the year as part of the serial number on the case back (eg AF52-xxxxx).   Below is a 1950 production run case back.

Image flickr: Luke Davidson

The A-17 watch shown above is on an aftermarket strap.

A spare strap in a delivery box for a 1956 dated Waltham A-17 might give a clue to the type of strap originally used for this watch.

The date on the box is Nov 3 1961, and early batches of the Waltham A17 were produced in 1950.

The double loop continuous strap is most likely the original strap for the A-17, as this was the strap used for the A-11, and the strap below seems to have been on the watch for some time.

The Bulova and Elgin A-17A models were produced later to MIL-W-6433A of 1954 and overlapped, from approximately 1956 for the Elgin, and 1958 for the Bulova. An April 1957 model Elgin A-17A shown below was provided on the moulded nylon strap ORDNANCE DEPT. USA  PART NO. 7646909, as specified in MIL-S-3035.

Image courtesy MWR forum user :  Mr.D

THE RAF MK.11 WATCH

(SPEC. WRIST WATCH, MK.11, NAVIGATOR’S)

After the war, having used the USAF A-11 in the RAF 6B/234 designation, the UK MoD also independently modified the A-11, and issued the 6B/346 specification in late 1946 or early 1947.

The specification called for a watch which was very similar to the A-11. The main difference was that chronometer-grade performance was specified, along with anti-magnetic properties.  (Type A-11 wristwatches were manufactured in accordance with military specification 94-27834, published in 1940).

The resulting watch, the 6B/346 Mk 11 “Navigator’s”, was produced by two companies, Jaeger-LeCoultre (JLC) and International Watch Company (IWC), and was issued to RAF and RAAF forces from 1948 to 1953.   The JLC watch was not a success compared with the IWC watch.

The 6B/346 had fixed bars and originally came on a 17.5mm clip stainless steel BONKLIP bracelet (6B/2763).  The RAAF models had spring-bars and were coded G6B/346. The BONKLIP strap could be closed at different positions which allowed it to be fixed at variable lengths, over or under a flying suit.

Every item of RAF equipment had a Store Ref. No. assigned, not only to the watch itself, 6B/346, but as well the BONKLIP straps. As three different versions of the BONKLIP were used by the RAF,  namely 6B/2763 (17.5 mm in width designated to be used with the Mk 11, 6B/3224 (19.0mm in width) and 6B/3033 (20.0 mm in width). The last two to fit the chronograph 6B/551 H.S 9. and the Watch, Wrist, General Service 6645-99-910-1000 or 6B9101000.

D.R. Howlitt applied for and was granted the patent on the Bonklip strap in 1930 in both England GB349657 and later in Germany 577586 drawing above.

An American patent application US1779068A was earlier filed for virtually the same design on April 10, 1929, by Walter M. Krementz, but this Staybrite strap was expensive and not as popular as the Bonklip.

A 1933 advertisement for the Krementz band is shown below.

In Australia, in 1951 about 2000 replacement watch straps meeting US Military Specification, Strap, Wrist Watch, Nylon, MIL-S-3035 (dated 8 September 1949) were imported for the RAAF.   Drawing B7646909 specified the one-piece moulded strap, shown below.  With this type of strap, if one spring bar was lost, the watch would still remain on the wrist.

In 1954 a nylon NATO strap (6B/2617) was introduced by the RAF to replace the BONKLIP.  As this band was very long, its length could be varied easily.  However, the BONKLIP had advantages, and they were re-introduced by the RAF in 1956, allowing the BONKLIP or the nylon strap to be used alternatively.   (Ref 1)

The 6B/2617 strap is a grey nylon strap with 8 longitudinal ribs.     It was a 2 part strap with a keeper to retain the watch.   It had welded seams and stainless steel hardware.

The 6B/2617 pre NATO strap, and the 6B/2763 Bonklip strap with 16mm wide links are shown above.   The Bonklip strap fitted onto the fixed bars of the 6B/346 watch, and hence appears shorter.

A RAAF stores document refers to the nylon G6B/2617 strap – BAND WATCH WRIST NYLON

6B/2617 strap manufacturer reference  Image Courtesy  :  Greg Steer.

Perhaps due to the distance involved the Manufacturer M Furst and Co of Treforest Pontypridd Wales has an incorrect address listed.

We now manufacture 16mm, 18mm and 20mm versions of the strap.

Photo credit : gary.stephen.pusey

THE DEF-3 SPECIFICATION, WATCHES AND STRAP

(SPEC: WATCH, WRIST, GENERAL SERVICE)

Ministry of Defence specification DEF-3 (provisional) dated 1 September 1951 was superseded by DEF-3-A dated 20 October 1959 for Wrist Watch, General Service for the British military.   DEF-3-A stipulated the Joint Service Number or NSN 6645-99-910-1000 for central sweep (non hack) watches to this specification.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s a combined forces Working Party met 20 times, and  produced a “provisional” Defence Specification No. 3 (DEF-3), General Specification for Wrist Watch, General Service, which was published on 1 September 1951.

The Omega 1953 (CK2777-1) purchased by the MoD for the RAF in 1953 was built to the DEF-3 specification.  It uses the Omega 283 caliber.    Below is the purchase order from 1952.

Image credit MWR forum user : jef33

The watch was to be issued on a DEF-3 strap.   The specification for the strap is given below, and as shown below, it has no preformed holes for the buckle tongue.

Image courtesy MWR forum user: hq_sandman_ute

The case back of the Omega 1953 is shown above.  The NATO Stock Number NSN was in its infancy and only  6645 101000 is engraved on the case back. The RAF stores reference code was 6B/542, and xxx/53 was the serial number.

Air Publication 1086, as late as 1966 lists the general service watch and the 6B/2594 strap as a spare.

The wider lugs of the Omega on the DEF-3 strap allowed the watch to slide off, and the DEF-3 strap was modified in service.

 MWR forum member Jonah220 has posted the following recollection.

After training, in 1956 I was posted to Coastal Command, on Shackleton aircraft – 4 engine maritime patrol bombers. The Shack had a crew of 10 : 2 Pilots, 2 Navigators, 5 Signallers and a Flight Engineer. There was a requirement for the Pilots and Signallers to be issued with the black dialled General Service Omega 6B/542 watches, now known as the 53 Omegas (not the 56 Omegas). These were issued with Khaki webbing straps (not canvas, nylon, leather, or Bonklip). The webbing straps were, in format, the same as the current NATO straps, with the short extension and the 3 metal loops (not the DEF3 strap). I recall that these straps were not long enough to be folded back under the metal loop as on the modern NATO straps, and I assume that the length was the same as the DEF3 strap. During my time I never saw a 53 Omega with a leather strap or a Bonklip strap. I had 2 of these webbing ‘NATO type’ straps, the last in 1959.

The modified DEF-3 is shown below, a single thickness strap with a keeper.  This strap was issued as the 6B/1242987.

Image courtesy MWR forum member : nickb

This strap is drawn, perhaps later, in Def Stan 66-4 (Part2) Issue 1 of April 11 1969, Watches Chronograph, wrist.

Photo courtesy MWR forum member geo7863

Photo courtesy MWR forum member geo7863

Feeding into the above Working Party, Smiths were contracted to produce a General Service wristwatch for issue to the British Armed Forces.  The British government was concerned about the reliance on overseas supply of wristwatches, which had been an issue during the second world war and enticed Smiths to foster British manufacture of wristwatches.

These watches were based on the DEF-3 specification, and were given the same 6B/542 stores reference as the Omega navigators watch, also based on the DEF-3 specification, so we can assume were issued to RAF pilots and navigators.  This makes some sense for a test order – the inside of a plane cockpit was a fairly harsh environment for a mechanical wristwatch due to the presence of electromagnetic fields. The watches were shielded from electromagnetic interference by an iron dial and mumetal dust cover, which formed an effective Faraday cage to prevent electromagnetic disturbance.

For whatever reason the Air Ministry decided not to proceed with extending the order and Smiths didn’t receive a military supply contract until the late 1960s for the W10 model.  (Still earlier Smiths had provided a 6B/159 watch, which appears only to have reached prototype stage).

This is a Smiths General Service (GS) wristwatch which was issued in 1956.  This is the rarest Smiths British military watch and arguably one of the rarest British military watches of all.       Photo Credit  : Mr. Jones Watches.

There were approximately 300 of these watches made up and issued to the RAF in 1954, 1955 and 1956, presumably as a test order.

The watch above is fitted with a recreation of the original A.F.0210. strap, a precursor to the ubiquitous NATO strap which is found on Military watches.

However, in 1954 the Air Ministry issued the 6B/2617 strap with a keeper loop.  One of the hardest to find military straps is this pre NATO strap from the 1950’s.  This strap which was used on the Mk.11 navigators watch, the 6B/346, has generally eluded collectors and is the early NATO grandfather strap in grey ribbed nylon, 5/8″ or 16mm wide.

The RAF GS Smiths Deluxe had the caseback marked with 6B/542 or 6b/542 designation, and NSN 6645 101000.  The Directorate of Overseas Surveys (D.O.S.) GS Smiths DeLuxe Cal 27CS caseback of 1959 or so, has D.O.S. and the full NSN 6645-99-910-1000 engraved.

Here is a Smiths Deluxe GS watch on a period VB Hygienique NATO strap.

Image courtesy MWR forum user : Revo

And a 6B/542 version on a homage AF0210 strap with fabric keeper, a style which predated the NATO strap.

The Smiths Deluxe GS watch 0434E version of the Cal. 27CS is shown below on the cover of the Smiths manual on a woven nylon NATO strap.  This strap is the 6B/2617 strap.

In 1965 Hamilton provided a general service watch to the RAF.  This was supplied under DEF-3-A and was non hackable.   The watch was built to a similar specification to the Mk.11 watch and is sometimes called the Hamilton Mk.XI.  The watch is 6B-9101000.

The image below shows the watch and a sewn webbing strap.

DEF-3-B dated September 1966 covered hackable central sweep watches to this specification, and stipulated the Joint Service Number or NSN 6645-99-961-4045. The B revision required “inclusion of a device to arrest and release the second hand”.

The General Service Smiths W10/6645-99-961-4045 (model GS4701) was issued from 1967 to 1971 under DEF-3-B, and used the DEF-3 strap.  The RAF version was engraved  6B-9614045.   Hamilton also made a model 6B-9614045 H-67.

Drawing 377-5: Image courtesy MWR forum user : hq_sandman_ute

The DEF-3 strap below has a rounded, rectangular stainless steel buckle as in the drawing above.

Image courtesy MWR forum user : hq_sandman_ute

6B/2594 strap imprint

MRW forum user geo7863 has confirmed that the DEF-3 strap was designated by the RAF as a 6B/2594 strap, and was initially used on the 6B/2593 wrist compass, before being replaced by a long sewn in place strap.   Top image courtesy geo7863.

A long strap with similar weave has been seen with an Omega stamp, but details of this are missing.

A Hamilton watch on an earlier DEF-3 strap is shown below, with the characteristic doped tip.  The buckle and keepers are stainless steel, but this buckle is shouldered, like that of the A.F.0210. strap.  Earlier buckles were square shouldered, and these and the keepers were brass, and the later buckles were rounded wire stainless steel, as in the drawing.  The webbing is tropicalised to specification NF203/7, and the buckle tongue penetrates the NATO watch strap to make the positioning hole.

Commonly the older A.F.0210. webbing strap was used.  This was part of the revised 1944 or 44 pattern webbing issued as A6/AFxxxx, Jungle Equipment, for use in the far east. The A.F.0210. strap was a precursor to the DEF-3 strap above, with almost identical dimensions, but used folded webbing stitched all round, with a square end, and brass buckle and keepers.   The A.F.0210. strap and DEF-3 strap sometimes had virtually identical hardware, but the latter in stainless steel, not brass.

When the 44 pattern Jungle Equipment was introduced in 1945, a lightweight aluminium frame that could be configured to carry various loads was one of the many new innovations.   The complete frame was AF0034, Carrier, Manpack, General Service, and weighed 1.7kg.  Instructions for use are shown above, together with the AF0210 strap and a 6B/2593 compass.

The various components of the AF0034 manpack carrier were given stores numbers to allow for replacement components.  The ladder frame is reference AF0083, and the removable load board is AF0084.  The four bearer tension straps (marked AF0087) provide a large cushioned area for comfort.  The waist NATO watch strap is marked AF0088.   Frame brace straps are AF0086.   The manpack carrier also has two simple shoulder straps with wider shoulder sections for comfort and attached to these is a chest strap to help secure the load.  The shoulder straps are stamped with AF0091.  The two part chest strap is AF0085.  The reverse of the manpack carrier has two adjustable straps with 44 pattern style double buckle fasteners for securing loads to the frame, labelled AF0090. The fastenings are all in the same rust proof metal as used in the 44 pattern webbing set.

Below is an A.F.0210. strap with a 6B/2593 compass, and a A.F.0225 rectangular mess tin.     The mess tin is also marked MMS1945 and is also part of the 44 pattern webbing jungle system, A.F.xxxx issued in 1945.

Below is a mint A.F.2010. strap with an A.T.P. Revue 59 watch.

Image courtesy MWR forum user: Shane Reed

As earlier VAOS nomenclature for military equipment was reclassified under the NSN system the A.F.0210. strap finished it’s service life under NSN W10/6645-99-910-1003, Webbing, (Spec : STRAP, WRIST, INSTRUM).

W10 is the section of the Vocabulary of Army Ordnance Stores that includes magnetic compasses, drawing and optical instruments, watches, survey, hydrographic survey and underwater sound equipment.

Later A.F.0210. buckles and loops were selenium dioxide treated to make black (bonderised?).

Image courtesy: anchorsupplies.com

A service life of some 35 years makes this a classic NATO watch strap, and the influence which it had on the design of the NATO strap can be seen in the similarity in design of the NATO watch strap below.

The nylon NATO strap, seen earlier as 6B/2617 was specified by the military from at least 1973 onwards, under under NSN 6645-99-124-2986.     It is 280mm long, compared with the A.F.0210. which was only 250mm long, with the design change acknowledging that wrists were becoming larger.

Despite predating the DEF-3 strap, and the NATO strap, the A.F.0210. strap was not discontinued, and remained in service alongside the DEF-3 strap, and the NATO strap, until taken out of service in February 1980.  Below is the order replacing it with the NATO NSN 6645-99-124-2986 (Nylon).

Below is a NOS Smiths W10 and the NOS A.F.0210. strap which came in the box with the Smiths W10.    The box reads W10/6645-99-961-4045.  The strap is W10/6645-99-910-1003.

Image courtesy MWR forum user: MBRADIO

The Smiths catalogue from 1968 shows the watch on a braided nylon strap.

Image courtesy MWR forum user : simonk

THE BULOVA GENERAL SERVICE

(SPEC : WATCHES, WRIST (ALL GRADES))

Bulova provided the A-17a navigation watch above, and also similar general service watches to the MIL-W-3818A specification.  The MIL-W-3818A specification covered 3 grades of GS watches, Grade I +/- 10 sec/ day,  Grade II +/- 30 sec/ day, and Grade III +/- 60 sec/ day

The MIL-W-3818 specification of 24 October 1952 was revised to the MIL-W-3818A specification dated 12 March 1956.   Figures 1 and 2 of the specification provide for a sub-second, and sweep the second dial respectively.

Bulova provided two sweep second watches to the MIL-W-3818A specification with a 10BNCH movement, a 12 hour to Figure 2a, and a 24 hour to Figure 2b.   The 24 hour dial is very similar to the A-17a dial, but the hour hand is heavy spade-shaped.  The watch strap was specified to be MIL-S-3035 Strap, Wrist Watch, Nylon of 8 September 1949.

The Specification called for the strap to be assembled to the completed watch prior to shipment.

Photo Courtesy MWR forum member hq_sandman_ute

A NOS cordovan watch strap is shown below with a Bulova MIL-W-3818A.

Image courtesy Omega Forum user: Dre

MIL-S-3035 Strap, Wrist Watch, Nylon reads in clause 3.3 :

3.3 Design and Construction – The watch strap shall be manufactured in accordance with Drawing B7646909. It shall be of one-piece construction with integrally moulded loops. Sewing, cementing or heat sealing shall not be used in the construction of the strap.

The NATO watch strap came in black or Cordovan/brown.

MIL-W-3818B specification dated 17 October 1962 revised the title to Watch, Wrist : DTU-2A/P and revised the dial, and the strap requirement.

Clause 3.8 reads :

3.8 Strap.  The strap shall be fabricated in accordance with Drawing C 8636227.

However, an interim amendment of 12 January 1966 substituted :

3.8 Strap. The strap shall be Type II as specified in MIL-S-46383.  The color of the strap shall be black.

Benrus provided these MIL-W-3818B specification watches to the military.

Perhaps due to the rigid nature of the  MIL-S-3035 straps, many MIL-W-3818A watches are seen on MIL-S-60127 straps.

Above is a Bulova MIL-W-3818A 12 hour dial on a MIL-S-60127 strap.  Image courtesy MWR forum user : shepcs

The watch above has the 12 hour dial and is stock number 6645-542-0554 (NSN 6645-00-542-0554), and the 24 hour dial is 6645-808-1407 (NSN 6645-00-808-1407).

Hamilton and Elgin also provided a big crown Grade II watches under this specification MIL-W-3818. The Elgin (Cal.805) with thicker numerals than the Bulova above.  The Hamilton dial was signed.

Image courtesy MWR user: What Does Your Watch Say?

Image courtesy MWR user: siewming

These watches date to about 1957.

The BuShips canteen watch has a similar dial, and also has the correct NATO watch strap, marked ORDNANCE DEPT. USA  PART NO. 7646909, as specified  in MIL-S-3035 Strap, Wrist Watch, Nylon clause 3.3 :

The strap shall be manufactured in accordance with Drawing B7646909.

TORNEK-RAYVILLE, TR-900

(SPEC : MIL-W-22176A, MILITARY SPECIFICATION: WATCH, WRIST, SUBMERSIBLE (400-FOOT), NON-MAGNETIC)

MIL – W – 22176 A (SHIPS) of 24 March 1961 replaced MIL – W – 22176 (SHIPS) of 1 September 1959, and was for an amagnetic 400 foot deep capacity diver’s watch.  The US Navy specification for submersible watches was strict and only one manufacturer could meet the requirements

Allen Tornek, who was then importing pieces from the Rayville Watch Company who were already manufacturing a diver’s watch, the Blancpain ‘Fifty Fathoms’ bid for the contract, and produced the Tournek-Rayville.

Only 1000 watches were produced, and many have been destroyed as radioactive waste, so maybe only 20 to 30 currently survive.

The MIL – W – 22176 A (SHIPS) specification required :

3.9 Strap – Each watch supplied under this specification shall be equipped with a one-piece nylon strap conforming to the specification MIL-S-21382, and which has met the magnetic test requirement of that specification.

Above is the dial diagram included in the MIL-W-22176A specification requirements (left), and the Tornek-Rayville instruction manual, showing the proposed light grey ribbed nylon strap (right).

The watches are commonly referred to as “Tornek-Rayville”, “TR-900” or sometimes just as “Tornek”, as these are the markings seen on the dial and on the movement. The initial order delivered to the US Navy was for 780 pieces in 1964 and another in 1965 for 300 pieces giving a total of just over a thousand for this model.

The 11 ribbed as-issued ribbed weave RAF style watch strap is shown below.

MIL-S-21382(SHIPS) is for STRAP, WRIST INSTRUMENT, WOVEN NYLON and was issued on 21 August 1958.

The specification requirements were for an 11 inch, light grey herringbone weave nylon strap, with an 1/2 inch wide keeper of the same material fused to the watch strap.  Also, “the buckle shall have a dull nonreflecting finish and be free from burrs.”

In 1963, before the first watches were supplied, MIL-S-21382(SHIPS), was subsumed into MIL-S-46383, STRAP, WRIST: INSTRUMENT of 20 July 1963. The strap became the Type I – Strap, Special Purpose: Non-Magnetic Buckle of the 46383 series of specification issues.

The strap colour grey changed to black with the specification change, and the webbing keeper to the same width as the strap (see Note 5).

Above is the Type I special purpose strap drawing from MIL-S-46383.  The dimensions are as for the MIL-S-21382 specification strap, and the length allows the watch to be worn over a diving suit.

THE NATO WATCH STRAP NSN 6645-99-124-2986

(SPEC : STRAP, WRIST WATCH)

The nylon NATO watch strap, seen earlier as 6B/2617,  as specified by the military from at least 1968 onwards, under NSN 6645-99-124-2986, and from 1992 there are actually two NATO stock numbers allocated to this item: Army/Navy NSN 6645-99-124-2986 and RAF NSN 6645-99-527-7059.

Through common usage, the full NATO NSN 6645-99-124-2986 for this strap is abbreviated to just NATO strap.

Def Stan 66-4 (Part1) Issue 2 of 1 January 1971 describes Watches, Wrist, Divers’.

In Paragraph 11 it states:

Figure 2 is a drawing of the strap  codified to NSN 6645-99-124-2986.   The colour is specified as Steel Grey.   Strap width is 18.5mm straight cross weave nylon, and the joints are welded.  Hardware is brass to BS816, chrome plated.

This strap was also specified in Def Stan 66-4 (Part1) Issue 1 of 30 August 1968.

 The drawing below draws heavily on the dimensions of the 1954 6B/2617 strap, as all dimensions are identical except for the width.

The current Defence Standard specification illustrates very similar requirements for this NATO watch strap.   It was specified in more detail in Def Stan 66-15 (Part 1) Issue 1 – Strap (Nylon) dated 30 November 1973.  

The commonly called NATO strap has several written characteristics, and probably many more unwritten characteristics.

The current military specification strap comes in only one colour (Admiralty Grey) and one width (20mm). The hardware specification is chrome plated brass with a recessed buckle to receive the tongue.   Length 280mm, width 20mm, thickness 1.2mm.

It is currently defined in Ministry of Defence, Defence Standard 66-47 as Strap,Wrist Watch.

Earlier, there was a nearly identical NATO style strap (narrower) made in accordance with DEF STAN 66-15 (PART 1) Issue 1, Strap (Nylon), 30 November 1973.  It was specified as grey as well, and it was used (under NSN 6645-99-124-2986) by the Royal Navy and British Army from 1973 until 1992 when the NATO standard DEF STAN 66-47 (ISSUE 1) superseded it.

For soldiers to obtain a NATO strap, they had to fill out a form known as the G1098, or G10 for short.    Sometimes these straps are known as G10 straps, as they were used on W10 watches.

US MILITARY NSN 6645-00-333-5396

(SPEC: STRAP, WRIST: INSTRUMENT)

By contrast, the US Military NSN 6645-00-333-5396  Strap, Wrist Instrument; Plastic Polyamide, is just a pass through strap, manufactured according to military specification MIL-S-46383B Type II.

MIL-S-46383A Strap, Wrist: Instrument was issued on 1 June 1965, and superseded by MIL-S-46383B on 16 September 1970.

This requires a black strap with a buckle assembly which shall be black oxide coated and painted with a dull black enamel finish. The watch strap is of one-piece construction 9.750 inches long, 0.75 inches wide and 0.045 inches thick. The strap has a keeper loop to receive the strap end as shown below.   The specification allows for other colours than black to be procured.

US MILITARY NSN 6645-00-965-1488

(SPEC: STRAP, WRIST: INSTRUMENT)

This NATO stock number was created on 1 January 1960.

MIL-W-46374 specification was issued in October 1964 to procure a low cost, disposable alternative to the MIL-W-3818B. The specification provided for either metal or plastic sealed cased watches with minimal shock or water protection, and a lower accuracy, and a non-hacking movement.  Specifically, the  watch strap was to be olive drab.

3.3.5 Strap. – The strap shall conform to the requirements of MIL-S-60127.

This Specification was later revised, and required fixed bars, and an olive drab pass through strap, manufactured according to military specification MIL-S-46383B Type II.

The MIL-S-46383 strap came in three types

Type I – Strap, Special Purpose; Non-Magnetic Buckle [3/4 inch wide]
Type II – Strap, General Purpose [5/8 inch wide]
Type III – Strap, General Purpose [3/4 inch wide]

3.2.4.6 Strap. – The strap shall be in accordance with MIL-S-46383, Type II. The color of the strap shall be olive drab matching color number X34087 of FED-STD-595.

A NOS type II strap is shown below

The stock number was allocated 6645-965-1488 shown here in the October 1965 NOS  batch pictured above.

Other stock labels existed.

The buckle was stainless steel with a matt, non reflective finish.   Later buckles were blackened.

By 1974, black versions of the strap were available.  Shown on a Benrus GG-W-113 field watch from December 1970

THE 7A28-7120 GEN. 1 RAF

In the mid 1980s, Seiko released its 7A28-7120 variant with reference number SPR047 and NATO Stock Number (NSN) 6645-99-768-3056 to be used by the Royal Air Force (RAF).

The MoD bought and issued a total of 11,307 these Gen 1’s, which makes it one of the most popular issued military chronographs to date.

It should seem obvious that NSN 6645-99-768-3056  (Chronograph, Wrist ) should be compatible with NSN  6645-99-527-7059 (Strap, Nylon/Leather, Wrist Watch).

Image courtesy of Ned Frederick of earthlink.net

Here is such a combination.

NSN 6645-99-527-7059 (Strap,Nylon/Leather,Wrist Watch DEF STAN 66-15 (PART 2)) illustrates the Specification for a brown RAF strap.   This is the Kitchener style strap from WWI.

These brown combination leather straps were the standard RAF strap from the early 1970’s until the 1992.  Therefore, a properly dressed Gen 1. RAF Seiko Chrononometer should sport one of these rare Kitchener NATO straps.

VARIATIONS TO THE STRAP, WRIST WATCH SPECIFICATION

From the earliest time at which men fought in organised companies, the corps have possessed some sort of insignia visible over all the field of battle, serving as a rallying point for the men of the corps and as an indication of the position of the leaders.

All military Regiments have had ribbon and patch colours based on their battle flag or colours.

Variations in colour for one piece nylon and NATO straps derived from another military tradition, that of stable belts.

Originally, stable belts were worn by the cavalry in the working dress they used for stable duties, but in the 1950s they spread to all branches of the armed forces, adding a splash of colour and individuality to the khaki working uniforms. Initially they were resisted by many senior officers, who saw them as too individualistic, but due to Regimental rivalry they soon became accepted throughout the forces.

As an example, the Royal Marines stable belt is shown below.

This is worn over the barracks dress jacket.

The NSN for a stable belt is simply NSN: 8440-99-571-2693 Belt.   However military uniform suppliers soon produced Regimental stable belts.

When worn without the jacket, but with NSN 8405-99-983-1241 Trousers, Mans, Barracks Dress,Army All Ranks, khaki it is worn through the belt loops.

The availability of woven nylon in various colours soon led to British Military Regiments ordering NATO straps in regimental colours, again from specialty outfitters.

Above is the Royal Marines NATO strap on a NSN 6645-99-541-5317  Watch, Wrist.

James Bond, in Goldfinger, 1964 wore a RAF type nylon strap on his Rolex “Big Crown” Ref. 6538 Submariner, in alternating navy blue and olive stripes separated by a thin burgundy line.    Here is a recreation, it can be seen that the NATO watch strap is only 16mm wide, as was common at the time for military watches, and does not fit the lugs of the Rolex.

Today, every Regiment  of the British Army has its own stable belt, together with its own NATO strap, often very colourful, to go with the regimental tie (NSN 84440-99-874-6348 Tie, Regulation)

REFERENCES

Ref 1  ‘Man is Not Lost’ – an Account of the Mk 11 Navigational Wristwatch Matthias Christian, Thomas Koenig and Greg Steer.    Horological Journal January 2004.  pp 9-14.

INTRODUCTION

An earlier article introduced the WWI era sources of DNA for the NATO watch strap history, as part of the evolution of the military watch.  Another such grandfather strap is shown above. Watches were even more of a critical requirement for military manoeuvres and marine and aircraft navigation in WWII than in WWI and were issued much more commonly, according to military purpose.

At the end of WWI, the term wrist watch was in common use, but the wrist watch, particularly in America was not commonly used by men, even by returning service men.

It was only in the late 1920s that wrist watches gained popularity in America. By the time of WWII, watches with lugs and spring bars were common, but pocket watches were not discarded and were still carried by men.

With the Tommy and the Doughboy and his privately supplied wristlet removed from the inhumane conditions of trench warfare, and the advent of specification, provisioning and servicing of watches by the military, there was little need for watch strap innovation in WWII.   In the hard times between WWI and WWII the width between lugs on wrist watches widened, spring bars filled the gap, and open-ended two-piece straps became common, so leather straps often prevailed on wrist watches.   The US military watch specifications led to the more widespread use of canvas or cotton straps than in Europe.

Nevertheless, just as the Victory strap was developed in WWI, other NATO predecessors appeared in WWII.

WWII WATCHES AND THEIR STRAPS

The wide variety of straps used on wristlets and wrist watches in WWI was in part due to the unforeseen need for military personnel to provide their own watches.  In the interval between WWI and WWII, the watch became standard issued military equipment, and defence departments issued specifications to procure watches.

Thus the strap was a consequence of the watch which was specified and issued.

THE GSTP WATCH

(SPEC : GENERAL SERVICE TRADE PATTERN)

The British Army GS pocket watch of WWI was replaced with the GS Mk II in July 1929. Despite the common use of wristlets in WWI to convert pocket watches to wrist watches to free up both hands for the task at hand, the provision of pocket watches to military personnel continued, often when accurate timing was necessary.  GS Mk I watches did not exist as a designation, so only GS Mk II watches post-1929 are so engraved, as illustrated below.  There is no known specification for GS Mk II watches, but they specifically had a 15 jewelled movement, a black dial, and came on a leather thong.

As the approach of WWII was anticipated the GSTP (General Service Trade Pattern) pocket watch was obtained for the British Army. The GSTP was essentially a commercially available pocket watch with the pheon and GSTP or GS/TP together with an issue number engraved on the back.

GSTP and GS/TP watches are generally branded Damas, Cyma, Enicar, Helvetia, Jaeger le Coultre, Buren, Montilier, Revue and Tissot.   They often have white dials due to their civilian provenance.

The drawbacks associated with pocket watches sometimes led to soldering on of wire lugs to GSTP watches and fitting Kitchener type wrist straps as happened in WWI as shown below.

Image courtesy goldsmithworks.com

The position of the soldered lugs above allowed the crown to be easily accessed.

THE A-7 WATCH

(MIL SPEC : 27748 : AVIGATION TYPE A-7 HACK WATCH)

The US Army Air Corps (1926-1941), predecessor of the US Army Air Forces (1941-1947), and later on renamed US Air Force (1947 – present) adopted Type designations for many of their issued equipment watches such as the “Type A” specification. The type A-11 watch is much more famous and is discussed below.

On October 10, 1934, a US Army Air Corps seven-page dossier described in detail the design and functions of ‘Military Specification No. 27748’ was released. These watches were to be designated ‘Avigation’ watches, a portmanteau of ‘Aerial Navigation’.  Type A-7 ‘Avigation’ watches, in compliance to the military specification number 27748, were produced by Longines, Gallet (white dial) and Meylan and for a short period of time were also sold to the civilian market. Chrome-plated metal cases were produced for military use, while for civilian use the cases were made in stainless steel.

The US Army Air Corps Avigation Type A-7 Hack Watch was essentially a pocket watch chronograph adapted for a wristwatch, similar to the GSTP adaption above, making it a large accoutrement – perfect for navigation.

Type A-7 watches are immediately recognizable thanks to their unusual and unique, off-center dials, offset by 40 degrees from the vertical, a co-axial monopusher in the diamond-shaped crown, as well as large Arabic numerals, 30-minute register at 12 o’clock and constant running seconds subdial at 6 o’clock. The single button-pusher incorporated into the crown allowed the pilot to easily start, stop and reset the chronograph to zero. With massive cases measuring 51 mm in diameter, they are true trophies for collectors of military timepieces.   The watches were used from 1935 to November 1943 when they were replaced by the smaller A-11 Hack watch.

The watches had fixed bars and were mostly fitted with 2 piece straps which were sewn in place.

Black dial Longines A-7 watch

Case back Longines A-7 watch

THE ATP WATCH

(SPEC : WATCHES, WRISTLET, A.T.P)

Leading into WWII the Army Trade Pattern (ATP) watch was issued to soldiers and was supplied to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) by 17 Swiss suppliers.

Most had the following characteristics:

15 jewelled movement with a round waterproof case in stainless steel or nickel chrome, silvered dial with luminous spots and broad lumed baton hands and a subsidiary seconds register.   They all had fixed bars between lugs, as shown on the ATP Enicar below.

The watches were supplied to the MoD without straps.  They were then fitted by the MoD with open-ended leather straps with folded metal clips as seen on this Grana ATP below.

The engraving on the case back was the pheon, together with A.T.P. and an issue number.

Below is a NOS Lemania central seconds ATP watch on the original pull through pigskin strap.

Leather straps often perished in tropical conditions and canvas straps were used, particularly in Asia and the Pacific. 

An early canvas strap is shown below.  This is on a Reconvilier ATP and marked 1941 TOBRUK 7 RTR.   The strap appears to be cannibalised webbing with a hand sewn buckle, and has no prepunched eyelet holes.

The AF pattern webbing was issued for tropical conditions.   Below is another Reconvilier ATP watch on a WWII period AF0210 canvas strap.  ATP watches on AF0210 straps have recently sold on ebay with an approximate strap value of over $400.  The date of the introduction of the AF0210 watch strap is unknown, but it is probably about 1944/5.  The strap had no pre-punched eyelets, and the tongue of the buckle pushed through the canvas allowing it to fit any wrist.  The watch strap fitted quickly and easily under the fixed bars of the watch.

The inside of the AF0210 strap was almost always stamped A.F.0210, but some straps were not stamped.   Often the pheon was stamped as well.

By 1954 there were records of issue of Watches, Wristlet, A.T.P. under brand names Buren, Cortebert, Cyma, Ebel, Enicar, Eterna, Font, Grana, Lemania, Leonidas, Moeris, Reconvillier, Record, Revue, Rotary, Timor, and Unitas.

While there is some debate about the above manufacturer list, the purpose of the article is to demonstrate that when A.T.P. watches were issued they had fixed bars, and utilised either pigskin or fabric straps.

.

6B/159

(SPEC : RAF PILOTS WATCH)

The RAF also purchased pilots watches from 1940 onward, and engraved its own part number 6B/159 at this time.  Open ended leather straps were also fitted prior to issue. This watch was known as the Mk. VIIA.  Early watches had a Weems rotating bezel, but later models dispensed with this.

The Weems rotating bezel was patented in 1935, Weems having applied for a method of and apparatus for navigator’s time keeping in July 1929.

Weems worked with Longines originally, but later the patent was used by Omega.

Below is a Weems bezel 6B/159 from 1940 on VB Hygienique NATO type strap.

Some 2500 Weems 6B/159 watches were ordered by the RAF.  The original January 5, 1940 order note for 2000 Omega Weems CK 2129 watches, 6B/159 is shown below.    Longines, Jager-LeCoultre, Zenith and Movado also provided Weems watches to the RAF.

Later in 1940 non-Weems watches by Ebel (cal 99), Longines (cal 10.68N), and Waltham (cal 870)  were issued.   The non-Weems style continued with a 1942 issue of Cyma (cal 377), Ebel (cal 101, steel case), Smiths and Movado watches.  But by the war’s end, the 1942 issue Cyma, Ebel and Movado watches had often been remarked as a 6B/234, a category requiring less precision.

Then, in the period 1942-45 LeCoultre (redialled later to JLC by MoD), Longines, and Omega CK2292 (cal 30T2 SC) watches were issued.   A.M. is Air Ministry.

Image courtesy MWR forum user  : Revo

Image courtesy MWR forum user: Bill in Sacramento

The leather strap is shown below on a 6B/159 Longines, remarked HS8.

Image courtesy MWR forum member : Ian.wilkinson

Below is a NOS 6B/169 pigskin strap, with the pheon next to the embossing. This was spring loaded and clipped onto the watch.

Image courtesy MWR forum member : Ian.wilkinson

One of the most famous users of an ATP (not a 6B/159) was Sir Douglas Bader.   His Timor Watch Company ATP 68012 was sold at Sotheby’s in 1999 together with his dog tag stamped 26151 RAF Bader D.R.S.  It had the original open-ended leather straps.

Image courtesy: Watches of Knightsbridge

Group Captain and Squadron Leader Sir Douglas Bader was an iconic RAF fighter ace and during the WWII was credited with numerous aerial victories despite being a double leg amputee.

The above manual from July 1966 indicates the 1956 Omega white dial 6B/159 was issued on a 6B/169 strap sewn to the watch. An alternative fabric NATO watch strap 6B/321 was also available, but the AF0210 strap was often used in its history.

THE B-1 WATCH

(SPEC : WATCH, WRIST, SEVEN-JEWEL)

The Elgin Pershing wire lug watch of WWI continued as a seven jewel military issue into WWII.   It had been covered by specification 55-1A of 7 October 1926, a revision of specification 55-1 of 26 July 1923.

Below is a collection of history WWII Pershings with wire lugs on a variety of NATO watch reproduction strap.

Image courtesy MWR user: Scott Mccoy

On 13 September 1940, the U.S. Army released specification number 55-1B: Watch, Wrist, Seven-jewel, for a watch designated as the B-1.   This specification superseded specification number 55-1A Watch, Wrist, Seven-jewel of 7 October 1926.

The Army specified a manual wound movement of no less than seven jewels, a dial with luminescent hands and markers, a sub-seconds register, a stainless steel case, olive drab strap, and a 90-day warranty.

The watches were to be accurate within +/- 30 seconds per day and to be “reasonably shock resistant and waterproof.”

Bulova, Elgin, Hamilton and Waltham produced the B-1 watch.

The watches are engraved ORD DEPT for Ordinance Department, USA, followed by a code representing the number of jewels, and a serial number. They are generally known as ORD DEPT watches, and many were produced and suffered in the field during use.

The Cal. 987a Hamilton sub-second watch is shown below.    It came with a black (Navy or BuShips, to a slightly different specification) or white dial (Army), and is signed Hamilton in black on the dial.

The olive drab straps are NOS.

Below is an Elgin sub seconds watch, on an NOS pull-through strap.  This strap could be fitted to one springbar, or used as a pull through.

Military issue straps were olive drab green or tan cloth. Waltham models originally came with two-part straps. Elgin models often had a one-part strap with an Elgin marked buckle, see below.

Some NOS straps are still available.  Original straps are shown below on all watches, both (ORD DEPT) and A-11, although not on the original watch as issued.

Image courtesy MWR forum user  : river rat The strap with contrasting stitching came from a Hamilton repair kit.

THE B-UHR WATCH

(SPEC : BEOBACHTUNGSUHR)

The B-Uhr watch was issued progressively from 1940.  The specification for these watches was defined by the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM) or Imperial Air Ministry.

The German term Beobachtungsuhr, shortened to B-uhr means an observation or navigation watch.

These B-Uhr watches were made for the German Luftwaffe by 5 manufacturers :

A. Lange & Sohne
Laco (Lacher & Co)
Stowa (Walter Storz)
Wempe (Chronometerwerke Hamburg)
IWC

The B-Uhr specification drawing is shown above, with the long leather looped strap to be worn over flying suits.

All B-Uhr watches had the following features :

A case diameter of 55 mm
Engraved on the back with FL 23883 (FL = flight, 23 = navigation)
Large crowns in order to be used with gloves
Hacking movement (the second hand stops when pulling out the crown to allow precise time setting)
Breguet balance spring
Regulated and tested as chronometers
A long leather looped strap (to be worn on the sleeve of a flight jacket).

Above is a Laco B-Uhr watch.  The bars were fixed between lugs, and the straps were riveted into place with 2 rivets per lug.

These straps were not unique to the B-Uhr, and below is a 1930’s Minerva bomb timer on a similar strap.

Due to the popularity of these watches, many homage watches have appeared, and replica long, and shorter more practical straps are available with rivets for replacement.

THE A-11 WATCH AND DERIVATIVES

(SPECS : WATCH, NAVIGATION, TYPE A-11 (HACK) (USA) AND, WATCH WRIST, MK.VIII, NAVIGATOR’S (UK))

The type A-11 was standardised by the United States Army Air Forces in May 1940. It was a navigation ‘hack’ wristwatch with a minimum of fifteen jewels and a sweep second hand.  Early 1940-1941 type A-11 watches had white dials, and some had Weems bezels, while the later (1942 onwards) more common type A-11 had black dials. Type A-11 wristwatches were manufactured in accordance with military specification 94-27834, published in 1940.

It developed an enviable record in WWII.  This was the watch that kept the US Army Air Forces, as well as the US Navy and Marine Corps, flying, and – to a lesser extent – the RAF (under the 6B/234 designation), the RAAF, the RCAF and even the Soviet Air Force.

For the RAF 6B/234 designation, Ministry of Supply Specification No. G.633 stated :

“Wristlet

A strong leather strap furnished with a substantial buckle shall be securely sewn on to each Mk. VIII watch.”   

The A-11 military specification watches were provided by three of the largest watchmaking companies in the United States at the time: Waltham Watch Company, Bulova, and Elgin National Watch Company.

Clause E14 of the specification 94-27834 stated :

“The watch shall be of the wrist strap type. Provisions shall be made where by the wrist straps are easily removed from the watch for replacement. The straps shall be of the sewed type and shall be made of leather or any approved waterproof material.”

Essentially the type A-11 was to be provided with springbars, but a pull through strap would also meet Clause E14.    The lug width was 16mm.

The images of the watches below are taken from the Maintenance Manual, TM9-1575.

Top to bottom the watches are Waltham, Bulova, and Elgin.

The watches had either 2 part straps or a one-piece strap with sewn-on pockets for spring-bars as on the Elgin above, part number (F36-) 7198840.

The Elgin buckle had a springbar.

Some NOS Elgin leather straps, and buckles.

The image below is from the Waltham A-11 manual and shows a two-part webbing strap with metal keepers and 9 metal eyelets.

The components of the Bulova strap are shown below.

The keeper for the Bulova strap was a double loop metal stamping.

The case back of the A-11 watches featured quite detailed specification, a growing trend in military coding and identification.

Above is an A-11 Bulova with an open-ended sewn pigskin strap, and fold over metal tabs.

The RAF 6B/234 case markings, as shown above, are much less detailed than the Type A-11 above.  Also shown are the metal fold over tabs on the pigskin open-ended strap.

Below is a 6B/234 Waltham without the AM engraving as above, and Waltham 16 jewel 6/0 ’42 movement.

Some 6B/234 cases are overprinting of the A-11 case, demonstrating the heritage. The watch below is on a sewn 2 piece strap.

An unissued A-11 Waltham, still in the delivery box, also on a one-piece cotton strap with sewn-on spring-bar pockets.

Image courtesy: Horologium

A mint Bulova A-11 watch on an original NOS strap.  The strap is 230mm long.

The Waltham cal 870 is shown on such a strap in the manual.

Above is another mint Bulova A-11 watch.  This on a replacement NOS pull through olive drab strap, with one end held by the spring bar (lug bar).

The instructions say “Slip lug bar through loop”, “Slip end of strap under 2nd bar”, “Strap is now ready to wear”.

Watch bands were a separate item of issue for replacement. Typically a one piece olive drab cotton band, “Strap, Wrist Watch” Stock No. F36-7198840, was used to replace the band issued with the watch.

The US Navy and Marine Corps had a similar specification to the military specification 94-27834B.   This was specification Bureau of Aeronautics 88-W-800. Watches were essentially Type A-11 watches, except 88-W-800 required a luminous handset and dial. These watches used the 987s movement and had R88-W-800 on the case back.   The watch had cathedral hands.   A Hamilton version is shown below.

Below is a USN Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAero) Waltham AERO 88-W-800, Model 10616, size 6/0, ’42, 16 jewel, in a Keystone waterproof case, together with a NOS R88-C-890 wrist compass.

Photo courtesy MWR forum user: hq_sandman_ute

The history specification also required that the NATO watch strap be constructed so that the watch could be supported with only one link pin (springbar) in place as shown above.    This may have arisen from earlier experience with two-part straps on springbars in active service.

The Navy also had sub-second watches and the US Marine Corps also had watches made and issued to this specification.

Below is a Hamilton 987s, sweep second hand, issued to the US Marine Corps, and a contemporary 1943 advertisement.  The NATO watch strap is continuous with sewn on eyelets for the springbars, and this strap allows for one springbar to be lost, and the strap still retaining the watch.

Image courtesy vintagewatchforums.com user: TSTAPES23

Above is the complete set of watches made in WWII by Hamilton-based on the 987a movement and its derivatives, with a variety of NOS straps.   The BUSHIPS or canteen watch is 5th from the left.

The Navy watches are black dialled except for the watch lying horizontally which is a 980 “Bomb Timer” for the Fairchild Gun Camera.

Image courtesy MWR forum user: bobbee

The history wartime advertisement by Hamilton above shows the Hack Watch on a one-piece NATO watch strap, but the other issues Fire Control, Navigation and Service on two-piece straps.

THE W.W.W. WATCH

(SPEC. WATCHES, WRISTLET, WATERPROOF)

From 1945 the British War Office Specification No. R.S./Prov/4373A “Watches, Wristlet, Waterproof” (W.W.W.) for Service wristwatches, replaced the Army Trade Pattern (ATP) specification wristwatch.  These remained on issue until about 1985.

This was the first watch specification designed for military use, rather than the military using watches being adapted from an available civilian design.  The W.W.W. watch had a black dial, subsidiary seconds and luminous paint for the numerals and hands.  It also had fixed bars.  It was not shockproof.

The NATO watch strap is a consequence of this fixed bar military standard, a product of the history evolution of the pass through strap.   These watches were originally issued with either pigskin or AF0210 canvas straps.

IWC was one of 12 suppliers of W.W.W watches to the MOD in UK.

About 150,000 W.W.W watches were delivered to the British military by all 12 manufacturers delivered from May 1945 until December 1945, including some 6,000 IWC watches.

Unlike the more collectable post war Mk. XI’s, these watches were produced for the Army and not for the RAF, and many refer to them as Mk. X’s. They were 35mm without the crown and had 18mm lugs. They were equipped with the 83 calibre IWC movement.

Interestingly, watches to this standard arrived towards the end of the war, and were mostly “decommissioned” and sold to the public.

The W.W.W watches were issued with an open end pig skin NATO watch strap with flexible metal strips to attach the strap to the fixed lug bars or leather pull through straps. Alternatively, and more rarely, towards the end of the war they were equipped (or retrofitted) with the 44 pattern webbing A6/AF2010 pull through canvas strap as shown below on a IWC (Ref 1).

Record W.W.W.  on a two part pigskin strap, above.

Pull through leather straps shown above.  Images courtesy MWR forum user: Isologue

IWC W.W.W. on an AF0210 strap.

This A6/AF0210 strap is just marked AF0210 and appears to be dated 1945.  This ties in with the initial use of the 1944 pattern webbing.  Images courtesy MWR forum user: baldhead

The AF0210 strap was part of the 1944 pattern, or 44 pattern webbing, and was promulgated in the VAOS of 1945, Section A6 : Jungle Warfare Equipment.

Above is the 1948 edition of the VAOS, Section A6: Jungle Warfare Equipment which superseded the VAOS of 1945.

Designed for jungle and tropical climates 44 pattern webbing was introduced in 1945 for the Pacific theatre just as WWII ended, and was still in use in one form or another until it was replaced by Personal Load Carrying Equipment (PLCE) 90 pattern webbing.  It was mainly tropical theatre issue only.  It was used in campaigns in Palestine in 1946, the Korean war, Malaysia and Borneo 1963-1966 (following the Malayan emergency), in Kenya against the Mau-Mau, far East campaigns and in the Suez Campaign. Australian troops serving with British forces in Malaya during the 1950s were issued with it.

Above is a soldier history shot in Malaysia, with a watch on AF0210 webbing NATO watch strap, cooking in an AF0225 mess tin, (store reference A6/AF0225 Tins, mess, rectangular, aluminium), with the indispensable A6/AF0100 machete or parang in the foreground (machete marked M.S. Ltd 1945 AF0100 with pheon).  The machete scabbard was store reference A6/AF0101.    Other issued machetes were of the Malaysian Golok style manufactured by Martindale, marked KE8277 (for the Kenya campaign?).

The AF0210 strap was not part of the individual 44 webbing set issued to personnel.  It is a fine weave soft two-ply strap, about 250mm long, folded over at the tail end, and sewn all around.  Hence the tail end is square.   There are no prepositioned eyelet holes, and the tongue of the buckle can be positioned anywhere.   The strap is self-sealing, and the positioning holes rarely can be seen after use, as can be seen above.

The full list of W.W.W. suppliers is provided below.

Image courtesy : Konrad Krinim

The suppliers were Swiss as UK manufacturers did not have the capacity to produce the watches, and the watches were allocated a UK Stores number and for some a (retrospective) NATO Stock Number (NSN) as listed above.   These watches are known as the “Dirty Dozen” by military enthusiasts (Enicar did not produce any) and are covered extensively elsewhere.

The grail of W.W.W. watch collectors is to have a good to an excellent example of each of the “Dirty Dozen”.

The  “Dirty Dozen” on pigskin leather straps.

Omega 1953 watch left, on a canvas NATO strap.  Right, an IWC WWW watch, with NATO dial, in a canvas AF0210 strap.  Image MWR forum user: T.O.W.S. UK.

BUSHIPS CANTEEN WATCH

(SPEC : WATCHES , WRIST, WATERTIGHT)

During WWII the British Navy commissioned about 50 special watches for their divers to wear.   These were specially cased made by Albert Thomas Oliver with Longines Cal 268N movements, and an Omega 30T2SC.  They had a screw-on cap that prevented the winding crown area from water penetration and had wire lugs.  This meant that they used hand stitched pigskin straps.   They were issued with Hydrographic Survey markings, HS with the pheon, as shown below.

Images courtesy MWR forum user: James Dowling

When the US Navy needed divers watches approaching D-day, specification 18W8(INT) of 1 December 1944 covered the production of a Hamilton diver’s watch which had a similar design concept, and also had a screw-on cap that prevented the winding crown area from water penetration.   These BuShips watches were thus nicknamed “Canteen” watches.

The  US Navy Bureau of Ships (BuShips) was established 20 June 1940, and was responsible for shipping, shipyards, maintenance and salvage.  Hamilton USN BuShips canteen watches had a 987s movement were issued to members of the Naval Combat Demolition Unit (NCDU) underwater demolition teams (UDT), who were responsible for clearing harbours and obstructions during the war.

The above specification was replaced by Specification 18W8(SHIPS) on 15 January 1947.

The straps were either two pieces, or one piece, moulded nylon.  The strap above reads “USN” and  “Ranger-Tennere “.

The one-piece NATO watch strap is Part Number 7646909, and has a chevron marked tail. The outside of the one-piece strap strap reads Ordnance Dept USA, Part No 7646909.

This NATO watch strap is history similar to the one-piece cotton strap with sewn-on spring bar holders used for the A-11, and was later incorporated into MIL-S-3035 of 8 September 1949.

By the end of WWII pigskin or cotton and canvas straps were in widespread use, the latter perhaps more in the tropical conditions of the Pacific theatre, apart from the moulded nylon strap above, and some metal straps discussed below.

WWII CANVAS OR COTTON STRAPS

A variety of original straps are shown below, with the 2 straps with metal eyelets 4th and 7th from the top being reproduction straps, rather than those having sewn eyelets.

Image courtesy MWR user: river rat

The history B-1 watch specification for an olive drab strap led to the replacement NATO watch strap which was listed above for the A-11.

Typically a one-piece olive drab cotton band, “Strap, Wrist Watch” Stock No. F36-7198840, was used to replace the band issued with the watch.

The Bulova 2nd from the bottom in the above picture is history thought to be on an original one piece NATO watch strap with sewn on spring-bar pockets.   This is very similar to the Elgin strap shown in Figure 142 of the Maintenance Manual, TM9-1575.

The pull through Brite strap below could also be used.  It had a pocket into which a spring bar could be fitted to help retain the watch.

Manufacturers such as Brite, Guss and the American Strap company provided a range of canvas or water repellant two piece poplin straps.

The American Strap Company of New York NOS strap is shown below.

A NATO type strap numbered 6032 was also sold as a replacement cotton strap.

Image courtesy MWR user: Joe A.

VB Hygienique also supplied bands and by the end of WWII the VB Hygienique canvas band had evolved from a straight canvas history strap to a NATO watch prototype.

Credit for top and right images MWR user : Revo

The WWII US Army VB Hygienique band is shown above. The buckle according to history has a central bar and can be moved along the NATO watch strap to change the position of the keeper for the watch.

The VB Hygienique band above drew heavily on the Victor strap, and foreshadowed the NATO strap.

WWII STAINLESS STEEL STRAPS

Stainless steel clip straps were developed during WWII. A Berkely lifetime bracelet (left), and a Don Juan clip are shown below.

These did not prove popular, but they were easy to improvise and individualise as on this A-11.

Stainless clasp watches also existed.   This reads: The Captain, GEMEX CO, Chrome Steel, USA Pat. Pending near the buckle.

The Baron was another stainless steel model.

The Sure-Stay was another model which did not remain popular.

FLEXIBLE STAINLESS STEEL STRAPS.

A variety of stainless steel or “Staybrite” straps were available at the commencement of WWII.

W. M. Krementz in 1929 filed to patent a ladder-type bracelet which was infinitely adjustable. A two-tone example is shown in the middle and a stainless (Kremaloy) example on the right with an Ernest Borel Incastar watch.

The patent number 1779068 was granted on 21st October 1930.

.

Soon after Krementz’s application in USA, the nearly identical Bonklip strap was patented in UK.

D. R. Howlitt filed a British Patent application on April 6, 1930, for an almost identical invention which was UK patent number 349657.   The early Bonklip models were patterned.

This NATO watch strap was in stainless steel, and was used during WWll history on a variety of watches.  There are few, if any, examples of US military watches on Krementz straps. However, there are many examples of UK military watches dating from the 1940’s on Bonklip straps.

Below is an Enicar ATP on a Bonklip strap.  The clasp reads ‘Made in England’ ‘B.H.B & S’ ‘Pat. No 349657‘

An Omega Weems 6B/159 is shown below on a Bonklip.

LEATHER STRAPS

Topps produced one-piece leather replacement straps which allowed the watch to stay on the wrist if one spring-bar was lost.  But, the cotton straps remained the most popular item.

A 1945 US patent by Alexander Greenberg was for a leather NATO style strap, not dissimilar to the Topps strap above.

The strap was embossed with the patent number.

Image Courtesy MWR Forum member : Moclovflop

CONCLUSION

The British military continued with fixed bar watches in WWII and this led to many open-ended pigskin straps.  However, the end of WWII saw two versions of the NATO strap, in cloth, and on canvas.  Pull through cotton, and leather were the other straps of choice for fixed bar watches.

RECOMMENDATIONS

THE STARTER

The VB Hygienique strap is sometimes available as NOS and currently fetches about $50.   This cloth forerunner to the NATO watch strap is notable in history for its adjustable central bar buckle and cloth keepers.  These are getting to be rare.

Image courtesy MWR forum user: Revo

THE KEEPER

The keeper is the AF0210 canvas pull through, which dates from about 1944/5.

It is seen on both ATP and W.W.W. watches of this era, and is shown below on a Vertex W.W.W.  While easily and cheaply replaced in WWII conditions, the canvas strap did not last forever, and few are seen these days.   NOS straps are rarely available.   A recent sale of a watch with an AF0210 strap indicated a strap value of about $200.

THE GRAIL

The grail would be a canvas NATO strap of the era.  The exact date of issue is not known.   It is shown in the W.W.W. section above on an Omega, next to an AF0210.  Below is another image.  The strap is essentially an AF0210 strap (but with a different chamfered corner buckle) with an extra canvas keeper loop attached. Expect to pay several hundred dollars for a good example of this NATO grandfather.

Image MWR forum user: T.O.W.S. UK

REFERENCES

Ref 1  ‘On His Majesty’s Service 3’ – Third part of series on Watch, Wrist, Waterproof (W.W.W.) , Thomas Koenig and Adrian van der Meijden, Horological Journal October 2008.  pp 441-443.

A MarkV1 SOE compass and original A.F.0210 strap sold recently on ebay for a strap value of just under  £400.   The SOE compass is discussed elsewhere on our site.

http://af0210strap.com/jedburgh-soe-unit-wrist-compass/

1964 :  JAMES BOND DID NOT WEAR A NATO

In 1964 the nylon RAF strap has been called the James Bond ?NATO? strap.

 

WHAT IS A G10 STRAP?

Some refer to the NATO strap as a G10 strap, based on the Army procedure necessary to obtain one from the unit quarter master.  

The Army Form General 1033 (G1033) was used by an individual soldier to sign for military equipment, and to obtain an 6645-99-124-2986 from stores a G1033 needed to be filled in.     The stores for a mobilised unit were in turn listed on an Army Form General 1098.  Army Form General 1098 (G1098) is a regular units equipment establishment table and details all the equipment the unit should hold to equip its officers and soldiers; it includes webbing, shovels, weapons etc.

It has been said that the only thing a good Army store man should have on his shelves are batches of G1033s, as it makes it so much easier at stock check times.

Like the term NATO, the strap was also colloquially called a G10.