Reply With QuoteVery nice find indeed.
I wish I would have seen it, but I guess there are more than one fleamarkets in Germany, so you probably had been at the other one :lol:
I found this beautiful piece with history on Sunday at a flea market in Germany (of all places).
It certainly is something special and far from ordinary, but judge for yourself!
I gave it a bit of wax,(but no more) as it probably hasn´t seen any since the Regt. disposed of it! (or lost it)
what do you think, should I polish the brass plates as they probably were, during its service time, or leave them as they are?
Interesting to note that the last engravement was done in 1939...Where has the plaque been since then?
Knowing the practiced tradition in an English Regiment, I am wondering how it got lost to the Regiment?
It probably hung on the wall of one of the messes, NCO´s, Sgt´s, Officers, or maybe even In the CO´s office!
I unscrewed the dial to get the clockwork out and to my amazement it was an Astral clock made in Coventry , England.
Those of you familiar with Astral will know they went into recievership in 1931, and the remains were taken over by Smiths Clocks. So the clock must have been made before 1931!
I´ve been inclined to get in touch with the Duke of Wellington's Regiment Regimental Museum, which is here...http://www.dwr.org.uk/dwr.php?id=54... but, knowing British tradition and pride, I´m afraid they might just want it back :)
No...just joking, I´m going to restore it to all it´s glory and then offer the plaque and clock to the Regimental Museum.
The plaque was probably made in 1933, considering all the engravings up till then were of the same consistance and depth. It changed in 1934 when the first added entry which was Redcar, was engraved, or am I wrong?
I also presented it on the MWR forum and lysander came up with this;-
Well, for the clock itself - the title: Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) dates it to post-1921. Prior to that they were known as The Duke of Wellington's West Riding Regiment, and pre-1931. (Unless they replace the original title banner in 1921, not likely as they didn't do this for the name change in 1936.) In any case, a few years after the Great War would be my guess as to when the original clock was purchased.
as to when it was separated from its owners:
We see a second title banner commemorating the fact that on 10 December 1936, the 5th Battalion, Duke of Wellington’s Regiment (West Riding), was converted to the 43rd Anti-Aircraft Battalion Royal Engineers (T.A.), but we know that the 43rd Anti-Aircraft Battalion, RE changed titles on 1 August 1940 to 43rd Search Light Regiment Royal Artillery.
The last engraving seems to imply that the Regiment was mobilized on 24 August 1939.
So we can safely assume that this clock was separated from from the care of its owners sometime between 25 Aug 1939 and 30 July 1940....
Further investigation has revealed that the 43rd AA Battn, RE (TA) was a searchlight battalion assigned to the 7th AA Division (Newcastle-on Tyne) Northern Command. The 43rd's 370, 371, 372 and 373 AA Coys were deployed around the West Riding area and headquartered in Huddersfield in September 1939.
In November 1944 the 43rd Searchlight Regiment was again retitled the 600th Infantry Battlion, Royal Artillery (TA), and assigned to the 2nd Army Group in Northern Europe...
In Feb 1945 they were disbanded.
Very nice find indeed.
I wish I would have seen it, but I guess there are more than one fleamarkets in Germany, so you probably had been at the other one :lol:
.
Lovely clock and a great find. I like the rate adjuster under 12. I suggest you get the movement serviced if you are going to use it (which you should) but leave the rest as is, until you find the right person to give it a sympathetic clean up if you decided to go ahead with it.
john
Every watch a story.
Wow, lovely find 8)
"I looked with pity not untinged with scorn upon these trivial-minded passers-by"
What an excellent find, a real piece of military history.
Hi,
Very nice piece to The Duke of Boots regt., I would love it myself for lots of personal reasons.
I suspect it may have been Mess Property lost during the retreat to Dunkirk.
Best Regards,
Prof
Wonderful clock and plaque! Good luck with the restoration.
Best wishes,
Bob
Only their mess was somewhere around Huddersfield in 1940....Originally Posted by Le Prof
The 5th Battlion, Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) was a searchlight battalion in the Royal Engineers (TA) from 1936 to August 1940, in August 1940, they were transferred to the Royal Artillery (TA), still a searchlight battalion.
In 1944, they were converted to an infantry battalion (although still assigned to the Royal Artillery) and attached to the Northern Army Group. After the war, they were demobilized and disbanded.
But how did it end up in Germany?
Was the fleamarket in Northern Germany (UK Territory)
eBay?
The 5th Bn, DoW Rgt, (WR) was gone before their was a "UK occupied zone" in Germany. Since the clock does not indicated the two subsequent name changes, and all base locations after August 1939, it is a good assumption that the unit disposed of, or lost, of the clock sometime between September 1939 and August 1940 (when they changed names).
Wonderful item and such a find!- congratulations as well as thanks for sharing.
Br,
AP. 8)
Great find let us know how you get on with the service
Hi Lysander,Only their mess was somewhere around Huddersfield in 1940....
The 5th Battlion, Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) was a searchlight battalion in the Royal Engineers (TA) from 1936 to August 1940, in August 1940, they were transferred to the Royal Artillery (TA), still a searchlight battalion.
In 1944, they were converted to an infantry battalion (although still assigned to the Royal Artillery) and attached to the Northern Army Group. After the war, they were demobilized and disbanded.
and Thanks for kicking me into touch. :D
Normally it's me who despairs at WAG like that with no hard back up info.
I guess I was carried away by the romantic notion of it all. :albino:
Best Regards,
Prof
Its good to see so many people getting their heads down and using the grey matter, thanks for all the positive reponse.
Now we can get back to everyday subjects like, my new W 10 etc.etc. :D
Best Regards,
Jimmy
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