Spotted this sorry looking specimen in a lot, and made it my mission to get it.
The lot of silver cased watches.
Case date 1915, movement 1913.
"What's so special about it?" I don't hear you ask.
Yes, these are fairly commonplace models, but this one had a little something "extra".
A nice inscription, and something that piqued my interest as my brother lives in Ramsgate.
Time to get my head down and do a little research.
First up, I find childe Harold was born in 1881,in Ealing in the borough of Brentford.
Then more info comes, married in 1907 in Lambeth.
More digging brings up that Harold served in 1915 as Third Mate aboard the ship "S.S. Watermouth", and what else is interesting, is he is also joined by his wife, May. This is a Merchant Navy ship.
The boat was built in 1910/11, and some time after our hero joined, has since changed hands and is now the "S.S. Swift Wings."
Now, this is where it gets interesting. If we look to the bottom of the previous picture, we see that the boat was torpedoed!
The watch is engraved in August 1916, and Harold's ship is torpedoed within weeks of this.
As can be seen, only two crew lost their lives.
Harold and his wife got lucky, very lucky.
Some time after the war ended, it seems either he was divorced, or his wife died. He gets married again, in 1924 in Bridgend.
After more than three decades, poor Harold dies at the age of 75 in Totnes, Devon in 1956.
Now, the watch arrived this morning, and as seen in the above photos it is a little rough.
The hour hand is bent and buckled, and all three hands are rusty. After carefully removing, polishing and reluming, they look a bit better.
The watch didn't want to work, but a basic cleaning and oiling gets it up once more.
The dial is filthy (no crystal) and the case has been given some elbow grease.
Well, quite a few dents, dings and scratches, but I count these as badges of honour and leave them be.
I put it on a vintage grosgrain military band, until a nice leather one is bought from David at vintagewatchstraps.com.
And the rear, shining once more.
In memory of L.A. Grainger and Murdoch McLeod, and the many unsung heroes of the Merchant Navies.
Thank you.
Site of the wreck.
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