Eaglemoss Military Watches Collection.

MWC 80 - 1940s American Airman

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In 1941, with the conflict in Europe escalating, there was an increasing likelihood of the United States joining World War II. It was becoming obvious that a properly structured Air Force was far more effective than the dispersed command structure still in place so in June of 1941 the US Army Air Force was formed. There was still significant disagreement as to who within the command structure was in overall control, even after the devastating attack on Pearl Harbour on December 7th that year.
The American population was shocked, more than 2400 people had been killed and 1200 wounded, also a significant portion of the US pacific fleet had been destroyed or damaged, along with nearly 200 aircraft.
The very next day the United States declared War on Japan, and three days later also declared against Italy and Germany.
On the 18th of April 16 B-25B Mitchell medium Bombers took off from the deck of the aircraft carrier USSS Hornet, they were still 300 kilometers short of their planned take off point, but the convoy they were in had been spotted and the success of this retaliatory mission was paramount. Led by Lt-Col 'Jimmy' Doolittle, the target was Tokyo.
Flying without fighter support they successfully carried out the sortie, avoiding defending fighter aircraft and bombing an area of factory buildings, before flying on to China, where desperately short of fuel they were forced to parachute from the aircraft. Although little damage was actually done, the Japanese now understood that they were not safe from reprisals at home and the moral of the US and Allied countries was given a great boost.
The crews were highly trained but in the early days of combat flying reliance on accurate timepieces was essential, USAAF and USAAC pilots were issued with Longines A-11 'Weems' watches. These had an adjustable, lockable bezel to ensure accurate timekeeping





Case
Polished 27.7mm case, 30.4mm with crown, 8.7mm deep, 33.8mm Lug to Lug, 13.8mm lug width.

Interior diameter 23.6mm, 6mm deep, 3.8mm crown, 20.7mm flat glass,

Dial

Cream Dial with a black minute scale at the outside edge. Hours indicated in Black Arabic numerals.

Blue lozenge shaped hour and minute hands, and a matching slim blue seconds hand.

Strap

Beige nylon 14mm wide polished buckle, approx. fitting 165/205mm





The watch is similar to the issue 33 RAF navigator watch, just much smaller, 27.7mm versus 42.2, in fact, the glass and dial size of this issues watch are the smallest so far in all the collection.

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