Eaglemoss Military Watches Collection.
MWC 59 - American Pilot 1960s
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, May 25, 2016 at 10:13 PM (8554 Views)
At the conclusion of World War II and the official end to hostilities with Japan Korea was divided at the 38th Parallel with the Soviet Union administering North Korea and the United States Administering the South. Border incidents were constant for 5 years before The North Korean Army Invaded the South in 1950. The UN declared an emergency and a combined army from 21 countries came to the defence of South Korea, though around 85% of this force consisted of United States Personell
There were several losses and advances on both sides with the initial gains made by the North reaching as far as the city of Pusan, the additional UN forces stalled this advance and an audacious amphibious assault at Inchon by United States forces cut off the North Korean forces, As the UN forces advanced back into North Korean territory China entered the war and sent 200,000 troops to support North Korea, and the UN Forces were forced back to the border, two years of fighting followed with virtually no gains by either side, although an armistice was signed in 1953, officially the two sides are still at war and there is still a great amount of tension over possible further conflict.
In the 1950s American Pilots were issued with A-17 navigation watches made by Waltham to MIL-W-6433 specification, By the mid 50s this had been updated to MIL-W-6433A and the A-17A watches were made by Elgin and Bulova, The Bulova watch used a 17 jewel shock resistant movement and was consistently used by USAF crew until the early 1960s
Case
Satin finished case, 32mm diameter, 35mm with crown, 39.5mm lug to lug
8.3mm total depth, 28mm/6 internal aperture, 5mm crown, 26.5mm glass
Dial
27.5mm Black dial, this is quite a compact dial with a lot of information on it
At the Outside edge there are Arabic numbers at 5 minute intervals
inside this there is a narrow minutes scale with white hatchings and tan 'dots' at 5 minute marks
Inside this Hours are indicated with tan Arabic numbers 1 through 12,
with a further ring of 13 to 24 in a smaller white font inside this again
Hands are polished needle style hours and minutes hands with tan 'lume' infill, and a polished seconds hand
Strap
Beige canvas strap, 16mm wide at the lugs and narrowing to 14mm at the buckle
Just noticed this one has signs of "wet paint when assembled" there are bits of paint detached from the dial stuck on the inside edge of the case.