"GERMAN MILITARY TIMEPIECES OF W.W.II"
VOLUME 1 & 2
BY RITA SHENTON FOR "INTERNATIONAL WRISTWATCH MAGAZINE" VOLUME 57
Although not so aesthetic in appearance as some of the watches that appear on the pages of the International Wristwatch Magazine, the timepieces used by the military in the last two world wars are considered by many to by highly desirable collectors items. A few years ago the ULRIC of ENGLAND RESEARCH UNIT produced a small publication entitled "German Military Timepieces of W.W.II" (volume 1) . It received a warm welcome. This has now been reprinted with new colour covers to match those of a further volume. Both carry the original title plus the relevant volume. The first volume has 46 pages and describes about 19 watches and 2 clocks (£12.99). This second printing demonstrates a marked improvement in the quality of the illustrations. Black and white photographs of cases, case detail and movements are accompanied with descriptive text and where appropriate comments as to alternative versions, markings etc.
The second volume (£24.99) is larger-it has 133 pages- and again is well illustrated with black and white photographs as well as a number of reproduced original working drawings of technical details. This book commences with an introduction to the serial numbering systems used by the German Military Forces - further on is the information long awaited by collectors. Other identification markings are also provided and discussed. the major part of the book however provides a resume of some of the main categories of wristwatch types including flyers chronographs, chronometers, observers watches and so on. this is well presented and readily accessible. The content is greatly enhanced by the inclusion of illustrations of a few 'soldbuchs' belonging to German pilots together with a record of the service watches they purchased. The photographs of airmen synchronising their watches and another of an observer fastening his jacket draws the reader into the context in which these 'instruments' were actually in use and should remind us that they are more than a present day trophy for the curiosity cabinet.
A third volume is promised. The author expresses the hope that anyone who has further details of numbering or examples not shown in the first two volumes, will contact him. A hearty response will obviously speed the appearance of volume III !
A further book review has recently been completed by the 'NAWCC' (National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors) see http://www.nawcc.org/library/reviews.htm
"SETTING THE STANDARD"A review of "DEUTSCHLAND ERWACHE" by Roy Follows CPM.
Roy Follows is an author and in dependant book reviewer.
What logo, with Sanskrit roots, was formerly adopted by The National Savings Bank, graced the dust jacket of Rudyard Kiplings' Just So Stories, and today, whilst banned from public display in Germany, is contentiously acknowledged, worldwide ? The answer is the Swastika, adopted by Hitler for his 'Deutsche Arbeiter Partei' in 1920 and utilised as the emblem of the whole Third Reich after he was made Chancellor in 1933.
These anecdotal incites are interwoven throughout "Deutschland Erwache", a 500 page book, (with some 750 photographs) conveying the importance of Standards in the context of the Third Reich and Hitlers' National Socialist State.
Based upon ten years of research, "Deutschland Erwache" reveals much 'first time' information sourced from American and German archives, also from a huge number of institutions and private individuals. From the origins of the Swastika (the Sanskrit word 'Svasti' meant luck or blessing), to confirming the long lost whereabouts of the 'Adolf Hitler' Standard, "Deutschland Erwache" re-defines a contentious historic period (via a previously neglected subject), challenging our more comfortable beliefs and all hypothesis to date.
The author, an English, Military Historian, with a consummate passion for his subject (and a number of published titles already to his credit), has collated, with objective accuracy, anecdotal flair and detail, an unrivalled tome. For the specialist researcher/collector the book provides an indispensable, focused encyclopedia, whilst for the more general reader, in 'setting the standard', "Deutschland Erwache" will truly awake a new found fascination.
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