THE ELGIN A-8 GRADE 582 "A-8" WAS DESIGNATED BY THE US ARMY-AIRFORCE AS: Watch. Navigation (Ground Speed) Type A-8.
THE MAIN FEATURE IS THAT A FULL REVOLUTION IS ONLY 10 SECONDS.
THERE ARE SOME WALTHAM A-8 WWII WATCHES WITH WALTHAM CALIBER, BUT THEY ARE EXTREMELY RARE.
THE A-8 "JITTERBUG" NAVIGATION TIMER IS A 10 SECOND STOP WATCH UTILIZED BY NAVIGATION CREWS TO SET GROUND SPEED TO DETERMINE THE ****AIR SPEED OF EVERY BOMBER THAT SERVED IN THE VARIOUS ALLIED FORCES DURING WWII. THE NAME "JITTERBUG" WAS GIVEN THE A-8 BY AIR CREWS DUE TO NOISE IT MADE WHEN RUNNING.
THIS MILITARY WATCH BOX™ "MILITARY TIMER BOX" INCLUDES TWO A-8 TIMERS. ONE IS A WALTHAM THE OTHER AN ELGIN. THE ELGIN IS A WORKING MODEL THAT WAS DISASSEMBLE AND THE PARTS MOUNTED FOR DISPLAY IN THE BOX.
THAT IS HOW SMALL THE BALANCE IS!
THIS IS WHY THE A-8 IS TITLED THE "JITTERBUG"
Battalion and activated at the United States Army Chemical Battalion.
NOW WE COME TO OUR 2ND WATCH A WWII ELGIN TIMER.
THE FEATURES OF THIS WATCH ARE UNIQUE, THE CASE BACK HAS MOUNTING HOLES WHICH ALLOW MOUNTING OF A DEVICE THAT, WHEN MOUNTED, ALLOWS THE TIMER TO COME IN CONTACT WITH AN OBJECT THAT THEN STARTS THE TIME.
THUS, WITH A FEW CHANGES, SUCH AS LARGER BALANCE, WHICH EXTENDS TIMER TO A 60 SECONDS TIMER, IT IS JUST LIKE THE A-8 CALIBER AND MADE BY ELGIN AND MADE FOR THE MILITARY..
ALL TIMERS, STOP WATCHES AND CHRONOGRAPHS OPERATE THE SAME. THEY HAVE BUTTONS, PUSHERS, AND/OR PUSH IN CROWNS TO OPERATE THE TIMER. EACH ONE HAS FROM ONE TO THREE OF THESE THAT WORK A COMBINATION; YOU HAVE TO PUSH SOMETHING TO START THE CENTER SECONDS HAND GOING.
THIS TIMER ONLY WORKS WHEN YOU PHYSICALLY PUSH AND HOLD THE CROWN. THE TIMER HAS TO BE LOCKED TO AN OBJECT AND THEN, WEN IT IS TURNED TO COME INTO CONTACT WITH ANOTHER OBJECT, IT BEGINS TO TIME.
THIS TIMER ONLY WORKS WHEN YOU PHYSICALLY PUSH AND HOLD THE CROWN. THE TIMER HAS TO BE LOCKED. THE OTHER ITEMS IS THAT IT IS SOLID NICKEL VS THE NICKEL PLATED OF THE A-8. ALSO SERIAL PLACES THE PRODUCTION AT MID 1944.
SO, THIS ELGIN TIMER WAS FOR WWII USE.IT WAS MADE IN MID 1944. IT PURPOSELY HAS A CROWN THAT ONLY ALLOWS WINDING AND STARTING, AND, THE CROWN MUST BE HELD DOWN TO OPERATE. AND, PICTURES SHOW THAT REPAIRS WERE AT A MILITARY BASE/ESTABLISHMENT. THAT THE CROWN HAS A ROUND WITH FLAT EXTENDED BUBBLE TOP ALLOWS IT TO BE PUSHED DOWN ON OBJECTS. COMBINED THAT IT WAS ACTUALLY CREATED FROM A BASIC A-8 CONFIGURATION WITH THE COLUMN WHEEL LEFT OUT WITH PURPOSE. SO, NOT ONLY IS IT RARE, IT IS ALSO A MYSTERY THAT WILL COME TO LIGHT ONE DAY.
The unit mission was not only support to the Infantry School but also to specialize in desert, jungle and urban warfare. The 197th Infantry Brigade was a stand alone heavy brigade, which during the Gulf War (Desert Storm) was attached to the 24th Infantry Division out of Fort Stewart, Georgia as their third brigade. Soldiers in the 197th who are veterans of the Gulf War wear as their combat patch the patch of the 197th, not the 24th.
The 197th was inactivated within months of returning from the war, to be officially reactivated as the 3rd Brigade, 24th Infantry Division.
THIS IS THE RARE WWII WALTHAM A-8 WITH WALTHAM CALIBER.
THE A-8 "JITTERBUG" NAVIGATION TIMER IS A 10 SECOND STOP WATCH UTILIZED BY NAVIGATION CREWS TO SET GROUND SPEED TO DETERMINE THE ****AIR SPEED OF EVERY BOMBER [AND MANY OTHER AIRPLANE CREWS] THAT SERVED IN THE VARIOUS ALLIED FORCES DURING WWII.
FOR THE USAA DESIGNATED A-8 NAVIGATION TIMER.
THE YEAR IS NOTED AS 1943. IS IS A SIZE 16 AND HAS NINE JEWELS?
SAME NOISE AS THE ELGIN.
AND ISSUED WATCHES HAD THE INFO ON THEM, BUT 80% DID.
A prime focus in 1927 were Aviation watches WITTNAUER and LONGINES both worked with a U.S. Navy officer named Philip Van Horn Weems, whose design for a Second Setting Watch included an inner, rotating dial. The aviator would move the dial until he heard a time-tone on his radio, thus capturing any deviations from Greenwich Civil Time.
Another influence on Wittnauer timepieces of this era was Wittnauer watchmaker John Heinmuller, who was the official timekeeper of the U.S. National Aeronautical Association and became one of the country's leading authorities on U.S. air mail stamps. Because of all this attention to navigation wristwatches and devices, Clarence D. Chamberlin and Charles A. Levine used Wittnauer chronometers for their 1927 Trans-Atlantic flight and Charles Collyer and John Henry Mears used two Wittnauers in 1928 when they famously raced the moon around the earth—they did it in 24 days, beating the moon by 72 hours. Howard Hughes wore Wittnauers in the 1930s/ The depression was the cause of the sale in 1936.
Longines-Wittnauer provided Wittnauer with contracts for Weems wristwatches, as well as compasses and timers, during World War II.
THIS PARTICULAR GRIDIRON WITTNAUER WAS DEVELOPED AS A SPORTS TIMER WHEN WWII BROKE OUT. WITTNAUER WOULD HAVE OVER 500,000 TIMERS, WATCHES, COMPASSES AND OTHER TIMING DEVICES BEING UTILIZED BY US FORCES --NOTE: BRITISH & OTHER FORCES ALSO UTILIZED WITTNAUER PRODUCTS. THIS PARTICULAR WITTY HAS PROVIDENCE. IT IS LOADED FOR BEAR WITH TRENCH ART: FROM THE THE RIM TO THE CASE BACK ARE INSCRIPTIONS AND DATES. AND THEN THERE IS THE CREST.DI FOR THE 2ND ARMORED DIVISION!
The 2nd Armored Division ("Hell on Wheels") was an armored division of the United States Army. The division played an important role during World War II in the invasions of North Africa and Sicily and the liberation of France, Belgium, and the Netherlands and the invasion of Germany. During the Cold War, the division was primarily based at Fort Hood, Texas, and had a reinforced brigade forward stationed in West Germany. After participation in the Persian Gulf War, the division was inactivated in 1995.
THE CROWN WINDS THE MAINSPRING. CLICK ONCE TO START, CLICK AGAIN TO STOP TO READ, CLICK AGAIN TO RETURN COUNTERS TO POSITION. THIS GRIDIRON HAS THE GALLET AND CO PATENTED SLIDE. WHICH WOULD SHUT THE WATCH TO LOCK POSITION. RENDERING THE CROWN USELESS UNTIL THE SLIDE WAS PUSHED.
The 3rd -aka "Third Herd"- and the 2nd -aka "Hell on Wheels"- were armored Division of the United States Army organized as "heavy" armored divisions.
Regiment, the 23rd Armored Engineer Battalion, the 83rd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, and the 143rd Armored Signal Company.
As with most American divisions in World War II, they suffered heavy casualties, and by the end of the war, replacement troops often outnumbered veterans in the line units.
invaded Kuwait, and soon after, President George H. W. Bush committed U.S. troops to the theater, first to defend Saudi Arabia, and then to eject Iraqi troops from Kuwait.
participated in the Persian Gulf War.
There is no doubt this is a British military timer made by one of the greatest Chronograph - Complicated watch-movement companies in the world. Through my experience and knowledge of timers, and what they were made to time, I can see many events this fine timer could operate in. Yet we know that most timers like this one were utilized in submarine warfare; dating to the first world war. And, though most offensive & defensive systems in military use today are computerized, timers like this one still hold their own. Though, these were issued from the late 1960' to Desert Storm in 1991.
Every revolution of this timer equals 6 seconds/5000 yards, the A-8 was 10 seconds, so this timer is faster yet as accurate as the vaunted A-8. Why 6 seconds?
I DISCOVERED SEVERAL OF THESE LEMANIA TIMERS FROM £185.00 TO £345.00 OR BEST OFFER ON EBAY.
According to the information from those offers, this LEMANIA was designed for the Royal Navy.
The explanation of the rapid 6 second per revolution has to do with underwater sound. Under water sound travels at approx. 1450 to 1500 m/s or (1586 to 1640 yards/s). Aping reflecting from a target at 1600 yards would return in approx. 2 seconds. It is stated this LEMANIA was utilized by asdic/sonar operators on destroyers to find subs and on subs to find prey, and evade destroyers.
We know that in 1990, the Senior British Royal Naval Officer in the Middle East was Captain Anthony McEwen (Flag HMS York), then Commodore Paul Haddocks, and finally Commodore Christopher Craig, on HMS Brave and HMS London.
We also know that he Royal Navy made a significant contribution to Allied efforts in the early stages of the war. In particular, Royal Navy Westland Lynx helicopters were responsible for the destruction of almost the entire Iraqi Navy. Additionally, Royal Navy minehunters cleared Iraqi mines near the Kuwaiti coast, allowing the US battleships Wisconsin and Missouri to move in close enough to launch devastating bombardments against Iraqi ground forces. HMS Gloucester intercepted an Iraqi Silkworm Missile bound for the US Battleships. The date of this timer coincides with the Royal Navy operations. I have yet to discover timers with dates past the nineties.
AND USED THE HIGH DESIGNATION OF "WATER PROTECTED"
RATHER THAN WATER RESISTANT. ONE OF ONLY 5 WATCHES I HAVE EVER SEEN GIVEN THIS DESIGNATION.
Air speed indicators on WWII aircraft were controlled by air being forced into the air speed indicator as you flew your plane. The problem was as you gained altitude less and less air entered the device and there was always cross winds straight winds so your speed, relative to the ground, was going to be either lower or higher depending on whether you are flying into the wind or with the wind. Ground speed was required to precisely know your air speed which was important of you wanted to bomb a target, drop men from the plane, to precisely time your flight.. and navigate properly.
To figure your actual ground-speed and compare it to the airspeed indicator and then adjust your navigation calculations accordingly, the pilot or navigator would pick out, say, a pair of known parallel roads or other landmarks that were already distance measured, they would then click the A-8 10 second timer on at the first mark then off at the second. Using the elapsed time along with calculations they could figure their actual ground speed and adjust instruments.
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