COGS OF WAR
The humble watch was entrenched in the pocket, but World War One changed that
Were there any tactics to trench warfare or was the whole of WW spent repeating the same pattern of shelling the enemy then advancing helplessly into a volley of machine gunfire as we learnt from Blackadder? Well possibly for the first half of the war but in both sides started thinking strategically and the humble watch played a vital role
Barrage bombing before an infantry attack didn’t really work because the enemy soldiers simply hid in their trenches until the artillery stopped then leapt up to man the machine guns To overcome this they came up with an important new move first adopted at the Battle of the Somme called the ‘creeping barrage’ The line of bombardment crept forward at a precisely timed rate with attacking infantrymen advancing in a coordinated line behind By the autumn of the Allied forces developed a system whereby the barrage moved forward at exactly metres per minute
This approach required precise timing and cried out for a sturdy reliable wristwatch Unfortunately at the time such a thing did not exist Before WW if a man had a watch he carried it in his pocket If you ever saw a watch on a wrist it would be a piece of ladies’ jewellery and called a wristlet No man heading o to war wanted a wristlet
On the battlefield however the soldier felt di erently As he advanced gun in hand maintaining a precise pace was di cult enough without having to fish around for a watch Soldiers started modifying pocket watches and strapping them to their wrists Browsing through watch auctions you’ll see many varied ‘trench watches’ improvised pieces with soldered on straps often with the delicate face protected by a metal mesh
By the time WW came around you didn’t have to make your own war watch it was a proper thing and now there’s a whole genre of rugged watches that will accompany you wherever you go whatever you do Most of us don’t go to war these days but that doesn’t stop us watching films about it Military watches are a massive seller and wherever you stand on the ethics of conflict you have to admit they are a handsome bunch Trench warfare might have been a dark moment in our history but the watches that live on aren’t just handsome timepieces they help make sure we never forget