********************************** NOTE WE HAVE A MILITARY WATCH BOX FOR THE 96TH
WITH MEMORABILIA AND TIMER IF YOU WOULD ENJOY BOTH I WILL DISCOUNT THIS IS THE SECOND SPECIAL OFFER FOR A HELVETIA WITH AN UNUSUAL WWII CASE BACK. WE TOOK THE WWII - KOREAN WAR -VIETNAM WAR WATCH CASE OUT OF THE 101ST VIETNAM AIRBORNE CASE AND TEAMED UP THE WWII 96TH HELVETIA WITH THE WWII HELVETIA CASE.[THEY BOTH HAD SIMILAR CASES BUT NOT THE REALLY RARE CASE BACK]. THIS HELVETIA WATCH WAS/IS A WAR BOOTY HELVETIA WITH INTEGRATED SWEEP SECONDS, RE-ILLUMINATED DIAL AND OUTLINED RAISED NUMERALS THAT CAN BE WORN 24/7. AND THE CASE BACK IS ALSO ONE OF A KIND.....
DIAL WAS SIGNED "96TH" AFTER IT WAS CAPTURED IN WWII
READY
TO WEAR
OVERHAULED
SERVICED CAPTURED BY A
MEMBER OF THE WITH SHIPPING
Helvetia, General Watch Co, Bienne, Reconvilier, Tramelan, Vienna 1880: Foundation of La Generale Watch Co / General Watch Co by the company Louis Brandt & Fils (Omega) for manufacturing cylinder watches and genuine Helvetia calibres with enhanced quality lever movements. 1885: Transfer of the trade mark Helvetia from Louis Brandt & Fils to the new La Generale Watch Co. 1968: Aquisition of the movement factory Helvetia SA in Reconvilier by the SGT (Societe des Garde-Temps SA). The watch factory Montres Helvetia SA in Bienne remained independent. ********************************************
HELVETIA WAS A BRAND OF WATCH PURCHASED BY GERMAN MILITARY WWII HELVETIA POCKETS
Transferred to Fifteenth Air Force in
December 1943, the 96th engaged in bombing operations in Italy in support of the Allied
drive north toward Rome; the Invasion of southern France, and the campaigns against German
forces in northern Italy, Jun 1944-May 1945.
Their primary mission being the
long-range bombardment of strategic targets, the 96th attacked oil refineries, aircraft
factories, steel plants, and other objectives in Germany,
Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Romania, and Greece.
In one mission, the 96th where en route to bomb a vital aircraft factory at Steyr on 24 Feb 1944, when the group found itself greatly outnumbered by enemy interceptors, it maintained its formation and bombed the target, receiving a Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) for the performance. On the following day, while on a mission to attack aircraft factories at Regensburg, it met similar opposition equally well and was awarded a second DSC. The 96th served as part of the occupation force in Italy after V-E Day and inactivated in Italy on 28 Feb 1946. BELOW IS THE BOOTY CERTIFICATE FOR THIS WATCH
******************************************** INVEST IN THE 96TH WAR BOOTY WATCH + RECEIVE THE MILITARY WATCH BOX FOR 299.
AWESOME WATCH I AM HOPING A MEMBER OF THE 96TH WILL INVEST
I HAVE TO SAY THAT RESTORATION TAKES TIME THE HANDS WERE A 3 HR JOB ALONE. I SOMETIMES WONDER WHEN I SEE WATCHES ADVERTISED AS SERVICED GOING FOR A FEW HUNDRED. HOW THIS IS ACCOMPLISHED I DO NOT KNOW. WE BUY THE WATCH THEN RESTORE. 9 TO 22 HOURS PER WATCH.
THEN THERE ARE THOSE WHO ARE "EXPERTS" AT PRICING. BUT FAIL TO ADMIT IF YOU SENT A VINTAGE WATCH TO A WATCHMAKER TO SERVICE PRICES START AT 250 ON UP. LET ALONE RESTORING!!
Before embarking upon its first aerial warfare mission, the 96th BOMB SQ agreed upon a black triangle outlined by a white strip enclosing the profile of a red dare devil thumbing his nose at the ground with one of his hands while he held a white bomb in his other hand. This distinctive emblem was designed by Harry O. Lawson, the squadron’s graphic artist, Symbolic of the “Daredevil” qualities of fearlessness and boldness, the dare devil characterizes the spirit of the Squadron and its past and present personnel. The bomb represents the historic mission of the unit, which it has performed since the beginning of aerial warfare in World War I
THE 96TH Aero Squadron was America’s first bomb squadron. It was formed at Kelly Field, Texas. Originally consisting of 80 college graduate and dropout volunteers whom passed the U.S.Army Air Service’ highest and most stringent aeronautical qualifications to join what was to be an elite group.
The 96th saw combat as part of the 1st Day Bombardment Group, supporting the French Eighth and U.S. First Army from June through November 1918. It operated French-made Breguet 14 planes and was involved in an embarrassing fiasco when the entire squadron landed around Koblenz, Germany by accident, providing all of their planes intact to the Germans. Nonetheless, it was the most heavily engaged and most successful USAS bomber squadron.
THIS BEAUTY HAS OUTLINED RAISED ILLUMINATED NUMBERS. A NUMERAL MARKED OUTER SWEEP SECONDS CHAPTER AND 24HR IN RED. HELVETIA AND THE 96TH COMPLETE HER....
HANDS WERE AN ISSUE. IT TOOK A LONG TIME PERIOD. I BELIEVE THEY ARE AWESOME AND, OF COURSE ARE ILLUMINATED
FACT IS, IT IS NOTE A SIMPLE EXPERIENCE. EVEN THE SIMPLEST JOB CAN BECOME A NIGHTMARE NO MATTER YOUR KNOWLEDGE
THE HOLE TROUGHS ARE NOT THERE JUST TO MAKE SPRING BAR REMOVAL EASY. THEY ARE THERE IS A BAR BREAKS ONE CAN USE WIRE.... I KEPT THE ORIGINAL SPRING BARS. THEY ARE A1 IN CONDITION. I USED A BLACK BALLISTIC NYLON STRAP WITH KEEPERS. IF YOU DESIRE SOMETHING ELSE LET ME KNOW. *******************************************
USAA WERE THE
US ARMY AIR CORPS The 96th Returned to the United States from France in May, 1919 and was equipped with Martin MB-2 day bombers, its primary mission was reconnaissance along the Mexican border and became part of the First Provisional Air Brigade under General Billy Mitchell. **********************************************
KEEPER MEANS 6 TO 9 IN SIZE
THE CASE BACK IS KILLER MANILLA
ABOVE IS NOT PART OF THIS OFFER
BELOW ARE SOME FACTS I DISCOVERED AS TO THE CASE BACK
WE BELIEVE IT MAY HAVE ORIGINATED EASTERN EUROPE
The 96th served as part of the occupation force in Italy after V-E Day and inactivated in Italy on 28 Feb 1946.
THE CRYSTAL IS ORIGINAL. IF YOU
DESIRE A NEW ONE
NOTE THE FOLD OVER Besides the use of then known popular cartoon characters, every creature that could come to mind was utilized including nearly 150 new dog and cat creations. Their creations swam, crawled, slithered, flew, and were featured just about in every conceivable fashion.
NOT PART OF OFFER World War II
Lockheed B17G Fortress 96th Bomb Squadron After the Attack on Pearl Harbor, the 96th served on antisubmarine duty along the mid-Atlantic coastline . Then re-equipped with B-17F Flying Fortresses, the 96th was assigned to the Pacific Northwest for transition and combat training in late 942 and early 1943.Then they were moved to North Africa in April 1943 to carry out bombing missions in Algeria and Tunisia as part of Twelfth Air Force during the North African Campaign. The missions included support and interdiction, as well as bombing targets that included marshaling yards, airdromes, troop concentrations, bridges, docks, and shipping. Participated in the defeat of Axis forces in Tunisia, Apr-May 1943; the reduction of Pantelleria and the preparations for the invasion of Sicily, May-Jul 1943; the invasion of Italy, Sep 1943.
Transferred to Fifteenth Air Force in December 1943, the 96th engaged in bombing operations in Italy in support of the Allied drive north toward Rome; the Invasion of southern France, and the campaigns against German forces in northern Italy, Jun 1944-May 1945. Their primary mission being the long-range bombardment of strategic targets, the 96th attacked oil refineries, aircraft factories, steel plants, and other objectives in Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Romania, and Greece. In one mission, the 96th where en route to bomb a vital aircraft factory at Steyr on 24 Feb 1944, when the group found itself greatly outnumbered by enemy interceptors, it maintained its formation and bombed the target, receiving a Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) for the performance. On the following day, while on a mission to attack aircraft factories at Regensburg, it met similar opposition equally well and was awarded a second DSC. The 96th served as part of the occupation force in Italy after V-E Day and inactivated in Italy on 28 Feb 1946.
Cold WarReactivated under Strategic Air Command on 1 July 1947 and equipped with B-29 Super fortresses. Trained for strategic bombardment missions during the postwar years, being upgraded to the new atomic bomb-capable B-50 Super-fortress in 1948. Replaced the propeller-driven B-50s with new B-47E Stratojet swept-wing medium bombers in 1954, capable of flying at high subsonic speeds and primarily designed for penetrating the airspace of the Soviet Union. In the late 1950s, the B-47 was considered to be reaching obsolescence, and was being phased out of SAC’s strategic arsenal.
In September 1996, the 96th deployed and launched attacks against military targets in Iraq in support of Operation Desert Strike. It earned the 1996 Mackay Trophy for the 33-hour long mission from Louisiana to Iraq and back as the most meritorious flight of the year.
NOTE THE CASE BACK IS A PRO JOB
MY CAMERA IS ACTING UP GOING BLUR WHEN THE
DIAL IS CHARGED
ABOVE IS CHARGED UP
ABOVE IS HALF CHARGE NOTE CAMERA IS NEAR BLUR LOL
BLURRY NO? I USUALLY DROP THESE BUT I AM HOOKED
CASE BACK IS SIMPLY STUNNING. THE ABOVE SHOT WAS BEFORE WE CLEANED AND LIGHTLY POLISHED IT. NOTE THE ORIGINAL BRASS SPRING BARS! THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN CHROME PLATED. THE WATCH IS A WAR BOOTY HELVETIA WITH INTEGRATED SWEEP SECONDS AND A RESTORED ILLUMINATED DIAL AND HANDS A WONDERFUL COLLECTORS HELVETIA YOU CAN REMOVE AND WEAR 24/7
ONE OF A KIND DETAILED CASE
BACK
NOTE THAT THE CASE BACK IS FITTED
NOTE THE METAL RETAINER PIECE WITH CUT-OUTS AROUND THE EDGE RIM ? THE BACK WAS DESIGNED WITH THE CHROME PLATED COPPER OUTER CASE BACK. TRENCH WRITING INSIDE 1941 1945 Greece dealt the first victory for the
Allies by resisting the Italian invasion on 28 October 1940 and pushing Mussolini’s
forces back into Albania. Hitler was reluctantly forced to send forces to bail out his
ally and subdue Greece (Operation Marita). The resulting Battle of Greece in April 1941
delayed the invasion of the Soviet Union by six weeks. This fact, combined with the heavy losses of the German Fallschirmj¤ger over Crete, effectively put a halt to large-scale German airborne operations for the remainder of the war. The country was occupied by Germany, Italy and Bulgaria, while the government and the King fled the country to Egypt, from there they supported a vigorous Resistance movement in Greece from 1942 on. Dominated largely by the leftist National Liberation Front (EAM). Throughout 1943, the guerrillas succeeded in liberating much of the country’s mountainous interior, establishing a free zone called “Free Greece”. After the Italian capitulation in September 1943, the Germans took over the Italian zone, often accompanied by bloodshed and atrocities, as the Italians tried to resist (as in Cephallonia), or as the Allies tried to occupy Italian-held areas (the Dodecanese Campaign). As the tide of the war turned, and Liberation approached, the Resistance became divided along political lines, and a mini civil war ensued between EAM, rightist resistance groups and the collaborationist government’s Security Battalions. An agreement establishing a national unity government was reached in the May 1944 Lebanon conference, which eased tension somewhat in the final months of the Occupation. With the advance of the Red Army through Eastern Europe in summer 1944, the German forces withdrew from the Greek mainland in October November 1944, although garrisons were left behind in many islands, including Crete, where the German forces surrendered after the unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945. The returning government in exile, backed by British forces, soon clashed with EAM forces in Athens, in the first episode of the Greek Civil War; a conflict that would last until 1949 and leave a divisive legacy in Greek politics and society until the 1970s.
WWII Turkey was neutral until several months before the end of the war, at which point it joined the Allies. Prior to the outbreak of war, Turkey signed a Mutual Aid Pact with France and Britain in 1939, yet remained neutral after the German invasion of France. In June of 1941, after neighboring Bulgaria joined the Axis and allowed Germany to move troops through to invade Yugoslavia and Greece, Turkey signed a non-aggression pact with Germany. Turkey was an important producer of chromite, a key ingredient in the manufacture of stainless steel and refractory brick to which the Germans had limited access. Sale of chromite to Germany or to the Allies (who mainly bought in order to preclude sale to Germany) was the key issue in Turkey’s negotiations with both sides. Turkey halted its sales to Germany in April, 1944 and broke off relations in August. In February, 1945, after the Allies made its invitation to the inaugural meeting of the United Nations conditional on full belligerency, Turkey declared war on the Axis powers, but no Turkish troops ever saw combat
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