Koenig

Dear Mr. Elliott Firstly I have to admit a typo: The watches ATP were re-listed (?) as W10/VB10053 subsequent (I left out the two letters VB). I assume they were not re-listed as VC, because in the beginning different watches served different purposes. For example the Watch, Non magnetic W.T. was part of a wireless set as "normal" watches of the time didn't stand the magnetic fields of a wireless set. In the thirties watchmakers invented springs with better antimagnetic features, so "normal" watches could be used with wireless sets and so the Watches Non-Magnetic were declared to be obsolete and the G.S. Mk. II took that part over. So probably some originally specific equipment was grouped into the broader section VB instead of VC or other subsections. May be the intro of W10 was made for the same grounds. Regarding copies of the VAOS sections: I would be interested in both copies of the 1943 British Army definitions as well as of the RNZAF version (overall grouping plus V and W including subsections). I tried to get a copy of the British Army VAOS grouping at the National Army Museum, but run out of time and had to leave before everything was done. I have by now only one Australian copy of Section V with its subsections, but I am not really able to date it. I assume it was early WW2, but that's an educated guess, no reliable fact. So in case you find the time to scan those pages I appreciate that a lot. But please don't hurry (In case your are interested in that Australian copy: Please don't hesitate to ask). Do you know which organisation was responsible for assigning Store Parts Nos. in WW2 and where it was located? Best regards Th. Koenig

Sorry! In case I conveyed the notion, I tend to make a secret out of the Store Ref. Nos. I am interested in: This is definitely not my intention. I just tried to prevent you from putting some effort in sending scans I already have. See the individual Nos. below. Front up I should explain that this topic is part of a bigger project dealing amongst other aspects with the question how (volume and procedures) Switzerland sold war material to both the Axis and the Allies. Most of this stuff were optics, watches and special tools like lathes. As the old purchase contracts and shipping documents ended up in the bin, the approach is to establish on the one hand when where those things produced and when were there introduced into services and somewhere in between they must have arrived in the UK. So W10, titled "Compasses, WATCHES, SURVEY and Drawing Instruments" covers a lot of typical Swiss war exports. As the publication of the revised version of W10 from 1956 in the LoC of August 1956 starts with the preface "The above-mentioned section of the V.A.O.S. has been revised from the 1937 (Reprinted 1948) edition and is hereby promulgated as the 1956 edition" draw my attention to the obviously existing 1937 edition, which should be amended by hand with all intros for at least the period 1937 to 1948. Against this background I found: Range Meter W10/VC 7542 Stereoscop W10/2048 Watches, Wrist, Waterproof (w.w.w.) W10/VB10025 to 10037 Watches, General Service Trade Pattern (G.S.T.P.) W10/VB10042 to 10052 [earlier designation VC 7392 for the whole category GSTP, while in 1956 edition each maker got his own Store Ref. No.] Watches, Wristlet, A.T.P. W10/10053 to 10072 [earlier designation VC 7471] Watches G.S. Mk. II (Mainly Swiss makes) VC 7216 The VB and VC respectively as leading letters might indicate these articles were listed in former times in section V2 Surveying and Drawing Instruments and Watches or V3 Flash Spotting, Sound Ranging and R.A. Survey Stores. The same applies to many Stopwatches, all originally designated to be VC. While nearly all watches GSTP and ATP were made by suppliers by now longer existing the watches w.w.w. are very interesting with respect to several aspects: A substantial portion were made by major Swiss watch companies still existing today, thus allowing to establish the production date and the date they were prepared for dispatch. Although shipped from May 1945 onwards (Production in late 1944 and early 1945) they have got assigned lower W10 Store Ref Nos. than the GSTP and ATP, which were shipped and issued during WW2 (GSTP and ATP could be exported easily as they were not subject to the German "Geleitschein-System" due to their low quality). The w.w.w. were of higher quality and used the same works/works of the same class as the RAF navigational wristwatches 6B/159. For the export of 6B/159 and w.w.w. from Switzerland into other countries than Germany and Italy a German permission ("Geleitschein") was asked, but not issued (as the Germans knew from shot down Lancasters etc. very well, which watches the navigators used). So they were exported by some suppliers under deception, while other suppliers stood back at least until May 1945. May be the reason was, the Swiss were afraid to provoke the Germans, may be at the end of 1944 the need of accurate watches in the RAF declined, while the Army was back on the continent and in need for precision timepieces. To judge on each of these thesis is easier knowing the date, the Store Ref. Nos were assigned. Best regards and thanks for your efforts! Th. Koenig

Thanks for your kind offer, Clive! I already have the complete 1956 revised edition of W10, so no need to send me scans (Have made a set of copies at the National Army Museum). Your information on W10 not existing in 1937 is interesting. In case the items I look for would have been listed in 1937 they would have been listed in Section V2. I found several hints on V2. But obviously for some time V2 and W10 existed in parallel and so I had no clear picture of the origin and the span of time related to that two subsections. Any idea, when W10 was introduced? Might be senseful for me to go back the National Army Museum and check all List of Changes from 1936/1937 to 1943 regarding the intro of W10 and skipping V2 equipment to W10 - found some items skipped that way in the LoC in 1943 and following years. But may be most of those items were forwarded to W10 earlier than 1943 (From 1943 onwards up to 1958 I checked each and any issue of the LoC, but found nothing but the publication of the 1956 revised edition of W10 although the 1954 ed. of the List of Equipment and Stores Subject to War Office Control already comprised the same items and their Store Ref. Nos.!) Thanks as well for the links you gave. Have checked most of them already before posting here. And in fact your articles made me posting here. More than obvious you have thorough knowledge of the British Armed Forces logistics and stores numbering system and this fact gave hope to find additional information here. Anyhow the hint on V2 is helpful. Regards Th. Koenig

Thanks a lot Mr. Elliott! With a view to what I am aiming at your remarks are not a success, but nevertheless a progress. My origins are in the RAF collector's scene and I assumed the British Army vocabulary to be as precise and straight forward as RAF AP 1086 and the system AP 1086 is based on. Unfortunately the instruments my research deals with have been used by the Army only. So no chance to date them by their RAF listings. According to what I learned I agree the allocation of alphanumeric Store Ref Nos. in the British Army is a matter of the fourties/WW2 and early cold war, in parts of the thirties/pre-war era. Before that period obviously the verbal description as given in the List of Changes was sufficient. But when scrutinising the amendments to the VAOS/the List of Changes I found hints on the 1937 and 1948 edition of the VAOS. Furthermore obviously the categories like W10 existed for a longer period of time. Thus may be the old editions of the VAOS used only the grouping by Sections and subsections (like W10) identifying all individual items of that (sub)section by verbal descriptions only as given in the List of Changes, later on amended by the Store Ref Nos as a second and more convenient method of identifying an item. In that case all items already existing, when the Store Ref Nos were introduced, got a Store Ref. No assigned and this No. not necessarily followed the original chronology of introduction. But it would serve my purposes to find an earlier edition of the VAOS and/or LoESWOC, showing the introduction of that items as a handwritten amendment. As the they were produced and shipped in 1945 and show up in the 1954 LoESWOC the first "official introduction" in the 1956 edition of the VAOS W10 can't be the notification of the first introduction into service. So I will carry on looking for the 1937 edition of the VAOS W10 as this bound books amended by hand other than looseleaf publications should have survived at least in some copies. So I have "simply" to find one such copy - challenges are made to be mastered! Thanks again and regards Th. Koenig

Dear all! I am new to this forum and have to admit I am not only German (and therefore have to apologize for my poor English), but as well not really interested in military vehicles. But it looks like some of the participants of this forum might be able to help with respect to a quite peculiar topic. I try to verify at what point of time some special measuring equipment listed in Section W10 of the V.A.O.S. and provided by Swiss suppliers (i) got Store Ref. Nos. assigned, (ii) was actually introduced into service and (iii) was listed for the first time in the VAOS respectively in the List of Equipment and Stores Subject to War Office Control. The Store Ref. Nos. are lower than those of W10-equipment introduced into service during WW2. That might indicate these are pre-war orders put on hold during the war because the Swiss suppliers were afraid to support the Allies, while the Axis Armed Forces stood at their border. For that reason I am looking for a British Army publication giving not only the Store Ref. Nos., but as well the date/period in which they were assigned. I have no idea where to search by now besides the List of Changes (which I scanned, but found no entry prior to 1956, although these items shine up in the 1954 ed. of the List of Equipment and Stores Subject to War Office Control [LoESWOC]). The production in Switzerland started in February 1945 and the shipping documents of the manufacturer date from May 1945 to Dec 1945. For that reason I am looking for the 1937 (and 1948) edition of the VAOS and/or for a an edition of that period of Section W10 of the LoESWOC. I assume handwritten amendments will show, when this equipment got Store Ref. Nos. assigned/was released for issue to the units. I checked the Imperial War Museum, the National Army Museum, the National Archives and several smaller museums including the Museum of Science/REME, but no or only small progress. The same with the Nottingham Pattern Room. So I would appreciate very much any hint which library/museum/collector keeps a 1937 and/or 1948 edition of the VAOS Section W 10 or of the LoESWOC covering that period. I checked with DLO and the NAA whether there are any sealed patterns, but all sealed patterns have been disposed in the mid-seventies. So I would be very grateful for every information where to find a copy of the aforementioned publications or any other document on W10 amendments and W10-Store Ref. Nos. assigned for the first time in the period from 1938 to let's say 1954. Best regards and greetings from Germany Th. Koenig