DUROWE WW2 German NSCH Supply Battalion Watch, c.1939

An incredibly rare Wehrmacht wristwatch issued to a soldier from a Nachschub Supply Battalion, c.1939. The watch is offered in full working order and superb original condition.

Founded in Germany in 1933, Deutsche Uhren-Roh-Werke, or DUROWE for short, was a movement supplier to the watch trade. Established by their leading sister company, Lacher & Co., DUROWE manufactured chronometer movements for the Laco B-Uhr pilot's chronometers; both DUROWE and Laco held government contracts, along with other notable watchmakers in Pforzheim, identifying them as a prime target early on in WW2. Given their proximity to France, the industry held a key strategic location and the factories were repeatedly bombed by the Allies, resulting in DUROWE being destroyed by the end of the war.

Internally, the good quality 15 jewel D202 movement, which was the company's militarised version of a civilian model, is protected by a simple internal sprung shock protection and anti-magnetic cage but most unusually, the dial is clearly marked "NSCH". Typically, it was only KM watches that had any kind of identifying feature on the dial, yet the Wehrmacht must have approved this factory application. This is rare, as volunteering such information may have provided intelligence if it were captured, as NSCH was the nazi authority's abbreviation for Nachschub, denoting "Supply Battalion". Where there was a supply battalion, there was also an army regiment on an offensive. It is important to note that the Wehrmacht did not regard the logistic supply battalions as "Heer", which may be the reason for this relaxation of the Wehrmacht protocols. It also means that the watch is not "DH" marked and was no doubt issued as a lower grade military timepiece, given that it has a snap back case.

It is also a fact that there are many similar German made and military-looking watches from this time period, which gives rise to the notion that, if not all, then certainly many of them can be presumed to have been issued to unidentified support services. and undoubtedly, the Nachschub had a high number of troops in that role. Yet, remarkably, we have here a genuine example that is authorised to announce itself, "NSCH".

At the start of WW2, although Nachschub battalions were not frontline combat trained, they were nevertheless assigned a priority role to provide support to a designated Heer regiment that was spearheading towards the east or west. Those who went east were there for the duration, taking in Operation Barbarossa, until 1945, while those who set off west were engaged in the Battle for France. At either front, the Nachschub found themselves targeted for destruction by the Allies and in the thick of much fighting, way beyond anything their German military strategists had planned for them. Having received only basic weapons training before joining a supply battalion, the troops of the NSCH learnt to fight hard with many of those originally sent towards France, being later transferred to the Russian front.

A truly fascinating watch that is good for daily use, complete with vintage strap. Not original to the watch, but it looks the part.

This watch has just been serviced and comes with our 12-month warranty.

Code: 51796