WAR DEPARTMENT TECHNICAL MANUAL TM 9-1575, 6 April 1945
War Deparment TM 9-1575: WRIST WATCHES, POCKET WATCHES, STOP WATCHES, AND CLOCKS, 6 April 1945
A while ago I managed to come across this Adobe .pdf version of the old WWII-era United States War Department technical manual for watch service and repair. I decided to post it up to my website to share.
Aside from the novelty of reading an actual period manual and the excellent historical reference information for military watch and timepiece collectors, TM 9-1575 also serves as an outstanding overall guide to the operation and repair of mechanical timepieces. There are many images and diagrams meant to elucidate the intricacies of watches to the would-be watchmaker. Even more helpful to us laypersons is that in the expected military fashion the text is written in simple language for clarity’s sake (even most modern Army manuals are written at an 8th grade level for just this reason!).
It won’t make you a watchmaker in one sitting, but I really haven’t seen anything else that covers the basics of watch movement theory and elementary repair quite so concisely. My understanding is that the manual itself was even used as an introductory text in many vocational watchmaking courses in the postwar era for just this reason.
For those interested, vintage hard copies can often be found on eBay and other online outlets fairly inexpensively; I bought one a few years back for only about $30.
Link: TM 9-1575: WRIST WATCHES, POCKET WATCHES, STOP WATCHES, AND CLOCKS
Wow… you’re special. You post you have “supposedly” a free PDF, but yet you boast that you have an original. Who cares?
Huh?
Click the link, you’ll be taken directly to the free .pdf. As a government publication that’s also some 65 years old now, it’s in the public domain and can be shared freely. There’s no “supposedly” about it.
Some people might prefer hard copies instead, especially for use at the bench etc. There’s also an allure to finding an original for some people, especially the kind of people who like to collect things like… vintage watches. Those people might want to check eBay
or Amazon for one instead.
I have my father’s old copy from when he was in the Army in 1954-1956. From what he told me his was the last class of Army watch repairmen.