Waltham Historic Days: War

With the outbreak of War in 1941, the Waltham Watch Company became an exclusive military contractor, producing precision timing pieces for the war effort. Items that included compasses, bomb sights, speedometers, wrist watches, clocks for tanks and aircraft, and chronometers for ships were made in the factory. This concentration on war-related manufacturing was to weigh heavily on the Company when the war ended, as the Swiss had used the absence of the Waltham Watch Company to make great gains in the sale and manufacture of watches. Aircraft clocks are still made by the Waltham Aircraft Clock Corporation, located in Alabama.

Contributed by Wayne McCarthy, co-president of the Waltham Historical Society. The Waltham Historical Society’s mission is to collect, preserve and display materials, and sponsor educational programs pertaining to the history of Waltham. To learn more about the Historical Society, visit: walthamhistoricalsociety.org.