18mm Brown 1950s Pattern Leather Military Watch Strap with Protective Face Cover

€19,95 19,95

Qty

SKU Code: 50COVL18BRN

These leather covered watch straps with face protector were very widely used from the 1950s until 1980, this is because not only do they offer a high degree of protection to the watch itself but during night time operations they also prevent image intensifiers from picking up the glow of the watches dial. One interesting user of the straps were the Rhodesian Army Selous Scouts who were a special forces unit that operated during the Rhodesian Bush War from 1973 until the reconstitution of the country as Zimbabwe in 1980. The Scouts were formed from a combination of the Rhodesian Special Air Service (SAS), and the Rhodesian African Rifles they operated very covertly in small groups of five or 10 men as an elite counter insurgency unit. One of our clients who served with the unit sent us an image of the strap on a W10 watch used by the Selous Scouts this is the last image after the cap badge.

Interestingly with the increasing use of self luminous watches - which use GTLS tritium light sources - these straps along with their modern nylon covered equivalents have once again become extremely popular among current serving military personnel who are keen for obvious reasons when on active deployment to conceal their location.