Cyma
Cyma dirty dozen british military forces - army tank brigade

British military watch Cyma Dirty Dozen — a watch manufactured during World War II in approximately 20,000 units for the British Ministry of Defence (MoD), and distributed alongside the twelve other famous watches from the series commissioned by Churchill at the start of the war by Great Britain.

Cyma began producing these watches at the beginning of the war, using a robust movement: the Cyma 234 calibre with 15 jewels, operating at 18,000 vibrations per hour and offering a 44-hour power reserve after full winding. This Swiss-made watch features a screw-down caseback and is dustproof, able to withstand harsh environments without compromising mechanical function. The movement is also protected by an anti-magnetic cover. With a diameter of 37 mm, this is the largest model among the Dirty Dozen military watches.

The caseback bears both internal and external markings, including the letter P (indicating Cyma for military maintenance services), followed by the individual serial number of the watch. Below that is Cyma’s production serial number. The caseback is also marked with the iconic Broad Arrow symbol of British military property, and the triple W.W.W. (Watch, Wristlet, Waterproof) designating it as part of the Dirty Dozen military contract.

The hands are sword-shaped and were originally filled with tritium, preferred over radium for its longevity and reduced radioactivity. This allowed the watches to remain in service with the British Army until the mid-1950s. A small seconds subdial is located at six o'clock, and the watch is a hackable type (allowing synchronization). The black dial features a circular minute track with larger tritium dots at five-minute intervals, and Arabic numerals for all twelve hours painted in white. The Broad Arrow sits prominently above the luminous hands.

The strap bars are fixed and soldered to the case, as typical for British military timepieces. The watch comes on a pilot-style leather strap with an integrated leather buffer pad — a model used by pilots and also popular among tank crews and mechanized ground forces.

Numerous wartime archive photos show this watch during Operation Lightfoot, the pivotal campaign that allowed British tanks to retake Egypt from Rommel’s Afrika Korps and Italian forces. During this operation, General Montgomery commanded over a thousand tanks, including Matildas, and especially American-supplied Shermans (M4) and powerful, well-armed Grant tanks.