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

SKUB 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.B One interesting user of the straps were theB Rhodesian ArmyB Selous ScoutsB 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 theB Rhodesian Special Air ServiceB (SAS), and theB Rhodesian African RiflesB they operated very covertly in small groups of five or 10 men as an elite counter insurgency unit. One of our clients whoB served with the unit sent usB anB image ofB theB strap onB aB W10 watch used by theB Selous ScoutsB this isB the last image after the cap badge.

Interestingly with the increasing use of self-luminous watches – which use GTLSB tritium light sources – these straps along with their modern nylon coveredB equivalentsB have once again become extremely popular among current serving military personnel who are keen for obvious reasons when on activeB deploymentB to conceal their location.