Here at T. H. Baker, we are incredibly excited and proud to share with you an excellent piece of history that we are lucky to have in our repertoire; a stunning Second World War Rolex.
The watch was given to Lieutenant Charles Maurice Anthony Whitaker, known as Tony Whitaker who was part of the Worcestershire Regiment and was commissioned into the Territorial Army during the 1930s.
The story of Tony Whitaker is quite a remarkable one and here at T. H. Baker we are proud to hold his Rolex Oyster Perpetual wristwatch given to him by Rolex and Hans Wilsdorf during the Second World War. Rolex sent these watches to try and boost the morale of officers. Officers had to request a watch by letter and were to pay for them on their return to Great Britain.
Second World War Rolex
Lieutenant Whitaker
Lieutenant Whitaker was captured during the British expeditionary force evacuation from Dunkirk in 1940 and according to his son’s recollection, he was given the Rolex whilst spending time at the Oflag VII-B, a prisoner of war camp situated in Bavaria. In May 1940 Mr. Whitaker was missing and later in that year he was finally reported as captured whilst holding a bridge for men retreating to the beaches at Dunkirk. After he was captured he was missing for a year and was eventually presumed dead by his family.
Throughout the time he was presumed dead, Tony was actually being moved around several prisoners of war camps across Europe for over five years. He sadly had to experience life in Stalag Luft III and Oflag VII-B where he was given the Rolex via the Red Cross. During Lieutenant Whitaker’s time captive at Stalag Luft III, he was lucky enough to make friends with a flight lieutenant Eric Williams, who later went on to write the book ‘The Wooden Horse’. A signed copy of the book is held with this beautiful Rolex watch.
Rolex sent these watches to try and boost the morale of officers. Officers had to request a watch by letter and were to pay for them on their return to Great Britain.
After he was captured he was missing for a year and was eventually presumed dead by his family.
In mid-April of 1945 the men were ordered to be taken to a point roughly 40/50 km away from the camp, this lead to the prisoners and the guards being spotted by two planes when still relatively close to the camp. The planes assumed they were hostiles and reported it to base camp. They later returned with others and opened fire on the men, resulting in 20 or so dead and many others injured. The planes were that of the Americans and it was classed as friendly fire, a monument has later been erected by the Germans as a memorial for those who were killed there.
Here at T. H. Baker we’ve been around since 1888 and our love for this stunning piece of history grows stronger due to our own connections with the Second World War. With Frank Higgs, the husband of Phillis Baker (daughter of Thomas Henry Baker, founder) called up to serve King and country in August 1939. By the October of 1939, Frank was serving in France, and both his wife Phillis and her daughter Rosalie were left to run the T. H. Baker stores during testing times. At the end of the war, both Frank and his three sons had survived and the T. H. Baker name lived on, with store windows lit proudly after the blackouts.
We are proud to showcase this incredible piece of War and watch history here at T. H. Baker. The Rolex Oyster Perpetual that belonged to Lieutenant Charles Maurice Anthony Whitaker will be showcased with our stunning second-hand collections at our pre-owned events within our stores and many other events we may hold, so that his story can live on.
*To enquire about this beautiful pre-owned World War Two Rolex, please call our customer service team on +44(0) 1562312224 where they can answer any questions you may have.*
