Hamilton and Elgin Watch Repair

Overhaul Service of a Hamilton 4992B and Elgin Timer, from WWII

These two watches flew in combat missions during WWII. These heirloom watches were sent in by the family for service. They were overhauled and repaired. The following is short bio of the original owner of the watches.

Vaino William Uncle Bill Pennanen, was born in Harbor Beach, Michigan, in 1923. He was one of eight children of immigrant parents from Finland. He graduated from high school in Rochester in 1941. He enlisted in the US Army in 1942 and was called to active duty in February 1943 as an Aviation Cadet. He attended gunnery school and bombardier training before commissioning as a 2nd LT Navigator in the Air Corps.

Mr. Pennanen was the navigator of a low-flying B-25 Mitchell bomber in the Pacific from the spring of 1944 until nearly 1946. He was assigned to the legendary 345th Bomb Group (Air Apaches) and 499th Bomb Squadron (Bats Outa Hell), flying 42 combat missions. In the autumn of 1945, Mr. Pennanen was wounded near Jakarta as his crew was escorting US journalists around the Pacific. They were caught in a civil war as the Dutch tried to reassert control. He found a picture of himself recovering on Bali in a November 1945 Life magazine while in a barbershop as a civilian again in 1946.

Mr. Pennanen earned his BS degree as an electrical engineer from the Lawrence Institute of Technology. He then went to work for Packard, Studebaker, RCA, General Motors, and Custiss-Wright. In the early 1960s, in Florida, he worked on part of NASA’s space program. He also joined the US Air Force Reserves and later the Air National Guard, flying with crews that won numerous air competitions.

He flew C-47s, C-97s, C-121s, and C-130s to dozens of countries around the world. He was in Saigon in 1968, staying at the same hotel he had stayed at in 1945. He retired from the reserves in 1972 as a Lieutenant Colonel Master Navigator.

He also retired from the US Civil Service, having worked for much of the 1970s and 1980s as an engineer for the US Navy. He was involved in developing long distance communications systems aboard C-130 aircraft.

Vaino Pennanen passed away on January 25, 2008. Thank you for your service. The watches are a legacy to your service during World War II.