Universal Genève Dato-Compax Reference 22325 w/ WWII Provenance Unpolished

We are thrilled to offer this spectacular Universal Genève Compax reference 22325.

This is more than just a spectacular Universal Geneve Dato-Compax chronograph. It was Mayhew Y. "Bo" Foster's timekeeper on May 9, 1945 while he flew Hermann Göring in a Stinson L-5 Sentinel from Kitzbuhel, Austria to Augsburg, Germany for interrogation by the 7th Army before he later stood trial at Nuremberg.

“Bo" Foster (October 9, 1911 – March 21, 2011) was a decorated American pilot and hero. Foster graduated in 1937 with a degree in English from Yale. For his actions in World War II - including 70 reconnaissance combat missions - Foster was awarded the Silver Star for his service in France in 1944, the Air Medal, and the Légion d'Honneur for his contribution to liberating France. Foster later reached the rank of Brigadier General in the Montana Army National Guard

Foster transported Göring in the L-5, a larger plane than the L-4 he normally piloted, because Göring weighed more than 300 pounds. In a letter to his wife, Virginia, written at the time, Foster described his first impression of Göring as "effeminate [and he] gave me the creeps . . . Several times I had the impulse to turn the plane over and see if I could shake him out, but he was wedged in like a champagne cork… He acted as though he was going on a sightseeing tour, or really as though I was going on a sightseeing tour, and he was showing me where he grew up. I had a .45 in a shoulder holster, but he couldn't reach that. But neither could I, because I had two hands controlling the plane.”

When Foster arrived, there was just a single jeep at the airstrip to meet the arriving flight. Foster rode with Göring and formally turned him over to the intelligence officer without ceremony.

It seems likely that Göring was also wearing a Universal Geneve chronograph in steel on that flight - in his case an oversized non-luminous Compax reference 22430 that was in his possession at Nuremberg and sold at auction in 2016.

Göring was eventually convicted of war crimes, but took a smuggled cyanide pill on October 15, 1946 to escape being hanged as his sentence.

It is an emotional object to hold and brings me back to my one late grandfather’s service under General Patton and my other late grandfather’s service under General MacArthur.

All too often we think history is made only by national political leaders, but it is heroes like Bo Foster who are the best part of our world’s mosaic, the best part of our story.

The case that measures 33mm in diameter and 39mm lug to lug. We believe the case is unpolished. The watch dates to circa 1943-1944. It is powered by the calibre 283 and features UOW US import code.

The watch does not come with box and papers. We do not know the service history, but it is running well.

SOLD (Item SBUXYT2447)