WATCH, POCKET

This military pocket watch, donated to History House Museum in 1982 by Gordon Hall Chomel (1916–2005), is significant for its connection to Australia’s Second World War military history and to a former but brief Armadale resident.
The watch bears the Broad Arrow (↑) mark and 6E/50 stores reference code, identifying it as a British Royal Air Force navigation watch. Manufactured in Switzerland, likely by Revue Thommen (Limit movement) during the 1940s–1950s, such timepieces were essential for aircrew navigation and the calibration of aircraft instruments during military operations.
Gordon Hall Chomel was born on 3 February 1916 in Peterborough, South Australia, to William Joseph Chomel (1882–1924) and Jessie Mable Rose Hall (1889–1973). By 1939, he was recorded on the Electoral Roll living at 35 Peel Street, Yatala, South Australia, working as a labourer. On 26 August 1939, he married Isla Blanche Rodgers in Forestville, South Australia.
During the Second World War, Chomel enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force on 29 October 1940 in Adelaide, serving as an Instrument Maker. He was discharged on 28 June 1946 upon demobilisation. The following year, on 9 April 1947, his wife Isla Blanche passed away in South Australia.
Chomel married again on 3 July 1950, to Barbara Peggy Collins, in Perth, Western Australia. He worked variously as a carpenter and builder, appearing on the 1963 Electoral Roll at 17 Bailey Street, Trigg, WA, and later at 100 Albany Highway, Kojonup, where he was listed as a builder through the 1970s. By 1980, he was semi-retired and later recorded living at 42 Seventh Road, Armadale, WA.
On 21 February 1984, he married for a third time, to Lilli Isabell Ker, in Perth. Lilli passed away on 25 October 1994 in Armadale, WA. Gordon Hall Chomel later moved to New South Wales, where he died on 15 June 2005 in Manilla at the age of 89.
This artefact is important as a representation of wartime aviation technology, the service of local veterans, and the broader contribution of Australian airmen to the Allied war effort. It enriches the museum’s collection by linking Armadale’s community history to global events of the twentieth century.