Time and time again, Part 3 - The Chelsea Clock : Ken Gibbs

(DTWUNICEF = During Time with UNICEF)

The USA was driven out of Viet Nam in 1973, leaving a much battered country behind, which they had decided was in need of being saved from the Communists. In reality, the Communists prevailed against a far superior force by the use of intelligence, cunning and stealth.

I was transferred to UNICEF, Hanoi, in 1990, and found myself immediately embroiled in an internal civil war where the plight of Vietnamese children was sidelined. Sad when the Mandate focussed on children, but this piece is just about a clock which I see many times every day.

One of my duties was to travel to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon), to discuss with the outposted UNICEF staff member matters of programmes and, in the event, to discuss why the Ministry of Foreign Affairs believed that he was trying to traffic precious Vietnamese artefacts on his impending departure ? As if I didn’t have enough to occupy my time, I didn’t really need to add this type of misdemeanour to my already over-burdened tasks. He claimed complete innocence which seemed not to match up with what he had on display in his office.

The Chelsea clock

I had a couple of hours between appointments in the city, so took myself off to see what the markets had to offer. Anyone who has travelled to Viet Nam in the last 30 years will be aware of the very fine needlework that is produced – but as that was the domain of my wife, who sadly was not with me on this trip – I continued until I came across a mixed display in which a round clock in a Bakelite surround was hidden behind some garish furniture. The clock had apparently seen better days, but as it didn’t seem to have Russian or Chinese characters anywhere, I supposed it to have been of western origin. I was then - and still am - a sucker for timepieces.

Close inspection showed that the make was “Chelsea Clock Co., Boston” which was intriguing to me as I associate Chelsea with London rather than the USA. With my rudimentary French, I enquired as to the origin of the clock, to be informed that it was from an American ‘bateau’. I shook the clock to see if it worked (which it didn’t), so put my hands up to indicate that I really didn’t need to pay for something that didn’t function. The stall holder made to lower the price (which he hadn’t quoted originally), and so a bargaining process ensued. Having had my skills in such matters honed in the bazaars of Tehran, I suspect the stall holder realised that he’d met his match, but I finally said that I wouldn’t give a cent more than US$ 50 for it, naturally paid in crisp bank notes which were very valuable to those wanting to seek a life elsewhere, and the deal was done before any watchers would have noticed.

I walked away with a broken clock of unknown provenance having paid rather more than it was worth, and continued my travel plans with a broken clock enclosed in a Bakelite case which seemed to have some lichen on it. At least cleaning it to discover what I could, would divert me from some of the appalling staff relations in the office when I returned to Hanoi.

*****

I lasted only a short time in Hanoi before being told that I should consider my position over a sharp professional disagreement I had with the head of the office. I did consider my position, and invited the messenger who delivered this message to me, to fire me if he felt that I was in the wrong – with a quiet comment to him indicating that if I was fired, I would probably share my observations with the BBC in London about how such matters were handled in the United Nations. Wouldn’t it affect fund raising for Noted Projects, on which Viet Nam relied at that time ? I was told to go on home leave while the matter would be considered.

It was considered. The Regional Director sitting in Delhi got to hear of my predicament and immediately requested that I be posted to the Regional Office on Mission for which he believed I was ideally suited. The clock, by this time, had travelled to the UK where it remained while I took up my new duties.

Thence started a delightful six months in Bhutan (detailed elsewhere) where staff relations were excellent, and I made some good friends, too.

It being cold in Bhutan, a number of ferocious alcoholic drinks were produced amongst which was Bumtang gin which anaesthetised anything it touched, but doubled as lighter fuel and an excellent drain cleaner.

As the Mission was limited to six months, it came as a welcome surprise that I was ‘rotated’ to UNICEF Mozambique as Head of Watsan and I thus travelled through the UK to collect suitable clothing - and added the clock to my travel bag.

*****

Maputo in Mozambique was very different from almost anything I had encountered before. It was coming to the end of a brutal civil war, so there were times when we had too much to do, and at other times, we had to wait for events to catch up. I had time to play some contract bridge, and meet a whole raft of new people, including a member of the US Embassy, which became very important to me.

I had had time to clean up the clock which I suspected had been filched from the US Armed Forces in Viet Nam at the end of the war. When I had opened it up and cleaned most of the parts of the clock, it became apparent that it had been supplied by The Chelsea Clock Company of Boston, Mass. Ah-ha ! If I wrote to the Company in Boston (USA), perhaps they would be able to fill in some of the missing provenance ? Taking that a step further, I asked our new acquaintance from the US Embassy if they had any reference books where I could get the company’s coordinates ? They could; they did; and I obtained a full address.

Now occurred a series of events which worked for me for once. I wrote a letter to the company, quoting the data I had seen scribed on the inner casing of the clock, asking if they could identify where it was sold; to whom; when; and while we were on the subject, the hair spring appeared to be damaged – would they be able to supply a replacement ? I got an immediate response from the company indicating that it had been sold to the US Navy in – I believe – 1943, and probably installed on an MTB (Motor Torpedo Boat). That would explain how it came to be in Saigon at the end of the US-Viet Cong war.

The company said that sending a hairspring might not be advisable as it would likely be damaged in transit, but if I were to send the clock to them, they would install a new hairspring, free of cost. I handed the clock to a niece who was returning to the USA, and she very kindly arranged for it to be sent to Boston, and it found its way back to me shortly thereafter.

I mounted it on the kitchen wall at home in Britain in about 1991 and it has accompanied us ever since. It has never been re-cleaned (the Chelsea Company sent it back clean as a whistle), and the case is only opened for a very short while, once per week, for winding. It has provided a companionable but quiet tick-tock for an almost uninterrupted 30 years.

******

Ken Gibbs can be contacted via kengibbs1941@gmail.com

Click here to read more stories by Ken Gibbs