German ? WW2 Mk III Clockwork Sabotage Delay

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Another German ? Second World War Sabotage Delay for your consideration. This seven day clockwork sabotage fuze is identified in the British publication Enemy Sabotage Equipment (Identification) - May 1945 as a German Mk III model, however this may not definitely be correct.



These timers were used in a variety of sabotage devices including incendiaries, but information regarding their manufacture and deployment is extremely scarce.

The timer uses a single hand for the hour setting, and a seven day dial visible in a window at the 12 hour mark to indicate the day setting. It is set by rotating the central keyed knob to the required time. The timer also has a clutch operated by the pin at 8 o'clock which allows the mechanism to run off. Positive safety is provided by the removable steel key, which becomes locked into the mechanism should the clock run down inadvertently. Unfortunately the safety locking arm is missing.

This example is marked with what I presume is a serial number Bs280. I also know of a Mk VI example with a different Bs number, and would welcome any thoughts as to who or what Bs may signify. Additionally, does anyone recognise the clockwork mechanism, as it was probably adapted for sabotage use from an existing stock clockwork fuze?

The following two pages are extracts from Enemy Sabotage Equipment (Identification) - May 1945

If any other Members have any additional information particularly from other Allied or Axis publications or examples of these devices, it would be most welcome.

Cheers

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[Lefa.]

Good evening,

I'd like to follow up with this old thread in order to find out if the offices that designed these German clockworks (named mk-I to VI in Allied publications) has been finally identified.
In my opinion, they might have been produced only by a couple of agencies, the ones involved in foreign sabotage actions both of the which had their own r&d offices with workshops:

1) R.S.H.A. > amt.VI S.D. Ausland > amt.VI F3
RSHA was the Reich intelligence service, office VI foreign security service (SD Ausland) was the branch dealing with sabotage material for abroad use and the relative actions.
Section VI’s technical office was named amt. VI F3, its laboratories and workshops used to be in a location described in the documents as Douglas str. BERLIN-SCHMARGENDORF: might the Bs of the serial number of the Mark III and VI stand for the above location (notice the capital B)?

2) ABWEHR > abt.II > referat II > Gruppe Technik S
ABWEHR was the Wehrmacht intelligence service, department II group II dealt with sabotage material and actions, operations abroad were performed by local establishments named K.O. (kriegsorganization) followed by the country name (ex. Referat II KO Spainen), the technical office of abt.II was named Gruppe Technik S (Sabotage)

The British nomenclature of this foreign sabotage material followed a timeline, the devices were named progressively according to their recovery date therefore producers and agencies are not consecutive; among the many different models, Mark III and VI are the only ones easily matchable being the same fuze with different clockwork times.
By tracking down the agents – hence the agency – that handled over the material, it might be possible to make a preliminary match between fuzes and design offices.

model / recovery date / agency

- Mark I, Mar 41, ABWEHR
- Mark II, Apr 41, ABWEHR
- Mark III, ? , ?
- Mark IV, Jun 42, ABWEHR
- Mark V, Jan 43, ABWEHR
- Mark VI, ? , ?

I’m missing the recovery information about Mark III and VI, is there anyone that knows or would be able to understand when and where these two models were recovered?
If it turns out that these fuzes were recovered from amt.VI agents instead of abt.II ones, the coincidence between the serial number Bs and the BERLIN-SCHMARGENDORF workshop might be more than a coincidence. Sorry for the lenght.