I just saw the movie Gallipoli. Fantastic film with a great cast and a shocking ending. Well worth checking it out. There was, however, a small scene in the desert where one character uses his wristwatch to find North. Can anyone tell me how he does this? Thank you!
I think it is a pocket watch and I don’t remember but he explains how he does it as he is doing it. Rewind it and watch it again.
Oh and it’s one of my favorite movies.
Just a guess, but perhaps he was noting the time of day, then checking the location of the sun overhead and figuring from there.
I’ve seen the movie a couple times and always seem to sort of lose interest after a while, then catching the ending. I have almost no recallection of the first 1/2 of the film!
Saw it on cable 
Here’s how you can tell which way is north using a watch and the sun:
http://www.kyes-world.com/sunwatch1.htm
Although I’m not sure if you would have to reverse this when you are in the Southern Hemisphere, as the characters are in the beginning of the movie.
According to Ask Jeeves:
Using a watch as a compass was on the cover of a science tricks book I had as a kid that was written by Martin Gardner.
The preceding posts are correct.
Southern Hemisphere:
Aim 12 at the sun. North is 1/2 way between 12 and the hour hand.
So I assume that if the son is directly overhead, this won’t work…? (until later, that is)
And apropos of nothing in particular, if you know that it’s after noon, hold a stick perpendicular to the ground and look for a shadow coming off it. The shadow points east, so north is 90 degrees left of the shadow.
I learned that off an episode of Shazam! I’m truly ashamed.