Exhibit 5.1

                          [Amphenol Corporation Letterhead]




                         September 18, 1997




Amphenol Corporation
358 Hall Avenue
Wallingford, CT 06492

Ladies and Gentlemen:

         I am General Counsel for Amphenol Corporation, a Delaware corporation
(the "Company"), and have advised the Company in connection with the preparation
and filing by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), of a Registration
Statement on Form S-8 (the "Registration Statement") relating to the issuance by
the Company of 1,200,000 shares of the Company's Common Stock, par value $.001
per share (the "Shares"), pursuant to the 1997 Option Plan for Key Employees of
Amphenol Corporation and Subsidiaries (the "1997 Plan").

         I have reviewed the corporate action of the Company in connection with
the issuance and sale of the Shares and have examined, and have relied as to
matters of fact, upon originals or copies, certified or otherwise identified to
my satisfaction, of such corporate records, agreements, documents and other
instruments and such certificates or 


Amphenol Corporation             -2-                      September 18, 1997


comparable documents or oral statements of public officials and of officers 
and representatives of the Company, and have made such other and further 
investigations as I have deemed relevant and necessary as a basis for the 
opinions hereinafter set forth.  In such examination, I have assumed the 
genuineness of all signatures, the legal capacity of natural persons, the 
authenticity of all documents submitted to me as originals, the conformity to 
original documents of all documents submitted to me as certified or 
photostatic copies, and the authenticity of the originals of such latter 
documents.

         Based upon the foregoing, and subject to the qualifications and
limitations stated herein, I hereby advise you that in my opinion the issuance
of the Shares has been duly authorized and, when issued and sold as contemplated
by the 1997 Plan, such Shares will be validly issued, fully paid and
non-assessable.

         I am a member of the Bar of the State of Connecticut and I do not
express any opinion herein concerning any law other than the federal laws of the
United States, the internal law of the law of the State of Connecticut and the
General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware.

         This opinion is rendered to you in connection with the above described
transactions.  This opinion may not be relied upon by you for any other purpose,
or relied upon by, or furnished to, any other person, firm or corporation
without my prior written consent. 



Amphenol Corporation                 -3-                   September 18, 1997

         I hereby consent to the filing of this opinion of counsel as Exhibit
5.1 to the Registration Statement.


                        Very truly yours,
                        

                        /s/ Edward C. Wetmore

                        Edward C. Wetmore
                        General Counsel