Volunteers of Essendon and Flemington, 1914-1918
Lieutenant G W Watson. Source: Dear Annie. The medal ribbons give rise to
some doubt as to the identification. The medal ribbon on the right is the Military
Cross. George Watson didn't win a Military Cross.
Watson G W A/g Sgt 2874 George Williamson 23 Inf Bn 19 Jeweller Single Pres
Address: Brighton Beach, Gordon St, Markinch
Next of Kin: Watson, W, father, Markinch, Gordon St, Brighton Beach
Enlisted: 2 Aug 1915
Embarked: A38 Ulysses 27 Oct 1915
Prior service: 64 Inf Bn, 12 months, Senior Cadets, 2 years.
Born at Kensington, Victoria.
Relatives on Active Service:
Watson-J-R-Gunner-11911 brother DOW
Date of Death: 19/08/1916 Lieutenant 58 Inf Bn
CWGC: "Son of William and Helen Watson, of Gordon St., Brighton Beach, Victoria, Australia".
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Extract from letter written to his cousin Annie:
"C Company 58 Battalion 15 Inf Brigade A5 Div AIF
Life in Egypt at present, Annie is not the best, especially where we are now stationed, all that you see is tents and soldiers. We are camped at a place called Ferry's Post Ismalia along the centre of the Suez Canal, but on the Siberian side, we use punts to get across the Canal which were made by he Naval Bridging Train. We manage to get down and have a swim every day, and it is a grand sight to watch a large liner going through. For the last month we have been in the No man's land, out in the trenches, 15 miles from the Canal, the life there was awful and it was no fun waiting for the Turks to come although we didn't expect any. The water was our worst enemy, only allowed one bottle a day and this was always warm, the heat being something awful, we were unable to work during the day. The papers in Cairo said it was 110 degrees in the shade there, for a week, so I think it must have been 120 degrees here. It was impossible to sleep during the day on account of perspiring I used to be in my dug-out with only my trousers on and one would think to look at me, I had just come out of a bath......
Charlie McFadyn went away about a month ago so I expect he will be well up in the line by now....
From your loving cousin George.
Source: Dear Annie, pp 23-24 |
War Service Commemorated
Flemington Presbyterian Church *
In Memoriam
WATSON.-A tribute to the memory of our deeply
mourned friend, Lieut. G. W. Watson, "Markinch,"
Gordon street, Brighton, late of Kensington.
Killed in action, France.
Duty nobly done. -(A. Spence and L. Stelling*.)
* Leslie Stelling, brother of Stelling-G-Pte-1960
Family Notices. (1916, September 13). The Argus
(Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 1.
Retrieved November 19, 2015, from
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1623901