Name
John Malcolm Watson
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
11/04/1917
30
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Captain
Australian Infantry, A.I.F.
15th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
VILLERS-BRETONNEUX MEMORIAL
France
Headstone Inscription
N/A
UK & Other Memorials
Digswell House Australian Hospital Memorial, St John's Church, Digswell
Pre War
John Malcom Watson, the son of William and Janet Watson, lived in Brisbane, Queensland and worked as a Clerk.
His mother lived at Collegedale Zillmere Road, Nudgee, Queensland.
Wartime Service
He enlisted on 12 February 1915 as 2nd Lieutenant with the 15th Battalion, 11th Reinforcement.
His unit embarked from Brisbane, Queensland on board HMAT A48 Seang Bee on 2 October 1915. He was promoted to Lieutenant and then Captain. Initially it was believed that he might have been taken prisoner but unofficial testimony from those who were in the same unit suggest he was killed instantaneously by a "whizz bang" shell in "No Man's Land" near the German line at Bullecourt on 11 April 1917.
He has no known grave and his name is commemorated on Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
aif.adfa.edu.au, Australian War Memorial
