WATTS, Francis
| Service Number: | 3484 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 15 January 1917 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 5th Machine Gun Battalion |
| Born: | Deptford, London, England, October 1886 |
| Home Town: | Mayfield, Waratah, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Boilermaker |
| Died: | Mayfield, New South Wales, Australia, 1 November 1966, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Sandgate General Cemetery, Newcastle, NSW CATHOLIC 2-43. 51. |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 15 Jan 1917: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3484, 53rd Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Jan 1917: | Involvement Private, 3484, 53rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Anchises embarkation_ship_number: A68 public_note: '' | |
| 24 Jan 1917: | Embarked Private, 3484, 53rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Anchises, Sydney | |
| 22 Mar 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 3484, 5th Machine Gun Battalion, 2nd MD, medically unfit due to wounding at Peronne |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Evan Evans
From Gary Mitchell, Sandgate Cemetery.
Served and suffered during The Great War, resting at Sandgate Cemetery.
57 years ago today, on the 3rd November 1966, Private Francis Watts, 5th Australian Machine Gun Battalion (Reg No-3484), boilermaker from Fawcett Street, Mayfield, New South Wales and 61 Carrington Street, Mayfield, N.S.W., was laid to rest at Sandgate Cemetery, age 80? CATHOLIC 2-43. 51.
Born at Deptford, London, England about October 1886 to William and Mary Elizabeth Watts; husband of Mary Elizabeth Watts nee Hamilton (married 1913, Balmain North, N.S.W., died 13.4.1947, Mayfield, N.S.W., age 76) of 22 Stephen Street, Balmain, N.S.W. and "Oakland", Lenthal Street, Kensington, N.S.W., Francis enlisted on the 8th January 1917 with the 53rd Battalion at Newcastle, N.S.W.
Unit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales on board HMAT A68 Anchises on the 24th January 1917.
Wounded in action - 31.8.1918 (GSW right thigh, Peronne, France).
Invalided to England 6.9.1918.
Embarked from England to Australia 12.12.1918.
Francis was invalided home on the 1st February 1919, being discharged medically unfit on the 22nd March 1919.
Nothing located on Trove regarding enlistment, wounds, returning home, etc.
I have not located Mr. Watts’s name inscribed on any known War Memorial or Roll of Honour.
I have placed poppies and a 1914-1918 WAR label at Francis’s gravesite in remembrance of his service and sacrifice for God, King & Country.
Not officially commemorated.
Contact with descendants would be greatly appreciated.
For more detail, see “Forever Remembered “
http://www.commemoratingwarheroes.com/cemetery-main-search/
Lest We Forget.
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