Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

# 92 WATSON Alfred                                                  5th Light Horse / 15th Infantry Battalion
 
Alfred Watson was born on the 7th February 1895 in the Brisbane suburb of Kangaroo Point to parents Arriness and Florence Watson. There is no information in the records about his early life but at some point, the family including his elder brother Alexander, relocated to the Pierces Creek locality near Crows Nest. Alf probably worked on the family farm during his teenage years.
 
He reported to the recruiting hall in Crows Nest on 22nd September 1914, some six weeks after war was declared. Alf informed the officer he was 19 years old and produced a handwritten note signed by his parents giving their permission to join the AIF. The officer who signed Alf’s enlistment forms, Lieutenant Munro, was probably an officer in the 3rdDarling Downs Light Horse, part of the Citizens Military Forces. Alf declared that he had served in “B” Troop of the 3rd Darling Downs Light Horse. Once Alf had been passed fit, he made his way by train from Toowoomba to Enoggera where, once he passed the riding test, was taken on by the headquarters section of the 5th Light Horse Regiment as one of the first enlistments, as his low regimental number attests.
 
The 5th Light Horse was a totally Queensland regiment and the unit’s nominal roll lists men with bush skills such as farriers, horse breakers and stockmen amongst the initial enlistments. The Light Horse was organised along the lines of British cavalry units using terms such as regiment instead of battalion, squadron instead of company and troop instead of platoon. After being issued with uniforms and other kit, the regiment with accompanying horses boarded trains at nearby Newmarket Station bound for Liverpool in Sydney.
 
The regimental war diary for this period describes the trains being unloaded at Wallangarra (due the difference in rail gauges, all goods and passengers had to change trains at the Qld/NSW border) and all the horses had to be dipped. The diary records a number of horses dying due to the dipping as well as a number being transferred to the vet hospital. Obviously, the dipping process must have been rather toxic and it is interesting to note that the same diary as the years progressed became more blasé about casualties, both human and equine. The regiment proceeded to Liverpool for a short period of reorganisation before entraining for Woolloomooloo docks where the bulk of the regiment boarded the Transport Ship “Persic” on the 20th and 21st December. Alf however, embarked on another ship “Vestalia” on 19thDecember with the rest of the Headquarters staff. The embarkation roll shows Alf Watson had made an allotment of 3 shillings and sixpence from his daily pay to his mother. This left Alf with 1/6d a day pay as well as one shilling a day deferred (payable on discharge or death).
 
Christmas 1914 was spent at sea in the Great Australian Bight and the 5th LHR arrived in the harbour of Albany, WA on 28th December where other ships of the 2nd Expeditionary Force were assembled. The convoy sailed across the Indian Ocean without incident, although the regimental diary records a number of soldier’s deaths due to common diseases such as measles and mumps. Also, on the voyage more horses died due to the effects of the dip at Wallangarra.
 
The regiment disembarked in Alexandria in Egypt on 1st February 1915 and moved by train to the Light Horse Camps on the outskirts of Cairo. Finally, some serious training could be undertaken as there had been precious little time for this back in Australia. One manoeuvre that was practised was “Cossack Defence” where a party of three men would take up defensive positions while a fourth man held the horses in the rear. After firing a few rounds, all would mount up and gallop away. Patrolling and intelligence gathering became routine, although there was no sign of the enemy. Meanwhile the AIF infantry was practicing for the anticipated landings on the Gallipoli Peninsula in April.
 
When the landings at ANZAC did not go according to plan, the role of the Light Horse, which would have been given the task of wide-ranging patrols and attack across the peninsula changed. By early May, the new plan would see the Light Horse Brigades land at Gallipoli as infantry (something they had not trained for) and without their horses. The 5thLight Horse as part of the 2nd Light Horse Brigade landed at ANZAC on 20th May and began fatigue duties on the beach carrying water and supplies up to the forward positions on the heights.
 
Alf would have witnessed an unusual sight on the 24th May when an armistice was declared across the front so that both Australians and Turks could cross into no man’s land to collect their dead for both humanitarian and sanitary reasons. Fighting resumed at 5:00pm that afternoon.
 
In early June the 5th LHR moved into the frontline at Chatham’s Post. The regimental diary records numerous casualties from Turkish artillery. On the 26th June, “A” Squadron was the spearhead for an attack on Turkish lines named the Balkan Pits. The regimental diary records that the men moved forward gallantly but fire from two British warships offshore fell short of the Turkish positions and amongst the Australians, and this plus artillery fire from the Turkish side contributed to casualties that ran to three pages in the war diary. While Alf was in the firing line, his elder brother Alexander enlisted. On 8th September, Alf was transferred to the 2nd Light Horse Field Ambulance as a driver. Alf’s father, Arriness enlisted that same month, meaning all three men from the family were away at the war.
 
Once the decision to abandon the Gallipoli campaign was reached in November 1915, the numbers of Australian troops were gradually reduced over the next few weeks, culminating in the final evacuations at night in December. The evacuation was heralded as a great success due to the absence of casualties. Most of the troops spend some time on the island of Lemnos which had been the logistical base during the eight months of the campaign before returning to the AIF camps in Egypt.
 
Due to a policy of expansion that had been requested by the British authorities, many of the Light Horse reinforcements in the camps in Egypt were transferred to artillery units as drivers. The infantry, which had no need for drivers of general service wagons on Gallipoli was also looking for experienced drivers and Alf found himself transferred to the 15th Infantry Battalion as a driver on 16th April 1916. Six weeks later, the 15th Battalion embarked at the Egyptian port of Alexandria for a seven-day crossing of the Mediterranean to the French port of Marseilles.
 
The 15th Battalion was part of the 4th Brigade, 4th Division AIF. Once in France, the battalion proceeded to the “nursery sector” of the Western Front near Armentieres to familiarize the men with the routines of trench warfare as practiced by the British. The newly arrived troops rotated in and out of the supports and front line during the first weeks, with periods of rest and recreation in the villages in the rear areas. General Haig, Supreme British commander on the Western Front planned a big push in the south of the British sector through the Somme River valley for the summer of 1916. It was to be the largest battle of the war so far, and was timed to commence on the 1st of July. The attack was a disaster, with the British suffering 60,000 casualties on the first day, 20,000 of whom were killed. In spite of this setback, Haig was determined to push on and the 1st, 2nd and 4th Australian Divisions were moved south from the Armentieres sector to Albert to take part in the Somme offensive. 
 
The village of Pozieres half way between Albert and Bapaume, sat on the highest point of that part of the battlefield, and was the objective given to the Australians. Pozieres village was taken by the 1st Division on 26th July. The second division’s objective was to take a blockhouse which had been built on the site of a windmill in the village of Pozieres. The windmill was finally in Australian hands by the second week in August. The 4th Division took over the position gained and endured a relentless artillery barrage, against which there was little that could be done other than shelter in the shallow trenches and endure the onslaught. Alf may have still be working as driver of general service wagons during the Pozieres and Mouquet Farm campaign.
 
The AIF’s involvement in the Somme campaign of the summer of 1916 came at the expense of 23,000 casualties. The force needed time to recuperate, re-organise and take on reinforcements so the decision was made to relocate the AIF into Belgium. Once recovered sufficiently, divisions moved back to the Somme to relieve British divisions and hold the ground won at such huge cost. The winter of 1916/17 was recorded as one of the harshest on record and the Australians knee deep in freezing mud in the trenches were particularly susceptible to trench foot, influenza and trench fever. On 27th March 1917, Alf reported sick to the Regimental Aid Post. He was moved on to a field ambulance where he was diagnosed with influenza and sent to a hospital at Rouen. Alf’s condition was reassessed and his diagnosis was changed to trench fever, a bacterial infection spread by infected body lice, or chats as the soldiers called them. Alf was loaded onto the Hospital Ship St George for the trip across the English Channel to England where he was admitted into the General Hospital at Bethnal Green.
 
Once recovered, Alf was discharged in May and granted a two-week furlough, after which he reported to the AIF depot at Perham Downs. Alf was placed into the Overseas Training Battalion to prepare him for a return to the Western Front. During periods of leave, men stationed at Perham Downs would walk the two miles to the village of Luggershall to visit local pubs or eat at cafes or tea rooms. On one such leave, Alf met Elsie Stevenson, a resident of Luggershall. A romance blossomed. On 19th August 1917, Alf was apprehended in Luggershall without a leave pass. One month later, Alf and Elsie were married in the village church. They were both 23 years old.
 
Two weeks after the couple married, Alf travelled by train down to Southampton where he boarded a steamer for the crossing back to France and the war. He rejoined his battalion in Belgium and probably took part in an attack on Broodseinde Ridge in the battle of Passchendaele. Illness continued to effect Alf and he spent almost five months in a hospital at Rouen with myalgia, probably a recurrence of trench fever. Alf reported back to the 15th Battalion on 7thJune 1918. While Alf had been in hospital, the situation on the Western Front had markedly changed. A massive German assault launched in March 1918 had driven back the British forces on the Somme as far as the village of Villers Bretonneux, threatening the vital city of Amiens. With the assistance of four AIF divisions, the British held the line as the German assault lost momentum.
 
On 1st June 1918, Lieutenant General John Monash was appointed commander of the AIF in Europe. Monash immediately set about to plan a sharp decisive battle to reclaim the ascendancy of the British Forces. Monash chose as his battlefield a shallow valley near the village of Hamel that was overseen by German observers occupying the Wolfsburg. The plan, utilizing mainly Australian troops, called for a coordinated use of infantry, artillery, aircraft and at the last minute, Mark V tanks. A week-long artillery barrage on the Wolfsburg of high explosive and gas shells accustomed the German defenders to don their gas masks and seek shelter in their dugouts. On the day of the battle, 4thJuly 1918, the gas shells were substituted with smoke shells. The Australian infantry advanced through the harmless smoke, without cumbersome gas masks, supported by aircraft dropping resupplies of ammunition and water. Monash planned for the whole enterprise to take 90 minutes; it in fact took 93 minutes. Alf Watson was advancing with his platoon of “C” Company across the valley in front of Hamel Wood when he was struck by an artillery shell, killing him instantly. His body was brought in from the battlefield for burial by pioneers.
 
Alf’s new wife, Elsie, received the notification of his death as next of kin. For Alf’s mother back in Crows Nest, the news would have been doubly distressing as she had already lost her husband who died of influenza in France. Alf Watson was buried in the Crucifix Corner British Cemetery. His wife did not choose a personal inscription for his headstone. Elsie accepted Alf’s service medals, 1914/15 Star, Empire Medal and Victory Medal.