WATSON, George Albert
| Service Number: | 5781 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 27th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Adelaide, South Australia, date not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Norwood (SA), South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Warehouse man |
| Memorials: | Norwood Primary School Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 12 Aug 1916: | Involvement Private, 5781, 27th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Ballarat embarkation_ship_number: A70 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Aug 1916: | Embarked Private, 5781, 27th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ballarat, Adelaide |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Adelaide Botanic High School
Watson Albert George was born in 1897 at Colliver street in Norwood South Australia. He was single at the time of enlisting, and had a mother called Watson Mary Briston who was his next to kin. Watson worked as a warehouse man before enlisting on the 23rd of May 1916 at the age of 18 and 1 month. Watson was described on his medical examination to have a medium complexion, brown eyes and brown hair. It was also noted that he was 5.5 feet tall at the time of enlisting.
He embarked on the HMAT A68 Anchises on the 28th of August 1916 and joined the 15th battalion. On the 19th of February 1917 Watson was taken on strength and moved out of the 15th battalion and into the 27th battalion.
On the 20th of September 1917 victory was claimed at the battle of Menin road as Watson and the rest of the his division was part of the first wave of the attack with the 2nd division. Shortly after on the 4th of October the 27th battalion also helped successfully capture Broodseinde.
Watson was taken to hospital on the 11th of March 1918 to recover from sickness, re-joining his unit on the 27th of march 1918 after spending 16 days to recover.
The 27th battalion participated in battle and fought the German spring offensive to turn them back on the 27th of April 1918. After getting sick Watson was taken to hospital for 5 days from the 12th of march to the 17th of march before recovering and re-joining his unit. They proceeded to attack Morlancourt on the 10th of June before Watson was taken to hospital suffering from another sickness for 13 days from the first of July to the 14th.
After Watson had recovered and re-joined the 27th battalion he fought as part of the first wave in the battle of Aimens on the 8th of August. As a result of the battle they were able to capture over 200 prisoners and various weaponry. In the unit's and Watson’s final battle Watson was wounded in action on 3rd October 1918 fighting to break the Beaurevoir line as he was shot in the right leg and back, due to these injuries it was decided that he was unfit to remain in the army and he was dispatched.
Afterwards Watson returned to Australia from England and received 2 medals: British war medal, and the victory medal.