John Watt - Link to Bo'ness
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Second Lieutenant, 6th Battalion attached to 4th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment, 88th Infantry Brigade, 29th Division.
Age: 27
Date of death: 12.4.18
Buried: Ploegsteert Memorial Panel 5
Family history: One of three sons and a daughter of Charles and Agnes Watt, 122 Harriett Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba. He was born in South Queensferry. The family emigrated to Canada when he was in his teens and John was working as an accountant with the Imperial Oil Company in Vancouver, British Columbia. He enlisted while in the UK at the Canadian Camps at Shorncliffe on 14 September 1915 stating that he had 5 months service with the 19th Company Canadian Army Service Corp. This was one of the British Columbia based units established to provide transport and supply services to the Canadian Territorials. He was assigned to the Canadian 5th General Hospital as a driver and went with them to Salonika in December 1915 and spent two years there retuning to the UK after he was accepted for officer training. He was gazetted as a Second Lieutenant and joined the 6th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment on 26 September 1917.
Action leading to his death
The German offensive known as Operation Georgette and the Battle of Lys to the British, opened on 9 April 1918. This was the German attempt to break through to the channel ports and split the French from the British. The 4th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment as part of 88th Brigade took part in the Battle of Messines from 10 April to 11 April and in blocking the German advance on the important communication centre at Hazebrouck. On the 9th April the Germans broke through at Armentieres and the Battalion as part of 88th Brigade was deployed and took up positions south of the village of La Creche and blocked the German advance.
On the 12 April they were heavily bombarded and the War Diary records: ‘Heavily bombarded, many casualties. 2nd Lieut. J H Watt killed and 2nd Lieut. C H Gorrie wounded.’ John would have been buried and his body was subsequently lost. He is listed on the Ploegsteert Memorial.
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