The AIF Project

Andrew James WATSON

Regimental number3241
Place of birthDublin, Ireland
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationCarpenter
AddressBrisbane, Queensland
Marital statusMarried
Age at embarkation35
Height5' 5.5"
Weight142 lbs
Next of kinWife, Mrs Sophia Watson, Broadwater Road, Mount Gravatt, South Brisbane, Queensland
Previous military serviceServed for 18 months in the 2nd Middlesex Volunteers, England.
Enlistment date28 September 1915
Place of enlistmentBrisbane, Queensland
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name25th Battalion, 7th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/42/2
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Brisbane, Queensland, on board HMAT A50 Itonus on 30 December 1915
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll2nd Pioneer Battalion
FateKilled in Action 5 August 1916
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France

Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.

The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra.

On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours.

After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
173
Other details

War service: Western Front

Embarked Brisbane on HMAT 'Itonus', 30 December 1915.

Embarked Alexandria and proceeded to join British Expeditionary Force, 21 March 1916; disembarked Marseilles, 27 March 1916.

Admitted to 24th General Hospital, Etaples, 17 May 1916; discharged to segregation camp, 23 May 1916. Transferred to 2nd Pioneer Bn and taken on strength, 9 June 1916.

Killed in action, 5 August 1916.

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, WATSON Andrew James

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