WATSON, Thomas
(Service number 7/1426)
| First Rank | Trooper | Last Rank | Trooper |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 13 May 1893 | Place of Birth | Liverpool, England |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | Age | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | |||
| Occupation | Fellmonger | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | T. WATSON (father), Fairfields, Liverpool, England | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | 6th Reinforcements | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | Canterbury Mounted Rifles | ||
| Date | 14 August 1915 | ||
| Transport | C/o Mrs Horwell, Sophia Street, Timaru | ||
| Embarked From | Wellington | Destination | Suez, Egypt |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | Canterbury Infantry | ||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | |||
Award Circumstances and Date
No information
Prisoner of War Information
| Date of Capture | |
|---|---|
| Where Captured and by Whom | |
| Actions Prior to Capture | |
| PoW Serial Number | |
| PoW Camps | |
| Days Interned | |
| Liberation Date |
Death
| Date | 30 July 1961 | Age | 68 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Avondale | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Waikumete Cemetery, Auckland | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
Thomas Watson was born on 13 May 1893 at Liverpool, England (as detailed in his personnel record). When he enlisted with the New Zealand Forces, he was a fellmonger at Timaru. Single, he named his father as next-of-kin – T. Watson, Fairfields, Liverpool, England. Trooper T. Watson embarked with the Canterbury Mounted Rifles of the 6th Reinforcements per the “Tofua”, departing from Wellington on 14 August 1915 for Suez, Egypt.
T. Watson, 7/1426, Timaru, returned home from Egypt in April 1919 on the troopship Kaikoura (Daft 230), which was due on 17 April 1919. Thomas Watson married Jessy Batty in New Zealand. It appears that Jessy Batty, who came to New Zealand from England in 1913, was a niece of George Batty who resided at Geraldine. In 1919, Jessy was in Christchurch with George Ernest Batty and his wife. Thomas and Jessy Watson had two daughters. Fo some years they resided in Christchurch,, moving to Auckland by the 1940s.
Thomas Alexander Watson, a retired Auckland City Council employee, died on 30 July 1961 at Avondale, Auckland, aged 68. He was buried in the services section of Waikimete Cemetery. Jessy died in October following, also aged 67, and was cremated at Waikumete.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [31 October 2021]; Timaru Herald, 2 April 2021, (Papers Past) [12 October 2021]; Waikumete Cemetery record (Auckland Council) [31 October 2021]; Waikumete Cemetery headstone transcription (Auckland Council) [31 October 2021]
External Links
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Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG
Currently Assigned to
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Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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