William James Watson was born on 4 December 1892 in Swansea. His parents were James and Alice Jane Watson.

The first record of William is in the 1901 Census; he was living with his parents, a brother and 2 sisters at 4 Firm St, North Hill Road, Swansea. His father James was working as a Dock Labourer.

William's father died in 1905 and by the time of the 1911 census, the family were still living on Firm Street. By that time William was 18 years old and was working as a Domestic Coachman.

William joined the Territorial Force in 1910, possibly to bring in some additional income for his family. In August 1914, at the start of the Great War, he was called up and other than some brief periods of leave in 1914 and 1915, he would have seen little of Swansea and his family until he was demobilized; most likely in March/April 1919.

After returning from the War, William took a job as a Porter on the London & North Western Railway in Swansea. Shortly after (between Jun and Aug 1919), he joined the Swansea Brach of the National Union of Railwaymen.

William married Daisy Harvey on 9 November 1919 and according to his post-war service papers, they had 3 children, Phyllis May (1920), Leslie James (1921) and Gwyneth (1927). His papers also gave his trade as a Saddler and address as 14 Margarets Terrace, Sketty, Swansea.

By the time of the 1939 Register, William, Daisy and 2 children were living at 3 Ceiriog Rd, Swansea. William was working as a checker on the Great Western Railway and was also a member of 81 Brigade, Royal Artillery.

His Great-Great-Grand-daughter added; The only stories I know about William is mainly post war. He worked on the railways in Swansea where he unfortunately lost an arm. This did not stop him from becoming a gardener and a carpenter later in life however - my mum still has a table that he made from scratch.

She continued; He rejoined the Territorials [in 1921] just a month before my grandfather Leslie was born. Interesting to know he served until 1936 as I know Leslie went on to serve in WWII.

William James Watson passed away at the age of 68 in Swansea.

William James Watson joined the 1st Welsh (Howitzer) Brigade between May and August 1910 (shortly after his 17th birthday) and was given the number 514. Unfortunately, his service record has not survived, but using the surviving scraps of information available, it is possible to piece together some of his service.

William and his family lived in Swansea, the home of the 1st Glamorgan Battery. It is therefore likely that he was a member of this unit right through to the start of the War.

At some point after joining, William took a military trade as a Saddler - a saddler maintained and renewed tack and saddlery for the numerous horses in a gun battery. A battery of field guns had around 200 horses. Given that batteries were frequently in action for weeks, even months, at a time, tack in particular degraded fairly quickly. Saddlers worked closely with the Drivers to maintain all the tack and saddlery in the wagon lines while the guns were in action on the gun position.

As a member of the Territorial Force, William would have attended regular evening drill sessions as well as annual summer camps. When War was declared in August 1914, it is likely that William, along with the rest of the Brigade, had just arrived on Salisbury Plain for their annual summer camp.

The Brigade quickly returned to Swansea and then moved immediately to Shrewsbury where the Welsh Territorial Division concentrated. After about 3 weeks, the Division moved again to Northampton where they trained until December 1914.

Shortly before Christmas 1914, the Brigade moved to Cambridge where they remained until May 1915 when they moved to Bedford.

William’s Medal Index Card confirms that he, along with the rest of the Brigade, travelled from Southampton to Le Havre on 22 November 1915. From there they moved to the Somme area, where they underwent further training, including a period in the front-line South-East of Albert (an area that marked the southern edge of the Somme battlefield just 6 months later).

Just before Christmas 1915, the Brigade withdrew from the front-line and in January 1916, received orders to rejoin the rest of the 53rd Welsh Division in Egypt.

There is currently no proof that William travelled with the Brigade to Egypt, however it is very likely that this was the case. If so:

The Brigade sailed from Marseilles to Alexandria in Feb 1916 and moved to Beni Salama, North of Cairo to acclimatise and meet up with the rest of the Welsh Division (who had taken terrible losses in Gallipoli). During this period, they had plenty of spare time and many of them took the opportunity to visit Cairo.

In May 1916, the Brigade took over a sector of the defences of the Suez Canal near Ismalia. This was hot and dull work and not much happened. Later in the year, General Murray decided attack was the best form of defence and in November 1916 they started the hot, thirsty and difficult march across the Sinai Desert.

In 1917, the Brigade was involved in the 3 Battles of Gaza and the victorious march into Jerusalem and in 1918, they pushed the Turkish Army back through Palestine and the Judaen Hills until the Armistice with the Turkish Army. The last phase of the war was marked with terrible sickness - Malaria killed many more men than action.

The Brigade finally returned to Alexandria for a victory parade and started to return home to demobilise in Feb/Mar 1919.

Whilst it is not certain exactly where William served overseas, a post-War photo of him in uniform gives an important clue of how long he was overseas. On his lower fore-arm, he is proudly wearing 4 blue chevrons – each chevron recognizing a year of overseas service.

For his service in the Great War, Saddler Corporal William James Watson was awarded the 1914/15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.

William rejoined the Territorials on 18 May 1921 with the new number 740346 and continued to serve until January 1936. He was also awarded the Territorial Efficiency Medal in May 1922 to recognise his long and good service.