My Uncle Bill Watson, Navigator - a photo on Flickriver

From my set entitled “The Flight Crew”
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/sets/72157607477197733/
In my collection entitled “Uncle Bill Watson”
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/collections/7215760783...
In my photostream
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/

Hi, All:

I’m back for a day or two. While I was down, I started work on pulling my Uncle Bill’s story together. I have so much stuff. I’ve scanned almost thirty of his letters home. I’ve also scanned letters from my grandmother to Bill, miscellaneous documents, a moving account of Bill’s memorial service, a letter from the chaplain who buried him in Chester and letters to my grandparents from the parents of Bill’s flight crew. The boys died when the Wellington bomber in which they were training ditched into the Irish sea during a training mission.

In January, I will be going to Archives Canada in Ottawa to pull the files on the whole flight crew, as well as the second world war records pertaining to Bill’s friend, Cam Devine, my father, Herb Barber, and Karen’s father, George Pepper. I will also pull the first world war files for my uncles, John and Art Barber, and my great uncle, Wilbert MacDonald. It’ll take a few days of research to go through all the files. I pulled the records for Bill and his crew once before…in early 2003. At that time I photocopied quite a few records, but there are more I should have obtained.

This set of pictures were taken at #1Y Depot in Halifax, just before each of the boys shipped overseas at various times early in 1944. They still hadn’t met each other at this point, and would not meet until they crewed up in May, 1944. These images are photocopies of originals which are in Ottawa. I will try to have the originals duplicated in high quality when I go to the archives.

You’ll see the boys’ formal photos in the flight crew link given above. What a difference.

Over the next month or so, I will post the letters and documents. I think you will find them an interesting account of life in the early 1940s. Bill did a lot of things in a matter of eight or nine months.

I hope you are transported by his story as I was.

My Uncle Bill Watson was born on March 3, 1922 in Grand Valley, Ontario. His mother was Lily Selma Watson, and his father was William Henry Watson. Before enlisting, he worked as a pharmacist’s apprentice in Mount Dennis, Ontario. He attended a Lorne Scots training program at Niagara-on-the-Lake from July to September, 1941

Bill attended #4 Wireless School in Guelph, Ontario, after which he entered service at No. 1 Manning Depot at the CNE grounds in Toronto. Upon leaving basic training, Bill attended #6 Initial Training School at the former normal school in St. James Square, Toronto. He received his officer’s commission after attending #4 Air Observation School in London Ontario (Crumlin)

Bill was chosen to become a navigator which attests to his high marks at Initial Training School. From January 3-16, 1944, Bill was posted at #1Y Depot in Halifax, and he attended #2 Air Gunner Training School in Lachine Quebec from January 16, 1944 to February 11, 1944.

Bill embarked from Halifax on March 5, 1994, and arrived at Greenoch, Scotland on March 14, 1944. From March 15, 1944 to April 18, 1944, Bill was stationed at #3 Personnel Receiving Centre in Bournemouth, Dorset where he awaited advanced postings. From April 18, 1944 to May 24, 1944, he was located at 9 Observer Aircraft Flying Unit, Llandwrog, Wales.

From May 24, 1944 until his death on July 23, 1944, Bill was part of #83 Operational Training Unit at Peplow, Shropshire. He was killed on a night training mission, when his Wellington bomber ditched in the Irish Sea, and he was buried at Blacon Cemetery, Chester on August 11, 1944

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Taken on: November 15, 2008

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Sets appears in: • The Flight Crew

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