William James Watts
Died 12 Oct 1917
- Service number
- WWI 25657 AWMM
- Also known as
- —
- Armed force / branch
- Army AWMM
- Last rank
- WW1 Rifleman AWMM New Zealand Rifle Brigade, 2nd Battalion, C Company AWMM
- War
- World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM
About
- Title
- —
- Forenames
- William James AWMM
- Surname
- Watts AWMM
- Ingoa
- —
- Also known as
- —
- Service number
- WWI 25657 AWMM
- Gender
- Male AWMM
- Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe
- —
- Religion
- —
Images
Documents
About birth
- Birth
- —
- Date of birth
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- Place of birth
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- Birth notes
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- Address before enlistment
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- Post war occupation
- —
- Next of kin
- John Watts (father), Kennedy Road, Napier, New Zealand AWMM
- Relationship status
- —
Wars and conflicts
- War
- World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM
- Campaign
- 1917 AWMM Passchendaele AWMM
- Armed force / branch
- Army AWMM
- Service number
- WWI 25657 AWMM
- Military service
- —
- Promotions/ Postings/ Transfers
- —
Military decorations
- Medals and Awards
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Training and Enlistment
- Military training
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- Branch Trade Proficiency
- —
- Enlistment
- WW1 Unknown AWMM Blacksmith/Civilian AWMM
- Age on enlistment
- —
- Occupation before enlistment
- —
Embarkations
- Embarkation details
- WW1 23 Sep 1916-19 Nov 1916 AWMM
HMNZT 65 AWMM Vessel was Pakeha AWMM Rifleman AWMM 8th Reinforcements 3rd Battalion, G Company AWMM New Zealand Rifle Brigade AWMM
Prisoner of war
- Capture details
- —
- Days interned
- —
- Liberation date
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- POW liberation details
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- Liberation Repatriation
- —
- POW serial number
- —
Medical history
- Medical notes
- Killed in Action, Cause of Death AWMM
Last known rank
- Last rank
- WW1 Rifleman AWMM
New Zealand Rifle Brigade, 2nd Battalion, C Company AWMM - Last rank
- —
Biographical information
- William Watts was the son of John and Theresa Watts, of 9 Kennedy Rd., Napier, New Zealand. AWMM
- I have written a biography of my uncle William James Watts and this is an excerpt
William (his parents called him Will or Willie, he signed his letters “Bill“) was born in Napier on 21 May 1895 and at the time of his enlistment, May 30 1916, his occupation was listed as a Fireman and he lived at the Napier Fire Station, although in some documents he was listed as a blacksmith. He had been apprenticed to his father (my grandfather) learning the trade of a blacksmith. So when William turned 21 he enlisted to fight in World War I. He had wanted to enlist earlier but his father refused to let him join up until he was 21.
He was the eldest of four sons and a daughter (William, Wally (Walter), Roy, and my father Artie (Arthur) and Millie (Mildred) of John and Theresa Watts, 9 Kennedy Road, Napier, and was just 22 years of age when he died on October 12, 1917. The letters and postcards he sent home were simply from ‘somewhere in France’.
William was part of the Seventeenth Reinforcements of the New Zealand expeditionary forces and left aboard HMNZ Transport 65 (SS “Pakeha”), setting sail from Wellington on Saturday, September 23, 1916. He was in ‘G’ Company, Infantry, his rank was a rifleman, service number 25657, his regiment the New Zealand Rifle Brigade. He signed "for the duration of the war". His height was 5'9", weight 135lbs, dark hair, grey eyes, dark complexion, Church of England religion, chest 35 inches expanded 35 1/2 inches.Public - Christine - Other relative - 8 August 2017 - Military personnel papers and from family
About death
- Death
- 12 Oct 1917 AWMM
Age 22 AWMM - Date of death
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- Age at death
- —
- Place of death
- —
- Cause of death
- Killed in Action AWMM
- Death notes
- —
- Cemetery
- —
- Cemetery name
- —
- Grave reference
- —
- Obituary
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- Memorial name
- —
- Memorial reference
- —
Memorial
- Memorial name
- Tyne Cot Memorial, Tyne Cot Cemetery, Zonnebeke, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium AWMM
Related objects
Sources
- External links
- Military personnel file
https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R22017137
Further Reference - A Street Near You record
https://astreetnearyou.org/person/848320/-
Further Reference - Commonwealth War Graves Commission Casualty record
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/848320
Further Reference - Passchendaele Museum Profile
https://archives.passchendaele.be/en/soldier/4428
Further Reference - New Zealand War Graves Trust
https://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/
Further Reference
- Military personnel file
- References
- Macdonald, L. (1978). Passchendaele : the story of the third Battle of Ypres 1917. London : Penguin Books.
- Harper, G. (2000). Massacre at Passchendaele : the New Zealand story. Auckland, N.Z.: HarperCollins.
- New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force. (1917). Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force Volume II. Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
41: 36 - Beattie, P.J. & Pomeroy, M. (2013-2020). Onward : portraits of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (vols 1-5). Auckland, New Zealand: Fair Dinkum Publications
Vol. 1: Includes portrait - HMNZT 65 - Pakeha : the journal of the Seventeenth Reinforcements H.M.N.Z. Transport 65 (S.S."Pakeha"). Pilling, E.G. (Ewen George), editor. McGhie, J.G. (John Gordon), editor. Bell, R.B. (Robert Brown), editor. -- At sea : Officers and men, 17th Reinforcements : 1916.
- Austin, W. (1924). The official history of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade (The Earl of Liverpool's Own). Wellington, N.Z.: L T Watkins.
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