The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1098) Company Sergeant Major Joseph Charles Watson, 10th Battalion, AIF, First World War

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Richard Cruise, the story for this day was on (1098) Company Sergeant Major Joseph Charles Watson, 10th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

1098 Company Sergeant Major Joseph Charles Watson, 10th Battalion, AIF
DOW 12 May 1917
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 28 July 2014

Today we remember and pay tribute to Company Sergeant Major Joseph Charles Watson.

Watson was born on 10 September 1893 at Hyde Park, Adelaide, to Joseph and Elizabeth Watson. He went to school at Alberton, and from an early age he was a keen sportsman and was highly regarded by those around him.

Aged 17, he made his senior debut for the Port Adelaide Magpies football team and quickly cemented his place in the side. In 1914, Watson was a member of Port Adelaide’s undefeated premiership-winning team. Watson was representing South Australia in a football carnival held in Sydney when he learned that Australia was at war. He returned to Adelaide and enlisted on 11 September at Morphettville Racecourse for service with the 10th Battalion.

In early October, Watson was released from military duties to take part as Port Adelaide defeated Victorian Football League premiers Carlton to become Australian Champions. The 1914 team would later become known as “the Immortals”.

Weeks later Watson embarked with the 10th Battalion aboard the transport ship Ascanius and arrived in Egypt in December. After settling into their new surrounds, the men began training in earnest. Watson missed the battalion’s initial landings on Gallipoli, but reached the peninsula in early May, the same day that his brother, who had enlisted with the 16th Battalion, was killed at a position known as the Bloody Angle.

Watson was promoted to lance corporal in September and after the battalion left Gallipoli was promoted to corporal. The 10th Battalion left Egypt for France, arriving at Marseilles in April 1916.

The battalion spent some time in the “nursery sector” near Armentières, and during this time Watson was promoted to sergeant. The 10th took part in the battle around the village of Pozières in July, during which Watson’s platoon of 35 men was decimated, reduced to only 11 able men. As the senior ranking survivor, Watson rallied the others, and through his encouragement and leadership the reduced platoon held its position until relieved. Watson was consequently Mentioned in Dispatches. After attending a school of instruction in Ypres he was promoted to warrant officer second class.

During the harsh winter of 1916–17 Watson contracted severe pneumonia and was evacuated to England in a dangerously ill condition. By January 1917 he still had not fully recovered, but was so keen to rejoin his battalion that he absented himself from hospital and caught a ship to France. He was brought before the commanding officer and reprimanded for illegally returning to his unit.

In May, the 10th Battalion went into action at Bullecourt. During the attack the Australian artillery was observed to be causing casualties among its own infantry. At some point Watson was hit in the leg by shrapnel and suffered a compound fracture. He was evacuated to a nearby casualty clearing station, but the wound proved too severe and he died on 12 May. He was laid to rest in the Grevillers British Cemetery, France.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with around 60,000 others from the First World War. There is no photograph in the Memorial’s collection to display beside the Pool of Reflection.

This is but one of the many stories of courage and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Company Sergeant Major Joseph Charles Watson, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.