Biography:
Roger Wentworth Watson was born 29 November 1893, the second son of John Williams Watson of Mark's Barn, Crewkerne and then of 33 Avonmore Road, West Kensington. His mother, Edith Deverell Watson, was the daughter of William Latham.
He came to Winchester College from Horris Hill in September 1907 and was in I House, Turners. Roger was Senior Commoner Prefect from 1911-1912, played in Soccer XI in 1912 and for two years in the Cricket 2nd XI team. He left Winchester in the summer of 1912 and in September 1912 he went to King's College, Cambridge. Literature was his great interest, and he had hopes of being a writer one day.
At the outbreak of war he obtained a commission in 8th Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps, one of the New Army Battalions formed by volunteers late in 1914. He was promoted to Lieutenant in March 1915. 8KRRC was among the first to be sent to France, leaving on 18 May 1915. At Dickebusch, near Ypres they took over a sector of the front line for the first time in their own right. Up to then, they had been attached to the North Midlands Brigade for instruction in trench warfare, but by 5 June were ready for independent operations. On 23 July 8KRRC moved to the Sanctuary Wood area, near Hooge, and here had its first real taste of battle.
Watson died at Hooge on 30 July 1915 (although the CWGC website gives the date of 20 July). 8KRRC were involved in a costly action with several Wykehamists either killed or wounded. At about midnight on the night of 29 July 8KRRC came out of the line and were replaced by 8th Battalion Rifle Corps. 8KRRC then set out for Ypres, with Watson's C Company going into dug-outs near a site known as the "White House". At 3.15 a.m. the site of the old chateau stables exploded with liquid flame pouring from the German trenches, each cloud of flame covering an area of over 100 feet. 8th Rifle Brigade retreated to nearby Zoave Wood, and were joined shortly after by 8KRRC with orders to prepare a counter-attack to recover the lost trenches. The Germans did not follow up their initial success but spent the morning and early afternoon fortifying their positions.
A British counter-attack was launched but relaliatory Geman machine gun fire caused it to fail with 8KRRC finding impossible to leave Zoave Wood. Eventually orders were received to abandon the attack.
Watson's battalion had lost 10 officers, including Watson, and 190 men. The war diary records: 'The losses had been very heavy, including Captain W.J. Davis the adjutant and Lieutenant Watson killed and eight officers wounded... The medical arrangements were entirely inadequate. Dr. Hawkes having been killed, only one doctor was available to cope with over five hundred cases. Great difficulties were experienced in finding and collecting the wounded in the thick woods, and when found in bringing them to dressing station. It being impossible to bring ambulances within nine hundred yards of the first aid station, many men had to remain out, exposed for over twenty-four hours. This, coupled with the fact that the battalion had had no rations for thirty-six hours, and suffered from want of water, caused the loss of many fine riflemen who might have been saved'.
The College Archives include a letter written by Roger's friend Max Cullinan (E 1906-1912) to JT Bramston, a don at Winchester,about Roger's death:
Dear Trant,
You will have heard by now the sad news that Roger Watson has been killed in action – I am writing now to tell you about it. He and I were great friends from Horris Hill days and I feel his loss very much. We were relieved from pretty bad trenches opposite Hooge after a long spell in them – on the night of the 29th July and - very tired – got back to our billets behind Ypres about 2.30am. At 3.15am the Germans attacked the trenches from which we had just been relieved, - they attacked them with liquid fire and took them; - the Rifle Brigade who were in them losing dreadfully in officers and men, - in fact there are only 3 officers left in one battalion of the Rifle Brigade, - perhaps the finest battalion in the whole army. Well we – weary as we were, turned out of our billets and under a tremendous shell fire succeeded in getting into Sanctuary Wood and Zouave Wood just behind the trenches which the Germans had taken and where the battalion Headquarters where, we stayed there all the morning getting heavily shelled and losing men, until 2.45 in the afternoon when the II army commander said we had got to make a counter attack and retake the trenches; it was an impossible task for a brigade decimated as we were to charge across 400 yards of difficult uphill ground to a position which as it turned out was bristling with the enemy’s machine guns.
The 4 colonels, the brigadier and the divisional general were all against it, but higher authorities who were not there, who didn’t know what exactly was the state of things decided that it was to be done, so we tried to attack, got about 100 yards and lost from machine gun and shrapnel fire 53 officers and over two thousand men from our brigade alone. The thing of course was hopeless. I saw Roger just before the attack about 2.30 in the afternoon, and he was looking his old cheery self, almost immediately afterwards he led his men off down a trench at the edge of Sanctuary Wood getting them out ready for the attack, when he was hit in the head by shrapnel, and became unconscious at once, - he died about 3 hours afterwards and was buried that night 30th July in a quiet spot in Sanctuary Wood beside the adjutant who was also killed.
Roger was greatly loved and respected by his men; not a single officer in his company is left and there are very few in the whole battalion. I’ve been made adjutant and have had a fearful lot of work; because a couple of days after that bad show before we had time to reorganise we were put into bad trenches again for 3 days and lost 100 more men from this battalion in there. Please forgive this very gloomy letter but there are facts which the press and generals ignore.