Pvt Clarence Raymond Watts #859622 was born Jan 3, 1890 to Rev. Aaron and Emma Watts in Storrington, Frontenac, ON near the John Thorne and John Abbit families. In 1901, his family lived in Hatley, Quebec where he was the second of six children including Harold, Sarah, Mabel, Aletta and Lean. He later lived at Wolfe Island. At the time of his death, his father lived in Merrickville, ON.
Pvt Watts enlisted on Jan. 24, 1916 in Winnipeg, MB at the age of 26 and assigned to the 179th Battalion Cameron Highlanders. He was 5’5, 39” chest, single, brown eyes and dark hair. He listed his father Rev. A.O. Watts of Merrickville, ON as his next of kin, his occupation as book-keeper and his religion as Methodist. He was living at 1934 Hamilton St. Regina, SK at the time of his enlistment and had served with the 95th Sask Rifles for a year and was part of the local militia. His $20 monthly pay went to his mother, Emma Augusta Watts of Merrickville, ON. His medals and decorations went to his mother, Emma who also received a Memorial Cross and his father received the plaque and scroll.
On Sept. 22, 1916, he wrote a will leaving everything to his mother. On Oct 13, 1916, Pvt. Watts sailed on the SS Saxonia while with the 179th from Halifax and arrived in Liverpool. He was then assigned to the 17th reserve battalion in East Sandling. On Nov. 7, 1916, he wrote another will leaving everything to his mother. On Nov. 12, 1916, he was assigned to the 43rd battalion and left for France.
On Oct. 25, the 43rd battalion noted the Scouts Battalion had laid tapes along the duckboards leading from their objective back to their support position. These tapes were described as having inestimatable value. At 1am on Oct. 26, it was raining extremely hard and the Commander for the A company got injured. This created chaos and it was unknown if the A company was in position for Zero Hour at 5:40am. However, they were and the attack began at 5:40am. B company lost both their Lts at the beginning and the battalion could be seen slowly moving around two formidable pillboxes when dawn broke at 7am. They took heavy machine gun fire and artillery and became stalled. The 52nd retreated back to their original position while the 58th went around the pillbox to their objective. However, they got an order to go back and so came back. All companies lost their Lts and were very disorganized in this battle. However, the 43rd took the ridge on the other side of the pillbox and sent a flare requesting support at 10am. Both the 58th and the 52nd were sent again and by noon they were in position and helped secure the ridge. By 7:30pm, the SOS was called off and position was settled. No German counterattack ever came.
Pvt Watts died on Oct. 26, 1917 while with the 43rd battalion at Passchendale. His body was never found and he is memorialized on the Menin Gate Memorial in West Vlaanderen, Belgium with the other 54, 613 men listed on the panels. His name is located on panels 24-26-28-30. The Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, often referred to simply as the Menin Gate, bears the names of more than 54,000 soldiers who died before 16 August 1917 and have no known grave. He is commemorated on page 346 of the Book of Remembrance.
Pvt Watts enlisted on Jan. 24, 1916 in Winnipeg, MB at the age of 26 and assigned to the 179th Battalion Cameron Highlanders. He was 5’5, 39” chest, single, brown eyes and dark hair. He listed his father Rev. A.O. Watts of Merrickville, ON as his next of kin, his occupation as book-keeper and his religion as Methodist. He was living at 1934 Hamilton St. Regina, SK at the time of his enlistment and had served with the 95th Sask Rifles for a year and was part of the local militia. His $20 monthly pay went to his mother, Emma Augusta Watts of Merrickville, ON. His medals and decorations went to his mother, Emma who also received a Memorial Cross and his father received the plaque and scroll.
On Sept. 22, 1916, he wrote a will leaving everything to his mother. On Oct 13, 1916, Pvt. Watts sailed on the SS Saxonia while with the 179th from Halifax and arrived in Liverpool. He was then assigned to the 17th reserve battalion in East Sandling. On Nov. 7, 1916, he wrote another will leaving everything to his mother. On Nov. 12, 1916, he was assigned to the 43rd battalion and left for France.
On Oct. 25, the 43rd battalion noted the Scouts Battalion had laid tapes along the duckboards leading from their objective back to their support position. These tapes were described as having inestimatable value. At 1am on Oct. 26, it was raining extremely hard and the Commander for the A company got injured. This created chaos and it was unknown if the A company was in position for Zero Hour at 5:40am. However, they were and the attack began at 5:40am. B company lost both their Lts at the beginning and the battalion could be seen slowly moving around two formidable pillboxes when dawn broke at 7am. They took heavy machine gun fire and artillery and became stalled. The 52nd retreated back to their original position while the 58th went around the pillbox to their objective. However, they got an order to go back and so came back. All companies lost their Lts and were very disorganized in this battle. However, the 43rd took the ridge on the other side of the pillbox and sent a flare requesting support at 10am. Both the 58th and the 52nd were sent again and by noon they were in position and helped secure the ridge. By 7:30pm, the SOS was called off and position was settled. No German counterattack ever came.
Pvt Watts died on Oct. 26, 1917 while with the 43rd battalion at Passchendale. His body was never found and he is memorialized on the Menin Gate Memorial in West Vlaanderen, Belgium with the other 54, 613 men listed on the panels. His name is located on panels 24-26-28-30. The Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, often referred to simply as the Menin Gate, bears the names of more than 54,000 soldiers who died before 16 August 1917 and have no known grave. He is commemorated on page 346 of the Book of Remembrance.