Walter Oswald Watt was born on the 11th of February 1878 in Bournemouth, England. After having emigrated to Australia he had a professional career as a merchant and grazier of Sydney prior to his military career. Watt had begun flying in England in 1911 at the age of 33 and in 1913 he spent several months in Egypt flying a Bleriot aeroplane and from May of 1914 until the outbreak of war he flew his Bleriot from Bleriot's own aerodrome at Buc, in France. When war broke out Watt believed, as did many others, that Britain would remain neutral, and he joined the Aviation Militaire section of the Foreign Legion as a "soldat de deuxieme" which was equivalent to a third class mechanic.

Watt was posted to the Bleriot squadron No30 as a "poilu" or a soldier in the ranks but was known as "capitaine" in the squadron as acknowledgement of the rank he held while in Australia with the Scottish Rifles. In mid April 1915, Watt was transferred to the Maurice Farman squadron, No44. By 1916 Watt transferred to the Australian Flying Corps and was immediately placed as a Captain and flight commander with 1 Squadron AFC. When he joined the Australian Flying Corps, 1 Sqn was without planes and it's future uncertain but with 17 Sqn RFC being transferred to Salonika, 1 Sqn received their BE's and the squadron became operational. Watt was to serve through the Suez and Syrian campaigns flying the BE's and Martinsydes with the squadron until October of 1916, when he was given command of a new scout squadron being formed in Egypt, 2 Sqn Australian Flying Corps.

Watt stated that, "No 2 Squadron was composed ( except for ten of it's ground personnel ) entirely of men who had been of service in Egypt with the LightHorse or with No 1 Squadron, or with both." The manner in which Watt recruited the required men from the Lighthorse is somewhat unique however. Watt along with other 2 Squadron personnel, drove three Crossley Tenders to a lighthorse camp and started yelling out, "Any trades, mechanics or engineers?" After the volunteers were safely seated in the trucks, the volunteers heard someone ask Watt if they should process them through the Lighthorses Orderly Officer, Watts reply was, "No, we have to snatch them!". The volunteers were driven back to were 2 Squadron was stationed and the volunteers which were not chosen were sent back to the Lighthorse camp.

No 2 Sqn landed in England on the 30th of January 1917 and went through training at Harlaxton in 1917 finally receiving their scouts, the pugnacious DH5 scout. The aircraft had the unusual back staggered wings but suffered from poor performance at height which limited the squadron ability to be utilised in the scout role.Watt led the squadron to France on the 21st of September, 1917 just two weeks after 3 Sqn Australian Flying Corps had landed in France. All the 2 AFC machines flew from Harlaxton to St Omer in one day without incident, a record in the British Service. On the trip over Watt in the leading DH5 took off his flight goggles and inserted his monocle to consult a map. While studying the map, his DH5 slipped into a half roll and his monocle fell into the English Channel. Watt moved to the rear of the formation and another pilot navigated the squadron. The next day they flew to Warloy, near their appointed aerodrome of Baizieux.

Watt was to lead the squadron through the Battle of Cambrai where the squadron was used in the ground attack role and later when they re-equipped with the SE5a scout. The squadron insignia on the DH5's was a thin white stripe at the rear of the fuselage, with the coming of the SE5a, the squadron adorned their aircraft with a boomerang insignia. It is thought that Watt was responsible for initiating the very parochial Australian style insignia's and the numerous variations which were to sprout up in England with 5 - 8 (Training) Squadrons AFC. Watt apparently while with the French Aviation Militaire had emblazoned his aircraft with Australian imagery, including the words in gold, "Advance Australia" on the nose of his Farman. 4 Sqn Australian Flying Corps was to adopt the boomerang as their insignia when they arrived in France in January.

In February of 1918, Watt was promoted to Lt Colonel and placed in command of 1 Wing ( Training ) AFC, in England. Watts promotion was lamented by the pilots and squadron members of 2 Sqn, Richard Howard wrote in a letter;

"Also our Major (Major Watt) was going to leave the squadron. He was to become Colonel, in charge of a Wing in England. We all considered him to be the best Squadron Commander in France, so will be very sorry to lose him."

In England, Watt not only had four training squadrons under his command but several ground units as well as the responsibility of supplying the Australian Flying Corps with the men and skills they required in France with the operational squadrons. The aircraft of the training squadrons carried insignia's of emu's, kangaroo's, boomerangs and kookaburra's as well as other more personal markings of the fighting instructors and Watt's own "Papillon" Avro 504. Many of the aces of the Australian Flying Corps were to spend time with 1 Wing as Fighting Instructors training the cadets for the rigours of the Western Front.

One of the early AFC pilots posted to Home Establishment was "Tab" Pflaum. Pflaum flew a white Camel as an instructor with an emu on the side and also flew an Avro 504. Watt had insisted Pflaum paint "TAB" on the side of his personal plane, an Avro 504, in large red letters after suspecting Pflaum in doing a low level raid on Watts headquaters at Tetbury, the halfway point between Leighterton and Minchinhampton. Presumably the large red letters were to aid in future recognition should another low level raid occur from Pflaum, a ceramic Kangaroo was also added to the top fuselage making Pflaum's Avro one of the most distinguishable aircraft in the training squadrons.

The leading AFC ace "Harry" Cobby and Garnet Maley were also instructors in 1 Wings home establishment where they met Watts leadership of talented and young pilots. Cobby wrote, "we [ Garnet Malley and Arthur Cobby ] were stunting round Michinhampton. I in my black and white checked bus, and Malley in his, which was pure white - when the old man Ossie Watt, approached the aerodrome in his Avro. This also had some gold trimming with the pet name "Papillon" in gold lettering along the side. We immediately tucked in our wings in behind his and throttled back and were so close that he would not land. We then looped around him from the side, then from the rear, and then on each side of him just above his top plane. He finally went down and landed, then as he touched the ground we "leap frogged" over him and taxiied in in front of him. When he reached the tarmac he was boiling, but we kept out of his way until sent for."

The usual punishment for instructors for low flying was being sent overseas to France, posts both Cobby and Malley had asked for continually. Watt after consulting G.C Mathews decided to keep the pair as fighting instructors, Watt's reasoning being Cobby's and Malley's method of flying were positive in allaying young cadets fears about the Sopwith Camel and it's reputation as a cadet killer. Watt surmised seeing Ace pilots of the calibre of Cobby and Malley stunt the aircraft at low level, would help reinforce to the young cadets that the Camel could be tamed. Cobby wrote in his autobiography that he and Malley left Watts presence crushed at not being sent back to France.

Oswald Watt after pioneering Australian military aviation and stamping the Australian Flying Corps and it's men in it's early growth with his character was lost to Australian aviation on the 21st of May 1921 in a tragic accident where he drowned while at Bergola Beach, at Newport in Sydney. Written by a member of the AFC after Watts untimely death, " That he was the best commanding officer we have ever served under was the opinion of every officer and man in the Australian Flying Corps. He had every quality to make him a great leader of men - courage, determination, and an immense capacity for work, a stern and just man of discipline, unfailing courtesy to and thoughtfulness for his subordinates, and above all, the greatest factor in leadership, a genius for endearing himself ( without conscious effort ) to all who served under him. As an example of his care for the men he served with, after the War, Watt ran a private repatriation unit from his office in Sydney, to give "his boys" a good start in civilian life.

Before his death Watt had been President of the Australian Aero Club and installed many new safety initiatives including the "Safety First" campaign which resulted in several Acts of Parliament reinforcing better civil aviation standards. Watt's legacy is remembered by the Royal Federation of Aero Clubs of Australia awarding of the Oswald Watt Medal for aviation to aviators who have shown pioneering spirit in aviation. The list of winners of the Oswald Watt Medal reads as a who's who of Australian aviation and includes men such as Fysh and Wackett who Watt served with in 1 Sqn Australian Flying Corps.