Captain Herbert G. Watson. DFC, MC and bar

Name Herbert Gillis Watson Date of Birth 30th March, 1889 Place of Birth Dunedin, New Zealand Occupation Depot Manager Date of Enlistment 28th October 1914 Place of Enlistment Sydney, Australia Flying Unit 4 Sqn AFC Previous Unit A.M.T.S and A.A.S.C Service Australian Flying Corps Theatres France AIF Rank Captain Awards DFC, MC and bar Victories 11 aircraft and 3 balloons Nickname - AIF Fate Returned To Australia Date of AIF Fate 21st November 1918 Final Rank - Date of Death - Place of Death - Cause of Death - Notes Herbert Watson was the highest scoring New Zealand ace in the Australian Flying Corps.

Herbert Gillis Watson was born on the 30th of March 1889 at Caversham in Dunedin, New Zealand and was working as a depot manager in Sydney before the war broke out. Originally enlisting in the Australian Army Service Corps, he transferred to the Australian Flying Corps in 1917 and was posted to 4 Squadron AFC on the 5th of February 1918.

Watson, along with Cobby was to earn a name for attacking balloons and between the pair they would regularly go on patrols to destroy the balloons of the Armentieres line. Balloon busting was a dangerous sport in World War 1, the German anti aircraft batteries were highly efficient and accurate especially at ranges marked by the balloon. The balloon would hang between 3000 and 4000 feet above the ground and the observer swinging in a wicker basket underneath would jump in a parachute at the first sign of an attack. On June 1st 1918, Watson shot through the ropes of a descending German observers parachute.

The 25th of June saw Watson and Cobby flying as a pair looking for trouble when below them at 9,000 ft they saw three Pfalz Scouts which they engaged. Watson despite chasing the Pfalz doggedly was unable to shoot it down, while Cobby shot the top wing of the Pfalz he targeted. A mile away from the original engagement the pair came across an AGO aircraft and they both dived upon it. Cobby overshot his initial dive on the machine but Watson came in close to the AGO and shot it down out of control to a crash south east of Estaires.

On the 1st of June Watson with Cobby attacked a balloon, Cobby flamed it and together they attacked the protecting flight of enemy scouts. In this engagement Watson shot down an Albatros out of control. On June 7th, Watson set fire to an enemy balloon while on the 17th of June Cobby and Watson dived on a pair of Pfalz Scouts and both shot down their respective target, Watson flaming his.

On the 26th of June 1918, Watson was part of a thirteen aircraft flight led by Captain Cobby over Armentieres at 15,000 ft. When below the Australian formation by 2,000 ft passed five Pfalz Scouts. Cobby with King and Watson following dived on the aircraft, King taking the top one, Watson the rear and Cobby chasing the two that broke for the German lines. All three pilots claimed a victory, with Watson and Kings targets being flamed and falling near Armentieres and Harboudin.

In another engagement Cobby and Watson while flying over La Bassee at 6000 feet noticed five Pfalz Scouts flying west. The pair climbed over the clouds and flew toward the enemy. With good judgment they dived through the clouds and came out above and to the east of the enemy formation but they noticed a flight of four Fokker Triplanes in the area. The pair dived on the Pfalz Scouts and Watson sent the Pfalz he attacked spinning out of control with Cobby flaming the aircraft he attacked. The pair had to dive down to ground level to escape the Pfalz Scouts and the Fokker Triplanes which tried to join in the fray.

Watson eventually became the Flight Commander with B Flight, taking over from Captain Garnet Malley who was posted to Home Establishment with 1 Wing AFC as a fighting instructor. Cobby noted;

"Also of interest was the promotion of Gillis-Watson to command "B" Flight in place of Malley. As with myself in the early days, the C.O. demanded many things of the prospective flight commanders that were entirely redundant to the job of leading fighter pilots into action, and Watson had been passed over once before. Sheer merit and ability could not be replaced by any form of smugness, however, so Watson became a Captain and a flight commander."

Watson was a skilled and daring pilot who would often fly in the company of Cobby and King in attempts to rummage up planes or balloons and hence trouble. At the end of the war Watson had 14 victories to his credit , making him the highest scoring New Zealander in the AFC, the fourth ranking New Zealand Ace and the fourth highest ranking in 4 Squadron AFC. He also had been awarded the DFC in mid July of 1918. Watson returned to Australia and bred racehorses in Victoria until his death in the 1940's.

Victory information taken from "Above The Trenches : A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915 - 1920", Christopher Shores, Norman Franks and Russell Guest, 1990. More detail of the AFC ace victories are contained in the volume.