Joseph Watt
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Joseph Watt VC, Croix de Guerre (France), Military Medal for Valour (Italy) (born Gardenstown, Banffshire, 25 June 1887; died 13 February 1955, Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire) was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
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[edit] Details
He was 29 years old, and a Skipper in the Royal Naval Reserve during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On 15 May 1917 in the Straits of Otranto, Italy, when HM Drifter Gowan Lea was attacked by an Austrian light cruiser and called on to surrender, Skipper Watt ordered full speed ahead and called upon his crew to fight to the finish. The cruiser was then engaged, but after only one round had been fired a shot from the enemy disabled Gowan Lea's gun. The gun's crew struggled to repair the gun, under heavy fire, and after the cruiser had passed on, thinking that the drifter was sinking, Skipper Watt took her alongside the badly damaged drifter Floandi and helped to remove the dead and wounded.
[edit] Further information
He later achieved the rank of chief Skipper.
[edit] The medal
Please update if you know where his medal is publicly displayed.
[edit] References
- Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
- The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
- Scotland's Forgotten Valour (Graham Ross, 1995)
- VCs of the First World War - The Naval VCs (Stephen Snelling, 2002)
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Location of grave and VC medal (Grampian)
This page has been migrated from the Victoria Cross Reference with permission.
