Petty Officer
Henry Roland Joseph
WATTS
,
DSM MiD
Royal Navy
30
Henry Watts was born in Wargrave, Wokingham, Berkshire on 29 July 1911, the son of Able Seaman (ST) Joseph Evans Watts and Edith Clara Watts (née Hillier) of Council Cottages, Arborfield, Berkshire. His father had served in submarines from 3 October 1908 to 22 October 1913 and, as a Reservist, was a survivor from the armoured cruiser HMS HOGUE when it was sunk on 22 September 1914. Henry Watts had a younger brother, Stanley Horace Watts. Before joining to Royal Navy Henry was a Greenwich school boy.
He joined the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class at HMS GANGES on 11 May 1927. After New Entry training he served in the battleship HMS EMPEROR OF INDIA (27 April 1928 to 31 December 1928) and then joined the battleship HMS WARSPITE on 31 December 1928. It is not known which other ships he served in or when he joined submarines.
Leading Seaman (TGM) Henry Roland Joseph Watts was Mentioned in Despatches ‘for good services’, see Supplement to London Gazette dated 26 July 1940 – ‘he took part in successful operations which prevented much war material from falling into the hands of the enemy’. By April 1942, he was a Petty Officer (TGM) serving in HMS URGE in the Mediterranean. He was onboard HMS URGE when the Italian cruiser GIOVANNI DELLA BANDA NERE was sunk on 1 April 1942. On 27 April 1942 URGE sailed from Malta for Alexandria with orders to arrive at Alexandria on 6 May 1942 but failed to arrive as expected and was assumed to have been lost with all hands.
Henry Watts was awarded a posthumous Distinguished Service Medal ‘for bravery and devotion to duty on successful submarine patrols in H.M.S. Urge’ see Supplement to London Gazette dated 29 September 1942. He is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial on Panel 62 Column 3.
His brother, Guardsman Stanley Horace Watts of the Coldstream Guards, was killed in North Africa (Libya) later on 14 June 1942.
0 responses
My Father’s first cousin. I will always keep the family flame alive for Henry & his brother Stanley who also perished in WW2.
Forever in our thoughts and prayers. God Bless.