Orders, Decorations and Medals

Pair: Able Seaman Harold Watson, Royal Navy, who was commended for gallant conduct when the Q-ship Cullist was sunk in February 1918, and was a participant in the ballot for the V.C. for operations at Zeebrugge in April 1918, on which occasion he was mortally wounded

British War and Victory Medals (SS.5035 H. Watson, A.B. R.N.) together with Bronze Memorial Plaque (Harold Watson) extremely fine (3) £500-600

Harold Watson was born on 6 October 1895, at Ilkeston, Derbyshire, and joined the Royal Navy on 10 June 1914. After service in various ships and shore establishments, including the battleships Agincourt and Hindustan, he joined the Q-ship Cullist on 21 November 1917, just four days after she was in action with, and badly damaged, a German submarine. Although Watson did not partake in any of Cullist’s more famous actions he was on board when, on 11 February 1918, she was torpedoed without warning in the Irish Sea and sank in two minutes. The enemy submarine then surfaced and asked for the Captain, but was told that he had been killed. The Germans then picked up two men and made off after verbally abusing the remaining survivors, who were subsequently rescued by a patrol trawler. It is recorded on Watson’s record of service that he was ‘Highly Commended for conduct on the occasion when H.M.S. Cullist was torpedoed & sunk 11.2. 18’.

On 1 March 1918, Watson was sent to Victory X for Iris II, one of two Liverpool ferryboats requisitioned for use in the Zeebrugge Raid, the other being the Daffodil. It was Daffodil’s task to push the Vindictive against the Mole and hold her there whilst her storming parties disembarked, whilst Iris II had to disembark her own Naval storming parties directly against the Mole itself. This proved impossible for Iris to achieve due to the fast current and difficulty in securing the ship to the Mole. Although securing the ship was not part of his duties, Lieutenant-Commander Bradford climbed up the derrick which carried a large parapet anchor and managed to place it in position. He was, however, immediately riddled with bullets and fell to his death into the sea between the Mole and the ship, an act of courage which won for him a posthumous Victoria Cross. Under heavy machine-gun fire it was then decided to abandon that position and retreat to Vindictive to land over her deck. Before many men could be landed, however, the retreat was sounded, and, after waiting twenty minutes for those ashore to return to ship, Daffodil and Iris backed off and headed for home. Iris now came under heavy fire from the Goeben battery, on the left of the canal. She was hit fourteen times by 5.9s and twice by 11-inch shells, the first of which burst on the bridge, killing and wounding all hands, the other bursting on the main deck, killing about 100 men.

Originally posted as ‘missing after operations against Zeebrugge, 23rd April 1918’, Watson had in fact been mortally wounded and died on 3 May 1918. His service record confirms that he participated in the ballot by the men of the Vindictive, Iris II and Daffodil for the Victoria Cross under Rule 13 of the Royal Warrant dated 29 January 1856, the honour eventually going to Able Seaman Albert Edward Mackenzie, belonging to B Company of the seaman storming party.