Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A rare Great War ‘First Day of the Somme’ D.C.M group of five awarded to 2nd Lieutenant H. Watts, North Staffordshire Regiment, who was wounded in action with the 1/6th Battalion in November 1915 and decorated for his gallantry during the unit’s ill-fated attack on Gommecourt on the 1st July 1916: subsequently commissioned in the South Staffordshire Regiment, he was again wounded - severely so - in the fighting at St. Quentin in September 1918


Distinguished Conduct Medal, G.V.R. (240419 L. Sjt. H. Watts, 1/6 N. Staff. R. - T.F.); 1914-15 Star (2416 Pte. H. Watts, N. Staff. R.); British War and Victory Medals (2 Lieut H. Watts); Defence Medal 1939-45, contact marks and polished, otherwise nearly very fine (5) £3000-3500

D.C.M. London Gazette 4 June 1917:

‘For continuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He has consistently done good work throughout, and has at all times set a splendid example to his men’.

Harold Watts was born in Upton, Norfolk and, at the time of his enlisting in the 6th Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment, in September 1914, aged 21 years, was employed as  Foreman of Gardeners for Major F. Meynell of Hoar Cross Hall, Burton on Trent.

Embarked for France in the 6th Battalion, he was promoted to Corporal in October 1915, shortly before receiving a gunshot wound to his scalp in an action fought on 30 November. Treated by a Field Ambulance, he was evacuated to Rouen.

On recovering from his wound, he rejoined his battalion and was attached to 137 Brigade Trench Mortar Battery from 28 April 1916. It was in this capacity that he won his D.C.M. for the ill-fated attack on Gommecourt on the Somme on 1 July 1916. On that occasion, the 1/6th North Staffs (137th Brigade, 46th Division) attacked under cover of smoke, the leading waves reaching the enemy wire, only to find it largely intact. Most were quickly downed by heavy fire and bombing and the few men who managed to enter the German front trench were either killed or driven out. The second and third waves were caught in a fierce barrage and machine-gun cross fire from the ‘Z’ salient to the north of the attack, and battalion casualties amounted to 305 killed and wounded. The unit was relieved on 3rd July.

Watts was awarded the D.C.M. for this action, as verified by the annotated (date and place) citation at TNA and Howard Williamson’s published roll of gallantry awards for the ‘First day of the Somme’.

Subsequently recommended for a commission, he returned to the U.K., joining No. 18 Officer Cadet Battalion at Bath in November 1917; his Commanding Officer later wrote, ‘From his record a gallant soldier. Should make a good leader’.

He was duly commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the South Staffordshire Regiment in May 1918 and joined the 6th Battalion in France. Severely wounded in action at St. Quentin 29 September 1918 - a shrapnel wound in his right hip - he was evacuated to the U.K. and was admitted to The Prince of Wales Hospital, Marylebone, London on 3 October 1918. A medical report on his condition dated 17 October 1918 stated the shrapnel had yet to be removed. He was disembodied in April 1919 and resigned his commission in January 1921; sold with copied service papers.