Additions will be checked before being published on the website and where possible will be forwarded to the person who submitted the original entries. Your contact details will not be forwarded, but they can send a reply via this messaging system.
please scroll down to send a message
Spr. Jack Watts
British Army 91st Field Coy. Royal Engineers
from:Derby
(d.25th Sep 1915)
The Story of Jack Watts, a Boy Soldier (written for my three grandsons, Jack and Sam who live in Melbourne, and Luke who lives in Wellington). Way back in September 1898, a boy was born in Derby, England and he was called Jack Watts. He was the second son of George and Mary Watts (my grandparents) and an older brother to my mother Edie Watts. Jack lived with his parents, brothers, and sisters at 37 Fleet St. in Derby, England. Jack's mother died in 1922, and although she was only 16 my mother had to look after the family. In 1933 when she married Sam Tailby, they also lived at 37 Fleet St. I too lived at 37 Fleet St for 4 years from 1937 but moved with my parents and Grandfather to Spondon, in 1941. In 1912, Jack Watts left school at age 14 and worked as an apprentice in No. 8 shop at the locomotive works in Derby. The locomotive works which was then part of the Midland Railway built and repaired steam locomotives. His father, George, also worked there as a brass turner so must have arranged for Jack to start. By coincidence I also worked there, as an engineering apprentice between 1953 and 1958, including 18 months in No. 8 shop, but I was almost 16 when I started and 18 when I first went into No. 8 shop. It must have been a very daunting place for a 14 year old boy to start work. No. 8 shop (also known as the Erecting Shop) was where the locomotives came in to be repaired after they had been in service for some years. First all the parts were removed, cleaned and where possible reused. Other parts were repaired and where this was not possible new parts used. Most of this work was done in other shops within the works and then the parts were returned to No. 8 shop where the locos were rebuilt. There would have been about 600 people working in No. 8 shop including about 50 apprentices. This was much the same as when I was there except now the locos were larger. Jack would have started work at 7 am and worked until 5.30 pm, with an hour break for lunch on week days, and on Saturday morning worked from 8am until 12. He would have walked to and from work. The work was noisy and often dirty so he would not have been very clean when he got home. No showers at home in those days, only a tin bath in front of the fire. The water had to be heated in kettles. There were 5 other members of the family who also needed a bath when Jack lived there.
In August 1914, when Jack would have been 15, almost 16, World War 1 between Great Britain, allied with France, and Germany started. This lasted for 4 years. For some reason that I don't understand and have not been able to find out, Jack and probably some of his friends decided they wanted to join the army. Jack possibly thought it would be a good adventure or maybe to get away from his work at No. 8 shop, but he and his friends certainly did not know what would happen to them. For him and many other boys, joining the army was all wrong as the minimum age was 18 and the recruiting people must have known they were too young. Recruiting officers got 2 shillings and 6 pence for each recruit (equivalent to 25 cents today and a week's wages for an apprentice then). So Jack joined the army, did some basic training and then joined the 91st Field Company of the Royal Engineers as a Sapper. Field Companies generally helped the infantry regiments by building roads, railways, and trenches, but they were also expected to fight with rifles if necessary. Field Companies usually had 220 soldiers of which 5 were officers, 25 were NCOs, 140 were Sappers and the rest were various specialists usually involved with horses, as they had few trucks or cars at the beginning of the war.
In July 1915, when he was still only 16, Jack and the 91st Field Company were sent over to France, where they became part of the 15th (Scottish) Division and went to a place called Loos, a small town in northern France near the border with Belgium. On 25th of September 1915, after a long bombardment by British heavy guns, what became known as the 1st Battle of Loos started with an advance by British infantry divisions. Like many others later in the war, the advance did not get very far. We do not know what happened except that Jack was killed (along with thousands of others). Worse still, his body was never found. Many of the soldiers killed in WW1 were buried in France, but Jack does not have a grave. His name is on a big memorial near the town of Loos. So ends the story of a young boy called Jack who wanted to be a soldier. Had he lived, I would have called him Uncle Jack and could possibly have worked with him in No. 8 when I was completing my apprenticeship. Reports produced after the war suggest that some 250,000 Boy Soldiers served with the allied forces during WW1, so Jack Watts was not alone. How many died is not recorded. Later on in WW1, many soldiers from Australia and New Zealand went over to Europe to help the British and French soldiers fight against the Germans. They were known as ANZACs, and the Germans thought they were some of the best soldiers they encountered.
Jack Watts' Medals. These were awarded to Jack and presented to his father in 1922. Left to right: The 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, and Victory Medal. They were presented to many thousands of British troops after the War but were of little consolation to the parents of the soldiers/boys killed in action. I can remember seeing these when I was a boy but don't know what happened to them.
This short story was written with assistance from: Richard Clarke, Roy Branson, Dave Harris all of Derby, and Gary Park of Tauranga, New Zealand. .
