John Hunter Watts

Story:
John Hunter Watts (known as 'Jack' to his family) was born in Bayswater, London, on 23rd October 1887 the son of John Hunter Watts and Catherine Jane Grace Watts (née Croll).  He lived his early life in Camberwell, London, but by 1911 he was boarding out in Farnworth, Lancashire, where he was working as a Teacher.  Sometime after 1911 he had taken up a position at Shaftesbury Grammar School, Shaftesbury, Dorset. He left the school in 1914 to enlist in the Army Service Corps where he was promoted to Captain and, later, Brevet Major.  He served in France & Flanders becoming a Requisitioning and Purchasing Officer.  During 1916 he received gunshot wounds and was Mentioned in Dispatches.  He would have been entitled to the Victory and British War medals but was also awarded the Order of the British Empire (Military Branch) for his work in the Army. His name appeared on the Shaftesbury Absent Voters List 1918. The 1921 Census shows he was still in the army but now based at the Main Supply Depot, Hinaidi, Mesopotamia (now Iraq) but he later returned to his teaching post at the Grammar School in 1922. He died on 4th April 1973 in the Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, Registry area.

Printed sources:
Shaftesbury Grammar School Magazine, June 1922