West River
Sapper John Francis Leo Watson
John Watson was born in Paris on June 16, 1886, the son of John J. and Sarah Watson. When he enlisted, the family was living on West River Street. John was working as a carder at Penmans No. 9 Mill. The family was Roman Catholic and John was single when he enlisted on October 18, 1915 with the 125th Battalion. Leo enlisted with the 125th Battalion in 1916. He was a member of the 10th Platoon that embarked aboard the S.S Scandinavia on February 12, 1916. The 9th and 10th Platoons were the first contingent of soldiers from Paris, nearly 100 men, to go overseas.
He was still with the 125th on October 16, 1916, when he was in the Isolation Hospital in Aldershot when he contracted rubella. On May 1, 1917, he was transferred to the 11th Battalion Canadian Engineers where he served as a sapper. A sapper is a highly trained combat engineer who provides essential tactical support on the battlefield, such as breaching fortifications, laying or clearing minefields, demolitions, and constructing bridges.
The 11th Battalion, Canadian Engineers was fully engaged on August 8, 1918, the opening day of the Battle of Amiens in France, marking the launch of the famous Allied offensive known as "Canada’s Hundred Days". The Hundred Days refer to the final weeks of the war when Allied troops were relentlessly pushing German troops back to Germany, though they were met with fierce, desperate resistance from the Germans.
During this pivotal operation, the newly restructured engineer battalion was attached to the 4th Canadian Division. Because the infantry made incredibly rapid, historic breakthroughs on August 8, the 11th Battalion sappers were operating under intense pressure to maintain momentum. Their specific, vital tasks on that exact day included rapid road repair and clearance. The infantry and tanks advanced so fast that logistics vehicles immediately risked getting stuck. The sappers worked directly behind the advancing front lines, rapidly filling in shell craters, clearing shattered trees, and stabilizing roads under enemy artillery fire to allow supply trucks and field artillery to move forward.
As the 4th Division pushed into German-held territory, they encountered heavy belts of barbed wire and defensive structures. Sappers used wire cutters and explosives to clear safe pathways for the trailing infantry and horses. Water was a critical issue for thousands of advancing men and horses. On August 8, specialized sections of the engineering battalion were tasked with advancing immediately behind the combat troops to locate, test, and clear local wells, and install water-pumping infrastructure. The Battle of Amiens required crossing difficult terrain intersected by trenches and waterways. The 11th Battalion constructed temporary bridges and reinforced banks so heavy machinery, ammunition wagons, and medical ambulances could cross newly captured ground.
This is the sort of work John would have been doing when he was killed in action on August 8, the first day of the Battle of Amiens. He died of gunshot wounds to his head, chest, back and hand. He died of his wounds in No. 42 Casualty Clearing Station. Sapper John Francis Leo Watson is buried in the Aubigny Communal Cemetery, south of the village of Aubigny-en-Artois, France.