Jack Watson

Who was Jack Watson?

Major John Bernard Robert Watson MC was a British Army officer who was awarded a Military Cross for gallantry whilst serving with 13 Parachute Battalion in the Ardennes during the Second World War.

Watson was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire. He enlisted in the Army in 1939 and served with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry and the South Lancashire Regiment which later formed the 13th Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

Watson was a platoon commander on D-Day, 6 June 1944 and parachuted into Normandy and took part in the liberation of Ranville.

He served in the Ardennes as a Company Commander and his Company on 3 January 1945 led the assault into the village of Bure, Belgium. Watson's Company from the launch of the attack came under heavy repeated attacks by enemy mortars, machine-guns and artillery and there were immediate casualties. He led the Company forward and when under attack organised the defences and drove the enemy from the part of the village his company had been tasked to clear. An extract from the citation for his Military Cross reads: " His conduct, energy and gallantry throughout were beyond praise, and without him the attack might well have failed. "