Thomas Colclough Watson

{{Infobox military person

| name = Thomas Colclough Watson

| image = Thomas Colclough Watson (1867–1917).png

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1867|4|11|df=yes}}

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1917|6|15|1867|4|11|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Velsen, Netherlands

| death_place = London, England

| placeofburial =

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| nickname =

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| allegiance = {{UK}}

| branch = 23px British Army

| serviceyears = 1888–1917

| rank = Lieutenant colonel

| servicenumber =

| unit = Corps of Royal Engineers

| commands =

| battles = First Mohmand Campaign
World War I

Mesopotamian campaign

| battles_label =

| awards = Victoria Cross

| relations =

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}}

File:Taddy cigarette card, Lieut TC Watson, Royal Engineers.png

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Colclough Watson VC (11 April 1867 – 15 June 1917) was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Watson was educated at the King Edward VI Grammar School in Louth, Lincolnshire,{{Cite news

|title=Victoria Cross and medals from Lincolnshire hero to be auctioned

|date=4 December 2014

|newspaper=Lincolnshire Echo

|url=http://www.lincolnshireecho.co.uk/Victoria-Cross-medals-Lincolnshire-hero-auctioned/story-25152299-detail/story.html

}} before attending the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in February 1888{{London Gazette|issue=25790|page=1225|date=24 February 1888}} and promoted to lieutenant in 1891.{{London Gazette|issue=26135|page=883|date=17 February 1891}}

VC action

Watson was a 30 years old lieutenant in the Royal Engineers, British Army, attached to the Bengal Engineers, British Indian Army[http://www.bsoaroorkee.org/legend2.htm Unique Achievements] Bengal Engineers. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915115708/http://www.bsoaroorkee.org/legend2.htm |date=15 September 2008 }} during the First Mohmand Campaign in North-West India, when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC:

:On 16 September 1897, at the village of Bilot, in the Mamund Valley, he collected a few men of the Buffs (East Kent Regiment) and of No. 4 Company, Bengal Sappers and Miners, and led them into the dark and burning village to dislodge some of the enemy who were inflicting loss on our troops. After being wounded and driven back, he made a second attempt to clear the village, and only desisted after a second repulse and being again hit and severely wounded.{{London Gazette|issue=26968|pages=3165–3165|date=20 May 1898}}

For their parts in the action, Lieutenant James Morris Colquhoun Colvin and Corporal James Smith also received the VC.

An account mentioning Watson is given in Winston Churchill's The Story of the Malakand Field Force.

==Later career==

Gaining promotion to captain in 1899{{London Gazette|issue=27039|page=4|date=3 January 1899}} and major in 1906,{{London Gazette|issue=27941|page=5661|date=17 August 1906}} Watson spent a number of years in the Military Works Service in India.{{Cite web |date=19 June 1917 |page=6 |title=Civil & Military Gazette (Lahore) |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003221/19170619/078/0006|via=British Newspaper Archive|access-date=28 May 2024}}

Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in January 1915,{{London Gazette|issue=29038|page=380|date=12 January 1915}} he became a Divisional Engineer Commander in April that year.{{London Gazette|issue=29304|page=9338|date=21 September 1915}} He died in London on 15 June 1917, aged 50, of illness contracted while serving in Mesopotamia during World War I, and was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium. His wife Edith was awarded the Royal Red Cross.[http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/388117 CWGC entry]

His medals sold at auction in December 2014 for £312,000.{{Cite news

|title = Victoria Cross awarded to Louth soldier is bought by billionaire Lord Ashcroft for over £300,000 at auction

|date = 15 December 2014

|newspaper = Grimsby Telegraph

|url = http://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/Victoria-Cross-awarded-Louth-soldier-bought/story-25712976-detail/story.html

|url-status = dead

|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20141216002959/http://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/Victoria-Cross-awarded-Louth-soldier-bought/story-25712976-detail/story.html

|archivedate = 16 December 2014

}} They was purchased by Lord Ashcroft, a collector of Victoria Crosses, and are displayed at the Imperial War Museum.

References

External links

[https://victoriacrossonline.co.uk/thomas-colclough-watson-vc Biography, victoriacrossonline.co.uk]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20061218200907/http://www.remuseum.org.uk/rem_his_vc.htm#1w Royal Engineers Museum] Sappers VCs
[https://web.archive.org/web/20090623050143/http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/stewart/golders.htm Location of grave] (Golders Green)

Category:1867 births

Category:1917 deaths

Category:Royal Engineers officers

Category:British recipients of the Victoria Cross

Category:British military personnel of the First Mohmand Campaign

Category:People from Velsen

Category:British Army personnel of World War I

Category:Bengal Engineers officers

Category:Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich

Category:British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross

Category:British military personnel killed in World War I

Category:Dutch emigrants to the United Kingdom