David Robert Gerald Watts

David Robert Gerald Watts

Personal Information
Date of Birth	31 Dec 1919
Place of Birth	Boulder, Western Australia
Death	4 Oct 1943
Place of Death	Scarlet Beach Finschhafen, New Guinea
Age at Enlistment	20 years, 11 months
Occupation	Apprentice Upholsterer
Religion	Congregational
Address	Fifth road, Armadale, Western Australia
Next of Kin	Mother , Mrs Ellen King
Military Information
Reg Number	WX9999
Date of Enlistment	13 Dec 1940
Rank	Private
Unit/Formation	2/43rd Australian Infantry Battalion
Post War Details
Fate	Wounded in action Died of Wounds 4 Oct 1943
Monument(s)	Armadale War Memorial Perth War Memorial
Australian War Memorial	Australian War Memorial
Medals	1939-45 Star Africa Star Pacific Star Defence Medal War Medal 1939-45 Australian Service Medal 1939-45

War Service

David enlisted in the 2nd AIF on 13 Dec 1940 and was with the No3. Depot Battalion until 14 Jan 1941 when he was transferred to the 13th Australian Infantry Training Battalion at Northam, earmarked as a reinforcement for the 2/4th Australian Machine Gun Battalion. A month later on 26 Apr 1941 this changed to the 8th Reinforcement draft for the 2/16th Australian infantry Battalion with him having been granted pre-embarkation leave from 24 - 30 Apr 1941. On 5 Jul 1941 David embarked on HMT Aquitania a part of Convoy US 11A. The Convoy remained in Fremanle for five days, eventually sailing on 9 Jul 1941 for Ceylon where the Aquitania berthed in Colombo before heading for Port Tewfik where the troops disembarked on 26 Jul 1941. On arrival, David was sent to the AIF (ME) Staging Camp before being posted to the 2/43rd Australian Infantry Battalion on 16 Sep 1941.

On 24 Jan 1943 the 2/43rd Battalion embarked on HMT Queen Mary for Fremantle, withthe troops disembarking on 18 Feb 1943. Following leave, David entrained in Fremantle for South Australia on 30 Mar 1943. Prior to leaving he was charged with having been AWOL fro 1:00pm on 16 March until 8:30am on 17 Mar 1943. For this he was fined 10/- ($1), and the automatic forfeiture of a days pay. The battalion moved to North Queensland, and on 8 Aug 1943 they embarked in Cairns on HMT Manoora for Milne Bay where they disembarked in th elate afternoon of 10 Aug 1943. On 4 Oct 1943 David is reported as having died from wounds received to his right chest - date of wounding unknown. At the end of September the battalion had landed at Scarlet Beach near Finschhafen and were given the role of defending the beach head from the north. A Coy took casualties on the first day and actions continued such that by the end of 3 Oct 1943 the battalion had suffered 20 Killed, 5 Missing and 39 Wounded.

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  Lae War Cemetery
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  David's gravesite