Ray Watts

Raymond Carson Watts DFC (13 August 1917 – 17 January 2008) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

This article is about the Australian rules footballer. For the reggae singer, see Ray Watts (singer). For the American university administrator, see Ray L. Watts.

Ray Watts
Personal information
Full name Raymond Carson Watts
Date of birth 13 August 1917
Place of birth Launceston
Date of death 17 January 2008(2008-01-17) (aged 90)
Original team(s) Churinga
Height 188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 86 kg (190 lb)
Position(s) Key forward
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1937–1941 Essendon 59 (149)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1941.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

He married Myrtle Jessie Louise Gregory (1917–), the daughter of Harry "Speed" Gregory on 21 June 1941.[1]

A forward, Watts grew up in Launceston and played his early football with Churinga Football Club in the Tasmanian Amateur Football League.[2] He was the league's best and fairest player in 1936.[3]

Watts made his VFL debut in the 11th round of the 1937 VFL season against North Melbourne and kicked three goals.[4] He kicked 60 goals for Essendon in 1938, a total bettered by only one teammate, Tom Reynolds.[4] This included a career best seven goals in a win over St Kilda, which he equaled twice more in his career.[4] He was Essendon's third leading goal-kicker in 1939 and 1940.[4]

He was a member of the Essendon seconds premiership team in 1941 but made only two appearances in the seniors that year, as he had enlisted with the Royal Australian Air Force.[5]

During the war he served as a warrant officer and in 1943 was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross, along with his pilot Arthur Simpson (408881), for their efforts in a bombing operation over Germany.[6] They were flying over Hanover on a Lancaster bomber when the airscrew of a German night fighter tore a hole under the plane's nose, which resulted in the plane falling 3000 feet. Despite this, they were able to recover and still achieve their objectives in dropping the bombs at their target.[7]

P[ilot]-Officer Arthur Bruce Simpson and WO Raymond Carson Watts, RAAF, were pilot and navigator respectively of an aircraft detailed to attack Hanover one night in October, 1943. When approaching the target the aircraft was struck by what is believed to have been an enemy fighter which tore away the nose of the bomb aimer's compartment. Two engines also were damaged. By a superb effort P-Officer Simpson retained control, and afterwards succeeded in evading two fighters which flew to the attack. Despite loss of essential equipment, WO Watts guided his pilot to base, where a safe landing was effected. The two men suffered intense cold from the wind, which blew through the torn structure, and their hands were frostbitten. For skill, courage, and fortitude, they were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
The Mercury, 2 March 1944.[8]

In 1944 he was shot down by enemy fire and managed to hide in a Belgian pine forest for six weeks until he was captured. He spent more than a year as a German prisoner of war at Stalag Luft III.[9]

He returned to Essendon in 1945 and played briefly in the seconds before transferring to Preston.

Footnotes
  1. Wedding Dates, The Argus, (Saturday, 21 June 1941), p.7.
  2. Holmesby & Main (2007).
  3. Amateur Honour: R. C. Watts Best and Fairest Player, The (Launceston) Examiner, (Saturday, 3 October 1936)< p.5.
  4. Ray Watt's Playing Statistics.
  5. Taylor, Percy, "Essendon are Proud of War Prowess of Their Players, The Australasian, (Saturday, 20 May 1944), p.11.
  6. Royal Australian Air Force: "For great skill, courage and fortitude in flying operations against the enemy": The Distinguished Flying Cross, Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, No.238, (Thursday, 11 Nov 1943), p.2435.
  7. The Mercury,"Two Australian Airmen Awarded DFC", 4 November 1943, p.2.
  8. Deeds that Live Forever, The Mercury, (Thursday, 2 March 1944), p.3.
  9. "Watts, Ray". Essendon Football Club official website. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012.

References
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