Plympton man Lt Col Stanley Holm Watson was one of first to arrive at Gallipoli and among last to leave

LIEUTENANT Colonel Stanley Holm Watson lived on the road now named Anzac Highway, oversaw the construction of the Allies first pier at Gallipoli and was one of the last men to leave the doomed mission.

Gallipoli images from the state historical trust - P00437 005.

LIEUTENANT Colonel Stanley Holm Watson lived on the Bay Rd, Plympton – later renamed Anzac Highway – before he oversaw the construction of the Allies first pier at Gallipoli.

He was also one of the last men to leave the doomed mission in a decorated service.

Lt Col Watson’s descendants remember him as a warm and gentle man who spoke little of his achievements or time fighting in World War I.

Great-granddaughter Claudia Funder remembers him having a great “sadness in his eyes” at any mentions of the Great War.

Lt Col Stanley Holm Watson Source: Supplied.

“He would shake his head and say it was terrible,” Ms Funder, 48, recalls.

“It obviously was very much a part of his life and affected him deeply.”

Lt Col Watson was born in Parkside in 1887 and educated at Plympton Primary and Sturt Street Advanced schools before studying engineering at the School of Mines and the University of Adelaide.

In 1910 he enlisted as a second lieutenant in the 6th Field Troop of Engineers and when war broke out was appointed a lieutenant in the 1st Australian Divisional Signals Company in August 1914.

He left for Egypt in October and reached Gallipoli on April 25, 1915.

At Gallipoli he was charged with supervising sappers as they built the first pier at Anzac Cove, using a Turkish shell which he had defused as a pile-driver.

They completed the jetty, named Watson’s Pier, on June 18.

The achievement was later celebrated with a Waterloo Dinner.

Lt Col Watson (right) supervising construction of Watson’s Pier. Source: Supplied.

After troops evacuated the ill-fated campaign on December 20, Lt Col Watson sent the final signal to British commanders.

‘Evacuation complete 3.45am – casualties unknown’ the message read.

History shows of the one million men involved in the Gallipoli campaign, between one third and one half became casualties and about 8700 Australians died.

Lt Col Watson also served on the Western Front and was awarded the Military Cross for showing ‘great gallantry and devotion to duty in maintaining lines and controlling linesmen’ at the Battle of Flers and Fricourt during November and December 1916.

In 1917 he captured a German Officer from a downed spy plane.

In January 1919 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his work in the Second Battle of the Somme 1918, where Allied forces won despite suffering more than 5000 casualties.

More than 45,000 Australian troops were killed on the Western Front during the course of the 1914-18 war.

Following the war Lt Col Watson served as president of the Plympton RSL in 1920/21 and rejoined South Australian Railways as an engineer, becoming deputy commissioner of railways in 1948 until his retirement in 1952.

He was appointed Commander of Order of the British Empire in 1958 for his services to transport.

Gallipoli images from the state historical trust - C03391.

In his later years the father of three wrote about the failure of the Gallipoli mission in his unpublished memoir Gallipoli the tragic truth and other recollections of World War One.

He retired to a property named Pine Ridge in Heathfield.

He died in May, 1985, aged 97.

Granddaughter Margaret Southwell remembers him as her “beautiful grandpa” who loved milk coffee biscuits, gave maths lessons and always insisted on buying a huge Christmas turkey.

“He was a lovely man,” Mrs Southwell, 70, of Morphett Vale, says.

A storm-damaged Watson’s Pier. Source: Supplied.

She says Lt Col Watson is a source of great pride for the family and visiting Gallipoli with her husband Robert in 2013 was an emotional experience.

“I was crying on the beach,” Mrs Southwell says.

“Standing there with the waves lapping over the mostly marble rock, seeing the distance from where the hill was to where the beach is, and knowing how little land these men had.

“They had to scramble up – too many just got killed.”

THIS story is part of Messenger’s 100 Years, 100 Days, 100 Stories project, which will profile 100 South Australian World War I heroes as the nation builds up to the centenary of the Allied landing on Gallipoli on April 25, 1915. If you have the details and war record of a family member who served during World War I, let us know. Please go to your local Messenger’s Facebook page and send us the details.

Originally published as Plympton man Lt Col Stanley Holm Watson was one of first to arrive at Gallipoli and among last to leave