C26266 Rifleman Joseph Matthew Watson, MM was born on 11 April 1918 in Norland, Ontario, the son of William Isaac and  Frances Eleanor Watson.  He had five brothers and sisters and two half-brothers.

Watson enlisted with the 45h Battery in September 1939 and trained in Lindsay, Petawawa and Sussex, New Brunswick. He arrived overseas in November 1941 and transferred to The Queens’ Own Rifles of Canada.

Watson served in Belgium, Holland and Germany and was awarded the Military Medal on 19 June 1945 (citation below.)

His Brother Gerald was also in the field with the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps, and his sister Arleane served with the Canadian Women’s Army Corp (CWAC.)

He may also have served in Korea in the early 1950s although details are unclear.

Watson died on 16 June 1980 in Norland, Ontario, and is buried in Pinegrove Cemetery, Norland.

Military Medal Citation

During the early morning of 26 February 1945, No. 7 Platoon, “A” Company, 1st Battalion, The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada attacked a strongly held locality in the vicinity of STEEG (9845). While advancing over open ground against three enemy machine gun positions, a large percentage of No. 7 Platoon, including the Platoon Officer and the Platoon Sergeant, were killed or wounded. C26266 Rifleman Joseph Watson. one of the members of the platoon, received a bullet wound in the leg, but continued to advance firing a Bren gun from the hip at the known enemy positions. C26266 Rifleman Joseph Watson was again wounded, this time in two places by shrapnel, but refused to leave the field of action. C26266 Rifleman Joseph Watson continued to advance until all of the enemy were either killed, wounded or captured. All during this performance, C26266 Rifleman Joseph Watson displayed absolute fearlessness in the face of the enemy, and his bravery and aggressiveness, which carried him far beyond the call of duty, was a determining factor in enabling the platoon to capture the objective.

For this action, Rifleman Joseph Matthew Watson was awarded the Military Medal. It was also during this battle that Sergeant Aubrey Cosens, No. 16 Platoon, “D” Company, 1st Battalion, The Queen’s Own Rifles led a counter-attack that cost him his life and earned him a posthumous Victoria Cross.