| Edwin Watson |
 Edwin Watson was born on Thursday, 28th May, 1914, in Pittenweem, Fife. The forward signed for Donald Turner's Thistle on Monday, 27th April, 1936, having most recently been with Crossgates Primrose. Aged 22, he made his debut appearance on Monday, 12th April, 1937, in a 2-2 draw away to Dundee in the SFL First Division. Edwin scored his first goal for Thistle on Monday, 6th September, 1937, in a 5-1 win away to Queen's Park in the Glasgow Cup. He scored the last of his 6 goals on Saturday, 30th October, 1937, in a 2-1 win at home to Falkirk in the SFL First Division. He played his last game for the club on Saturday, 6th November, 1937, in a 6-0 defeat away to Celtic in the SFL First Division, having appeared as a Jag on 15 occasions. His club-list included Crossgates Primrose, Partick Thistle, Huddersfield Town, Bradford Park Avenue and East Fife. Edwin died on Monday, 12th June, 1944, aged 30. |
 Edwin, a Fifer, played for the Jags on 14 occasions, scoring 6 goals, all in competitive matches. He moved on to Huddersfield Town, where he played for them on 3 occasions in the 1937-38 season. He also played for Bradford Park Avenue and East Fife. Prior to joining the RAF, Edwin worked in the National Steel Foundry in Leven. When war came Edwin joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve, and joined 201 Squadron in RAF Coastal Command. He is known to have served on two missions as an air gunner on a Short Sunderland III conducting anti-submarine sweeps from RAF Pembroke Dock over the Bay of Biscay. On 7 June 1944, Watson's Sunderland located U-955 off Cape Ortegal, Spain and sunk it with depth charges, killing all 50 crew on board the U-boat. Five days later, on 12 June 1944, the Sunderland encountered U-333, and conducted depth charge raids on it. The Sunderland is thought to have been shot down by flak from the submarine's anti-aircraft guns during the attack, killing all 12 crew members on board, including Edwin. His body was not recovered from the wreckage. He is remembered on the Runnymede Memorial. Edwin was survived by his wife and two children, the youngest born eight months after he was killed. We commemorate his life in our feature piece, The Partick Thistle Fallen →. |
| (DMAC/WIK) |
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