11th Battalion
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William Abbott Watson (SN 2470) born in Ballarat, was a 37 year old assayer when he enlisted at Blackboy Hill Perth on June 12th 1915. He embarked from Fremantle aboard the Karoola just two weeks later, and he joined the 11th Infantry Battalion at Gallipoli just ahead of the August Offensive. He only saw action there for two weeks before illness forced his evacuation to Malta and then to England. Several bouts of respiratory illnesses limited his service until he was discharged in London ‘permanently unfit’ on October 22nd 1917, enabling him to take up employment there as a munitions worker. He also enlisted to serve during WW2 with service number V81026.
