LEST WE FORGET
Stoker Thomas Joseph WATSON
Service No: S5511 (S/5511) (Royal Australian Navy)
Born: Cootamundra NSW, 15 November 1917
Enlisted in the RAN: 20 May 1941
Unit: HMAS Kuttabul
Died: Naval Operations: Sydney Harbour, 1 June 1942, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Rookwood Necropolis, Sydney NSW
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Butler Watson and Louisa Mary Watson, of Cootamundra
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 3, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: HMAS Kuttabul Memorial, Potts Point NSW
An underwater explosion wrecked Kuttabul, and caused a number of casualties in her. It was subsequently discovered that this was caused by one of two torpedoes which, fired at Chicago by
Midget Submarine A from the direction of Bradley’s Head, passed under the Dutch submarine K9, and struck the harbour bed beneath Kuttabul, where it exploded. The other torpedo ran on shore on Garden Island and failed to explode. Possibly the blacking out of the graving dock floodlights just prior to Midget A’s attack was responsible for the cruiser’s escape.
Extract from Gill, G.H. (G. Hermon) Royal Australian Navy 1942-1945, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1968 – Page 70
The crew members of HMAS Kuttabul killed were:
Stoker Second Class John Samuel Asher (PA1913)
Able Seaman Leslie William Bland (S4023)
Stoker William Richard Boundy (23893)
Leading Stoker Sydney William Butcher (23734)
Stoker Second Class Leslie Joseph Dennison (W2277)
Stoker Arthur William Francis (16076)
Stoker John Edward Thomas Gannon (S5161)
Stoker Jack Albert Gardner (W1418)
Stoker Frederick Arthur Glanford (B3414)
Engine Room Artificer Fourth Class Walter George Gordon (PM3354)
Petty Officer Leonard Walter Howroyd (19667)
Stoker Second Class Lester Richard Jamieson (W2264)
Stoker Second Class Kenneth Francis Killeen (25753)
Stoker Jack Edmund Numan (23807)
Stoker Second Class Norman Leslie Robson (S5654)
Ordinary Seaman Arthur James Smith (F3222)
Stoker Second Class Herbert Arthur Smith (S6131)
Ordinary Seaman Raymond Owen Venning (S6116)
Stoker Thomas Joseph Watson (S5511)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A6770, WATSON T J
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line