Baxter Watson

Baxter Watson was born on 26 June 1915 in Sydney, New South Wales, and grew up to become one of the many Australians who answered the call to serve during the Second World War. He enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force and was commissioned as a Flying Officer, undergoing pilot training under the Empire Air Training Scheme. By October 1942 he was attached to No. 6 Service Flying Training School at Mallala, South Australia, one of the RAAF’s principal advanced flying training establishments. On the night of 14 October 1942 he was piloting Avro Anson AW849 on a submarine search operation when the aircraft ran out of fuel following navigation errors and crashed five miles west of Tantanoola in South Australia; Watson was killed in the accident, aged twenty-seven, while two other crew members — Sergeant Richard Ayres and Sergeant John Carroll — survived by bailing out. He was survived by his wife, Elaine Maude Watson of Manly, and his parents George Baxter and Ethel Watson. He was laid to rest at French’s Forest General Cemetery in New South Wales, and is also commemorated on Panel 117 of the Commemorative Area at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.