Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Cyril Wattie Jackson, or as he was more commonly known, 'Wattie', was the youngest son of James Sidney Jackson (/explore/people/225181) and Eliza Jane Jackson. The family lived for many years at Birimgan near Blair Athol in North Queensland. As a youngster, Wattie was one of North Queensland's most promising tennis players. His sensational start at the 1933 schoolboy championships held in Brisbane, was somewhat overshadowed by the commentary regarding his unorthodox technique and what would become his trademark, a two-handed grip for both backhand and forehand strokes.

In 1934, Wattie left his small country state school in Birimgan to attend The Rockhampton Grammar School. At the end of his second year there, Wattie received a Special Prize for Sport. Leaving school at sixteen, Wattie relocated to Mackay taking up a sales position with the firm O. E. Neale in their sports department. This move also enabled him to pursue his tennis. Wattie was the undefeated tennis champion of Mackay and district from 1936 through to 1940. He was also the mid-North Queensland tennis champion three times, the first as a junior in 1936.

Wattie applied to join the RAAF in early January 1941. Submitting his 'Application For Air Crew' at the Recruiting Centre in Brisbane, he enrolled in the Reserve. It would be six months before Wattie received his official call up. Leaving Neale's at the end of June, he was given a fond farewell. Among the mementos he received from the staff and the Mackay Tennis Association, were an eight-day clock, an air force sheepskin vest, a dressing gown and a pair of slippers.

Returning to the No 3 Recruiting Centre in Brisbane, Cyril Wattie Jackson enlisted in the RAAF on the morning of the 20th July 1941. Among those in his intake, was future crew member Gordon Lewis Hamilton (/explore/people/630816). In fact, Wattie and Gordon's training records mirror each other exactly, from the time they took their oath and proceeded to the No 3 Initial Training School at RAAF Sandgate, located north of Brisbane, through to when they arrived in Nowra twenty months later. 

Graduating as a Wireless Operator Air Gunner (WOAG) and being promoted to Temporary Sergeant at the end of April 1942, Wattie had completed his mandatory Initial Training and a Gunners Course at Sandgate, undertaken seven months training at the No 2 Wireless Air Gunners School (2WAGS) based at RAAF Parkes in NSW, and an additional month's instruction at the No 1 Bombing and Gunnery School (1BAGS) located on the NSW coast, at RAAF Evans Head.

Wattie and Gordon were then posted to Brisbane's Wireless Telegraphy Station for six months, before proceeding south to Bairnsdale in Victoria to join the No 1 Operational Training Unit (1OTU). Here they completed the No 7 Beaufort Operational Training Course and on the 23rd March 1943, arrived in Nowra NSW at the Base Torpedo Unit (/explore/units/1478) (BTU) for the final stage of their training prior to joining an operational squadron.

On the morning of Monday the 12th April 1943, three aircraft took off from the aerodrome making their way towards the northeast area of Jervis Bay and the stationary target used for torpedo camera attack exercises. Flying in position No 3, were the all Queensland crew of Beaufort A9-266, pilot Clement Batstone Wiggins (/explore/people/652256), navigator Russell Henry Grigg (/explore/people/630401) and WOAG's, Gordon Lewis Hamilton and Cyril Wattie Jackson.

As the aircraft positioned themselves for the low level formation training exercise approach, it is reported that A9-266 "slipped in", clipping the tops of the trees on the western side of Cabbage Tree Creek. The impact sent the aircraft spinning out of control. The starboard aircrew were flung from the wreckage as the momentum hurtled the aircraft along the creek bank until it struck a tree, snapping the fuselage in two at the rear turret where Wattie was positioned. Critically injured, Wattie was transferred to the crash boat where he was reported to have died at 0900, fifteen minutes after impact. Wattie's crewmates were shaken but had survived the crash with minor or no injuries.

Sergeant Cyril Wattie Jackson was buried with Full Air Force Honours the following day at 3pm with RAAF Chaplain, Flight Lieutenant Ramsden officiating. Wattie was the first serviceman to be interred at the Nowra War Cemetery (/explore/cemeteries/3206).

While Mackay was noted as the Roll of Honour location for Wattie to be remembered, the WW2 Memorial in Mackay's Jubilee Park does not list individuals. This however, is not to say Wattie hasn't been remembered.

In 2008, The Rockhampton Grammar School unveiled their WW2 Memorial for the schools 'Old Boys', listed among his peers is one C. W. Jackson. Years earlier, the small state school in Birimgan is reported to have produced a WW2 Honour Board and while it cannot be confirmed Wattie was included (as the board is currently unaccounted for since the closure and removal of the school), locals still remember the boy who played tennis.

In fact, Wattie has been honoured with two verses in a local poem "Old Birimgan" by B. J. Betridge;

Wattie Jackson too did well, but tennis was his game
He won the open championships against all the best that came
A lad of only fourteen years they thought he was the best
And sent him off to Brisbane to challenge all the rest.

But his destiny was planned, that young Birimgan lad
When he joined Australia's Air Force to protect his native land.
He died there in that aircraft when it crashed that fatal day
A tragedy to the folks back home, out old Birimgan way.

Photo courtesy Betty Spring, Clermont QLD

Principal Sources:
National Archives of Australia:
NAA: A9301, 414038 and NAA: A705, 166/20/30.

Trove:  
1932 '3d. PER HEAD.', The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), 19 October, p. 6, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22019660

1933 'A QUEENSLAND SCHOOLBOY WHO OUT-McGRATHS McGRATH WITH TWO-HANDED TENNIS SHOTS.', The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 - 1947), 6 October, p. 21 Edition: LATE CITY, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article180592340 

1941 'PERSONAL.', Daily Mercury (Mackay, Qld. : 1906 - 1954), 28 June, p. 6, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article170362382

1941 'PERSONAL.', Daily Mercury (Mackay, Qld. : 1906 - 1954), 30 June, p. 4, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article170363412

1943 'OBITUARY.', Daily Mercury (Mackay, Qld. : 1906 - 1954), 14 April, p. 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article170871577 

Other:
Many thanks to the Clermont All Saints' Anglican Church community, especially Judy, Ailsa and Betty, and to Rachael from The Rockhampton Grammar School.

Karen Standen 2016