ADAMSON, Watson Frazer
| Service Number: | 169 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Unit: | 1st Light Horse Regiment |
| Born: | Trial Bay, New South Wales, Australia, February 1891 |
| Home Town: | Tamworth, Tamworth Municipality, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Memorials: | Tamworth Public School WW1 Roll of Honor |
World War 1 Service
| 20 Oct 1914: | Involvement 169, 1st Light Horse Regiment, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '1' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Star of Victoria embarkation_ship_number: A16 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Oct 1914: | Embarked 169, 1st Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Star of Victoria, Sydney |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Samuel Thompson
Watson Frazer Adamson was born in Trial Bay, New South Wales in 1891. His religion was Presbyterian. When he was young, he was a part of school cadets and then later moved on to the 5th Australian Light Horse Regiment, as part of the militia. This meant that he had some military training for World War I. He lived in Tamworth, New South Wales with his father, T. Grave Adamson at a property called ‘Nomingha’.
Watson Frazer Adamson was 23 at the time and was working as a farmer. Adamson enlisted in the AIF on the 24th of August in 1914, the year that the war started. He was 5’ 10” and was 147lbs or 67kgs and a single man. His first rank was a saddler because he had a lot of experience from his past with horses. He was also a part of the 5th Light Horse regiment when he joined. He enlisted for war in Sydney.
Adamson embarked on his wartime journey on the HMAT ‘Star of Victoria’ on the 20th of October, 1914. He and his unit landed in Egypt. After months of working at Egypt with no fighting, they left Alexandria to go to war. They landed in Gallipoli on the 9th of May, 1915.
On 7 August 1915, Adamson was wounded in action on Gallipoli, during the 1st Light Horse's assault on Pope's Hill. He was taken to the Stationary Hospital in Lemnos on the 21st of August, 1915, a short boat ride away from Gallipoli. Adamson enjoyed swimming in the Gulf of Saros for a short time with other fellow soldiers to relax during the chaos of fighting.
Once recovered, Adamson was then was sent to the United Kingdom. Just over 1 month later, on the 26th of September, Adamson became infected once again with enteritis and was admitted to the Kind Georges Hospital. After recovering, he appears to have served in various training units in England, and spent the rest of the war there. While in England, he met and married Lucy Eame Houghton. Adamson returned to Australia from Liverpool aboard the HT Ceramic on the 9th of August 1919. He arrived home 2 months later on the 3rd of October.
Watson Frazer Adamson earned 3 medals from the war: the Victory Medal, the British War Medal and the 1914-15 Star. Adamson died nearly 30 years after the war on the 2nd of June in 1947.