Black Watch raid legend Bill ‘Tiger’ Watson dies at 97
Tributes to ‘rather splendid chap’
A SCOTTISH military legend who spearheaded one of the most daring raids of World War II has died at the age of 97.
Former Black Watch soldier Bill “Tiger” Watson was one of the last surviving commandos of the attack on the Nazi-held French port of St Nazaire.
The veteran died in a nursing home in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, on Saturday.
His son Peter said his father was “a rather splendid chap”.
Bill was fondly remembered in social media tributes.
Neil Harrison wrote: “I met Bill on HMS Campbeltown during the 69th anniversary of the commando raid at St Nazaire. He was a brilliant man to talk to and a true legend.”
David Tait, of the St Nazaire Society, said: “He was an exceptional individual and a very brave man.”
As well as serving in the Black Watch, Bill was a second lieutenant in 1 Troop, No2 Commando. There he was one of a small group who carried out Operation Chariot.
The mission was carried out in March 1942 to destroy the dry dock at St Nazaire, which was capable of sheltering the German battleship Tirpitz. If the port remained intact, the Tirpitz could have attacked British merchant ships in the Atlantic.
HMS Campbeltown, an old destroyer that had been packed with delayed action explosives, was rammed into
the dock gates and exploded, putting the dock out of service for the rest of the war.
But the motor launches used to get the commandos out were set alight by tracer bullets and the demolition parties were unable to escape after the raid.
Bill, who was later awarded the Military Cross, had to clear the harbour of the enemy, hold it for the evacuation of the demolition parties and destroy a bridge to prevent German reinforcements getting in.
He was wounded in the buttock but carried on. Then a shot broke his arm. Bill was captured and put to work in the medical wing of a prisoner-of-war camp.
He got his nickname to distinguish him from other Bills in his unit – after his commanding officer compared his smile to that of the cartoon character Tiger Tim.
After the war, Bill worked as a GP in Shrewsbury alongside his wife, Wyn.
He later volunteered in Biafra and served on behalf of Oxfam in Ethiopia during the famine of 1973. He and his wife also served as doctors in Malawi and Sierra Leone, for which he was appointed MBE in 2002.
Wyn died six weeks ago, aged 95. The couple are survived by their son and three daughters.